Have you ever heard of Bear Grylls? Until last year, I hadn’t. Apparently he is the host of an extreme adventure show on the Discovery channel.
Because many of my students are working on an American project, they are required by the project contract to fly using American airlines (doesn’t matter which one, as long as it is a US company). Because of all this flying on US airlines, they apparently are getting a lot of exposure to American television shows (which I think is great for their English) and especially there is a lot of Bear Grylls in the in-flight entertainment.
Luckily I had a chance to fly United at the end of last year and see what all the hype was about. The guy does all kinds of nutty things with a straight face, and demonstrates survival techniques in the process.
So naturally, my students are wondering how much of these activities I regularly participate in… after all, we are both Americans. I tried to explain that this was simply entertainment, and that most Americans rarely are forced to drink their own urine (although Bud Light is pretty close I think).
It is interesting the impressions that people receive from television. But I guess I’m glad that they aren’t watching some other reality TV shows that I can think of.
