I have to admit that living in England, I feel more connected to the rest of the world than I have ever felt before.
Several reasons may cause this change, and here are the top five reasons why I, as an American living in England, am more connected to the rest of the world than ever before.
1. We own a television.
(Living in Los Angeles, I was so surrounded by the media, television, entertainment, etc., that when I was home I wanted the ability to be able to opt out. So I did. I didn’t own a television, and I never turned the radio on. I worked so many hours that reading a newspaper was out of the question.)
2. We own a television and it’s not American broadcasting.
(I opted out of owning a television in Los Angeles, but I honestly believe that owning one would not have made me more connected to the rest of the world. We do not hear about the rest of the world. We hear about entertainment, US sensationalized broadcasting, and celebrities. British television, on pretty much any channel, shows international news and shows.)
3. BBC – Radio 1 and News
(I know what’s going on in Afghanistan including what soldiers get killed on a daily basis. I know the details behind the Lockerbie bomber and why he is being freed (supposedly why). I know that President Obama killed a fly in an interview a couple of months ago. I know that Aung San Suu Kyi, the general secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma, has been kept under house arrest 14 times in the past twenty years. This is all due to the BBC. I could have found out this stuff in America, but for some reason find that it is pointless – no one else was interested in knowing about it. Which brings me to my next reason)
4. The English care what happens in the news around the world.
(This is a sweeping generalization, and I’m aware of this, however, the people I hung out with in America just didn’t know, didn’t care to know, or didn’t try to know what was happening in the world. Some said they didn’t want to be involved with the bad energy that watching the news brought out, some said it was boring, and others just didn’t see what it had to do with them. I say it does have to do with the human population, and we should take notice. Knowledge is power, as they say. In England, if I talk about the news, others will have some informed opinion or fact they wish to share as well.)
5. The proximity of the rest of Europe and the impact it has on England.
(In America, perhaps we live in a bubble because we are so far away from everyone else. And I have defended Americans because of this fact. We are located in a position geographically in the world that is far away from the rest. However, England is very far away from Korea, but I know what goes on there while living here…)
Just some food for thought…
