Pankun and James

There is this television show in Japan (also broadcast throughout southeastern Asia and introduced to me by Ying) called Pankun and James about a trained dog and monkey that are videoed while trying to complete daily human tasks such as exercise training, shopping for a cake, delivering grandpa's lunch, finding their trainer in the theme park etc. The chimp is prepped beforehand, given the task and shown directions, his job is to keep the dog in line and using it as a sort of pack animal to carry whatever is needed in a little harness. Invariability the dog and monkey make multiple humorous mistakes while completing or attempting to complete the tasks. The dog runs after a ball dropping the birthday cake to the monkey's dismay. The monkey makes the wrong turn at the fork, etc. It is funny and cute--in that special television way that only Japan can produce.

Since we watched in January with Ying, Jackie and I have realized how similar our lives are to the dog and monkey show. We have our own series of shows...dog and monkey try to take too many groceries home and the bike breaks, dog and monkey try to navigate flight times and are usually off by two hours (or days) one way or another, dog and monkey try to teach and one (we take turns being the dog and monkey) falls THROUGH the desk while teaching 40 Chinese students the electric slide to Shania Twain, dog and monkey attempt to make cookies that either turn out ridiculously buttery or have corn starch in them instead of flour, dog and monkey try to negotiate their contract with no support and no understanding of the actual agreement, dog dyes monkey's hair the wrong color, the dog and monkey try to get to Xitong (i.5 hours away) and end up in a Ningbo suburb (5 hours away), dog and monkey endeavour to plan activities for a 7 year-old's birthday with a serious hangover etc.

In this way, Jackie and I make light of our daily fumbles. You wouldn't believe I have lived here for two years, though something tells me life at home might be the same way, I am not sure it is exactly China that bring out the dog and monkey in Jackie and I. I can't believe our visitors have actually trusted us with their lives and belongings. The monkey and dog really do do their best when company is present. Otherwise, at least once daily, Pankun and James are mentioned in reference to one of our mis-guided acts.