Every employee received a free pass to the Expo http://en.expo2010.cn/participation/pop/moren.htm to be held in Shanghai in 2010. The Expo is a huge event - China expects 70 million visitors for it. Our employees received this perk from their union.
As I was looking at the ticket, I noticed the mascot for the Expo. As been noted by several people, the mascot, Haibao, looks like Gumby from Saturday Night Live fame.
I asked the employees what they thought of the mascot. Their responses were mixed but led into a discussion as to the definition of the word mascot. It is hard for me to define mascot. It is hard to describe in a sense that they would understand but that is not the point of this blog.
I told them that this mascot looked very similar to a character on TV in the States. They immediately shouted, “Yes, we know that”. They said this character was on the TV show “Growing Pains” – the sitcom from the 1980’s. I had mentioned previously on a facebook posting about China’s fascination with this sitcom.
I questioned that this character was ever on “Growing Pains” which led into a 5 minute discussion to ensure that I was thinking of the correct show – remember in China, this show is translated to “Trouble with Growth”. It took a while to make the connection of "trouble with Growth" to the actual title of "Growing pains"
After all parties knew that I understood that they were talking about “Growing Pains”, I said that this character was not in that show. They quickly jumped to the Internet and pulled up these pictures.
I told them that this mascot looked very similar to a character on TV in the States. They immediately shouted, “Yes, we know that”. They said this character was on the TV show “Growing Pains” – the sitcom from the 1980’s. I had mentioned previously on a facebook posting about China’s fascination with this sitcom.
I questioned that this character was ever on “Growing Pains” which led into a 5 minute discussion to ensure that I was thinking of the correct show – remember in China, this show is translated to “Trouble with Growth”. It took a while to make the connection of "trouble with Growth" to the actual title of "Growing pains"
After all parties knew that I understood that they were talking about “Growing Pains”, I said that this character was not in that show. They quickly jumped to the Internet and pulled up these pictures.
Well I have to admit, Gumby was on the show but I am shocked that they noticed this. How many times do you notice posters hanging in a scene from "CSI: Miami" or any other show?
(Another funny note – As I typed this at lunch on Thursday, my admin was looking over my shoulder and saw the word Haibao. She wasn’t here yesterday so she wasn’t part of the group discussion. I asked her if she knew it looked like Gumby. She said yes as she saw it on the TV show “Growing Pains”. I threw my hands up in utter amazement. Does everyone in this country watch “Growing Pains” in deep detail?)
After my amazement, we had several small discussions. They thought their mascot looked healthier because it was bigger. One guy thought that the American’s stole the idea for Gumby from China but I explained to him that Gumby was from the 80’s and Haibao was less than 5 years old.
This country and its people never cease to amaze me.
(Another funny note – As I typed this at lunch on Thursday, my admin was looking over my shoulder and saw the word Haibao. She wasn’t here yesterday so she wasn’t part of the group discussion. I asked her if she knew it looked like Gumby. She said yes as she saw it on the TV show “Growing Pains”. I threw my hands up in utter amazement. Does everyone in this country watch “Growing Pains” in deep detail?)
After my amazement, we had several small discussions. They thought their mascot looked healthier because it was bigger. One guy thought that the American’s stole the idea for Gumby from China but I explained to him that Gumby was from the 80’s and Haibao was less than 5 years old.
This country and its people never cease to amaze me.
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