The Quiet Tenant

by Clémence Michallon

A jingle fills the room, brass instruments, a singsongy refrain, then a booming voice. “This iiiiis Jeopardy!” Contestants flash up on the screen, names and locations, Holly from Silver Springs and Jasper from Park City and Benjamin from Buffalo. A man in a suit and tie walks onto the set. “And here is the host of Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek.”

I grew up in France. I moved to the US in 2014 with a one-year student visa. The plan was to move back home after 12 months, but I found a job and met the man who eventually became my husband... and nine years later, I am still here. I'm even a US citizen now! Jeopardy! played an important part of my education as a newly minted American. I had never watched it prior to moving here. Watching the show and yelling answers at the TV was one of the first rituals my husband and I established, early on in our relationship. (It took me a while to remember to phrase my answers as questions when shouting them at the TV.) We don't watch it every night now, but when we do, it always feels comfortable and familiar. Do you have a favorite game show, or one around which you created such a ritual?