Intriguing trend no. 2

The Chinese love Friends. Though the government banned the show here for years, counterfeit DVDs and a government-approved version that lacked references to sex allowed Chinese citizens to get in on the Friends craze.

A few days ago, Megan and I chatted about an episode of Friends on the subway, the episode where Rachael tries to teach Monica how to use kitchen items as props when flirting with men. As I acted out Monica placing a cleaver against her skin and purring, "Oh, this blade, it's so cool on my skin," a young Chinese woman approached. With an eager smile she asked, "Is that Friends?!" She said she loved the show and owned all the episodes.

Yesterday, I had a similar experience. a young man struck up a conversation with me on the subway. He apologized for his bad English (it was actually darn good) and said he had learned much of it from watching Friends.

It seems I've found a handy new conversation starter for here!