I'll admit it, I used to be a 24/7 news junkie. I had a small TV in my kitchen in Nashville, and during the many hours spent in that small room, it was almost always turned on and tuned to one of the round-the-clock news channels. Like many Americans, I suppose, my addiction for news became more intense during Presidential elections, natural disasters and other major news events. And so, it probably comes as no surprise that one of the things I have missed most here in Belgrade is instant access to FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC and the other news networks (although I should also note that, in truth, there has been something terribly liberating about NOT being shackled to -- often grim -- news, all day, everyday).
Actually, the whole TV thing here has been a little odd. When we first moved to Belgrade, we signed up for a relatively expensive satellite TV package through which we had access to thousands of channels, 99.9% of which we never watched. Although Fox and CNN had channels in this package, these were not the normal U.S. version of those networks. They carried this weird, sort of canned programs that never seemed to be reporting real-time news. After several months with this package, we cancelled it, because we realized that we really weren't watching it enough to justify the cost.
Next, we switched to a local cable package, primarily in order to have access to ESPN America during college football season. This package was much less expensive, and had a combination of Serbian stations and some U.S. channels. No news channels, though, other than Serbian news, which unfortunately, I still cannot follow. Again, however, and especially once college football season ended, we found that we really weren't watching TV very much, and so we cancelled our cable.
A kind military friend, however, recently lent us an "AFN" box, which we finally were able to get set up yesterday. AFN stands for Armed Forces Network, and is a TV network run by the U.S. military, and available to military and U.S. civilian employees serving overseas. The network is comprised of about 10 themed channels, each of which carries a conglomeration of U.S. shows. The great thing about AFN is that it enables people like us to watch the same news that you all are watching back home, as well as certain popular U.S. TV shows like American Idol. The news channel airs different programming each hour -- one hour they may run Fox programming, and the next something from CNN or MSNBC. It's actually nice to have a variety of news to watch.
And so, yesterday -- which, with continuing news about Haiti and healthcare, and all-day coverage of the MA Senate race, was a big news day -- I sat down on the couch for a few hours and bathed myself in the news. In fact, truth be told, I'm sitting here now watching a news program -- Tavis Smiley interviewing Jim Wallis on PBS; they're talking about the economy, banking, the future of the U.S. and various and sundry other topics. And while, indeed, it was nice to be liberated from all of this for a while, after a break of nearly 11 months, it's nice to be back.
Happy Wednesday.
Erin
Actually, the whole TV thing here has been a little odd. When we first moved to Belgrade, we signed up for a relatively expensive satellite TV package through which we had access to thousands of channels, 99.9% of which we never watched. Although Fox and CNN had channels in this package, these were not the normal U.S. version of those networks. They carried this weird, sort of canned programs that never seemed to be reporting real-time news. After several months with this package, we cancelled it, because we realized that we really weren't watching it enough to justify the cost.
Next, we switched to a local cable package, primarily in order to have access to ESPN America during college football season. This package was much less expensive, and had a combination of Serbian stations and some U.S. channels. No news channels, though, other than Serbian news, which unfortunately, I still cannot follow. Again, however, and especially once college football season ended, we found that we really weren't watching TV very much, and so we cancelled our cable.
A kind military friend, however, recently lent us an "AFN" box, which we finally were able to get set up yesterday. AFN stands for Armed Forces Network, and is a TV network run by the U.S. military, and available to military and U.S. civilian employees serving overseas. The network is comprised of about 10 themed channels, each of which carries a conglomeration of U.S. shows. The great thing about AFN is that it enables people like us to watch the same news that you all are watching back home, as well as certain popular U.S. TV shows like American Idol. The news channel airs different programming each hour -- one hour they may run Fox programming, and the next something from CNN or MSNBC. It's actually nice to have a variety of news to watch.
And so, yesterday -- which, with continuing news about Haiti and healthcare, and all-day coverage of the MA Senate race, was a big news day -- I sat down on the couch for a few hours and bathed myself in the news. In fact, truth be told, I'm sitting here now watching a news program -- Tavis Smiley interviewing Jim Wallis on PBS; they're talking about the economy, banking, the future of the U.S. and various and sundry other topics. And while, indeed, it was nice to be liberated from all of this for a while, after a break of nearly 11 months, it's nice to be back.
Happy Wednesday.
Erin
How do we get an AFN box??? I guess I will have to make Bill join the Foreign Service:)
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