来北京之前，我已经成功地避免对几部肥皂剧上瘾。在之前，美国连续剧有“dallas”，“dynasty”，英国连续剧有“coronation street”和“east enders”。我每次做作业的时候，电视上都在播放这几部剧，所以一直没有机会看。不过，刚到北京没几天，我就迷上了《越狱》。可能也是为了和我的中国朋友和同事们有相同的话题吧！他们在午餐时间总能提起主演麦克的最新冒险经历。
before i came to beijing i had successfully avoided becoming addicted to soap operas. the ones of my youth like the american series “dallas” and “dynasty” or the british ones “coronation street” and “east enders” were on tv while i was doing my homework, so i never had a chance to watch them. however shortly after my arrival in the chinese capital i got hooked on “prison break”. i suppose it was partly a desire to have some topic of conversation with my chinese friends and colleagues; they would all discuss michael scofield’s latest adventures over lunch. but also the first series was very entertaining with each episode ending in a nail biting cliffhanger. the following week the situation would be resolved only to lead to another suspense filled climax. the problem for me was that the second and third series became more and more far fetched as the script writers desperately tried to keep the momentum going. thankfully the fourth was the last and i should have been able to return to a normal life. the problem is i haven’t as i am now hopelessly obsessed with “lost”， “the shield”， “six feet under” and any number of other american soaps。
as an alternative to american many people watch korean soaps and, as i recently moved to the wang jing district of beijing, perhaps i should give them a try. wang jing’s nickname is korea town; there are many signs in both chinese and korean languages and lots of korean shops and restaurants. although i have never been to that country living in wang jing is a good second best!
perhaps i watch so many soap operas because dvds are relatively cheap in beijing. i know some are bootlegged but i find it hard to distinguish between pirated copies and the genuine article; often they seem to fall into a grey area between the two. still i have made a firm resolution not to watch any more series. of course this will only last until the next time someone persuades me to watch an episode of the latest melodrama to hit the screens。
