Video killed the radio star

One of the mundane things that I was looking forward to during my semester here was having virtually no access to television. Ironically, that's going to turn out to be a problem.

My sociology course, Popular Culture and the Media, focuses entirely on television. What's more, it focuses on British television. I guess this makes sense, and I guess I can't complain about a class being aimed towards British students when I've chosen to study abroad, but I'm at a major disadvantage. First off, my knowledge of British television extends no further than some old Mr. Bean episodes, The Office, and the occassional Coupling. Secondly, as I mentioned before, I have no access to television! We're expected to write a 2,000-something-word essay on a certain issue involving television and British society and each student must present a seminar to the class on some issue (i.e. violence and TV) citing examples from shows and showing clips, if needed.

As someone who isn't a big fan of television in the first place -- I voluntarily decided to give up TV for Lent one year, even though I'm not Catholic, and didn't watch it much after Easter came and went -- I would stress a little about this class if it was in the States. Thus, a class devoted to British television is going to be unecissarily stressful. I could see the importance if I were a film student, or interested in writing about TV, or maybe even looking to go into broadcast journalism, but I'm not sure how it's going to benefit me.

My professor was okay with the idea of writing and presenting on American television shows if they're aired over here, but we have to focus on how they impact British audiences. I can do that, I think. Actually, I'm toying around with the idea of how Sex and the City's ideals affect Brisith women. I knew watching every single episode would pay off somehow.

Actually, I've been ludicrously positive about things lately. I see things like this class as a challenge and thus a way to test myself. I'm open to wherever life takes me. Right now, I feel like I could be happy if I'm in London next semester, or at another school, or even back at Georgia State. There are benefits to new situations, no matter which ones you wind up in. I'm realizing that one of my greatest fears about getting older is feeling stuck in one place. I don't want to be living somewhere where I'm not happy, with an unfulfilling job, and a family that requires I stay in said place. I'm not saying that settling down and having a family is a bad thing or that it won't make me happy, I just want to put myself in that situation when I want to be and when it will make me most content.

So, in the meantime, I want to see and experience as much as possible. Traveling and living in new places, having different jobs, meeting new people ... it all teaches you an endless amount about yourself and what you like and don't like. Good or bad, every new experience is positive because it makes you that much more self-aware and closer to reaching a point in life where you're satisfied and happy. I feel like some people reach a point where they feel like this is it and are, at that moment, fully content with their life. Maybe that feeling doesn't really exist -- I don't know -- but I'm going to keep searching for it regardless.

I told you I've been ludicrously positive.