Who regularly downloads Charlie Rose and Jim Lehrer torrents to catch up on news? Who listens to NPR every evening and morning from the other side of the world?
Why, that would be me!
If there’s one thing that I really miss—besides my lovely fiancee—it would be the myriad of available news sources available back in the US. In addition to the options, it’s also the fact that I’ve grown up on NPR, Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose, the Washington Post, and the Times ever since I literally learned how to read.
Sundays at my house, as far back as I can remember, consist of my Father reading the papers and telling me about them. One of the first magazines I learned to read was the Economist, in fact, I’m pretty sure I was learning about currency conversions before I learned about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’ve been wanting to write a letter to NPR/WAMU letting them know that I’ve been listening to them every morning since my parents would drive me to school when I was in elementary school. Bob Edwards has been helping me wake up during elementary school, middle school, high school, college and even during my first year of the “grown-up world”. And even now, after spending nearly a year in China, I can still say that everyday I listen to Diane, Kojo and the rest of the group.
The more time I spend away from home, the more I realize just what a special city Washington, D.C. really really is. There are so many different things to do and experience in a city of so many different people, personalities and influences. There are so many different think-tanks giving different speeches and presentations every day, different exhibits at the Smithsonian, cases at the Supreme Court, speeches in Congress, presentations in different embassies, and book signings (along with awesome pie) at Kramers, and signings (sans the pie) at Politics & Prose.
The thing I’m getting at is that this is the time to be thankful for the things that have made you into the person you are. I’ve been blessed – and yes, I really mean blessed – to have been raised in such a vibrant and incredible region that has given me an environment with peoples of different ideas, ideologies, ethnicities, religions, cultures and languages. D.C. has really helped me become who I am today.
And for that, I am truly thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving, world.