Terrace House

I've completely given up on Big Brother - I watched it for a long time, but really, it wasn't good for my blood pressure. I can't believe I watched it for as long as I did. But we've found the perfect replacement for it on Netflix: Terrace House! It's a Japanese reality TV show, where 6 young people, three boys, three girls, share a house, and a panel of TV presenters discuss what's going on, or not going on, as is more often the case.

The six young people take it very seriously. Most of them are looking for love, but some have to leave love, and the house, behind, in order to pursue their studies or careers, which always seem to be the most important thing in their lives, except for one chap who was living in Hawaii, and was so laid back he barely had a pulse. It was fascinating to watch, as Japanese culture is so different from ours - how long it takes to get to a kiss, how dates are conducted, how the girls always seem to have the power when it comes to deciding where they want the relationship to go, how little people touch, and how important hard work is to everyone. They even have house meetings to discuss how they feel about someone's behaviour (doesn't clean enough, makes too many disparaging comments, etc.), and the conversation generally ends with the person promising to try harder, work harder, amend their ways.

The panel, on the other hand, provide the fun element. Just like us, they debate the likelihood of girl x saying yes to boy y, and they get so excited when things are going well! And their comments are so funny. I even learned a new Japanese word: chinchin (check it out here) or ochinchin if you want to place the honorific o in front of the root word! They're lively. They're funny. They don't take themselves seriously. Nothing like what you imagine the Japanese to be like (serious, hard-working, discreet, humble, ...)

It's on Netflix, and the next season, starting soon, will be set in Hawaii. That will be interesting!