We only have four TV channels. Not four channels that I like to watch, or even four English channels, we have four channels. We have a sports channel, a news channel (that is half fox news and half CNN) voice of America (which is often in some language that I don’t even recognize) and a Chinese channel. The news channel and the sports channel will sometimes become something else. The sports channel will sometimes play US sitcoms and dramas, and the news channel will sometimes have morning shows, but in general, when I flip on the TV there is nothing to watch, or completely inappropriate things to watch, like Dexter will be on in the middle of the day, and the morning shows are on at night (this is what happens with a 12 hour time difference). When we moved in we asked about getting local cable, but the wiring in the building is too old so we can’t get that. Then we asked about Satellite, but it is pirated and the Consulate will not condone that either. So we’re stuck with four channels. At first I was mad about it. I was stuck in the house with a 3 year old with nothing to distract her (you’d be surprised how much ½ an hour or an hour of TV for a kid will restore mom’s spirits, particularly if it’s been a bad day). But I’ve come to appreciate it.
When we’re in the US, I will often flip on the TV without any plans to watch anything and I will waste a good ½ hour just flipping looking for something to watch. I would sometimes do it more than once a day and before you know it, you’ve just killed 2 or 3 hours doing nothing. Now I have to plan to watch something. I have to think about it ahead of time, order the DVDs or find it on Netflix, and then when I’ve got some time to kill I can sit down and watch it. I think I spend about the same amount of time on TV, but it’s usually something that I want to see. There are even days when we don’t turn on the TV at all (at least not until after Babes goes to bed). Grant it, it’s still not edifying my mind or enlightening me somehow, but it’s better than the frustration of mindless flipping.
