What's Da Buzz?

Okay, the title is a bit confusing and may be misleading but then that makes it the perfect title for this entry. This entry is to offer a tidbit of wisdom to those not from the USA but are trying to learn about the USA.

When I was in the Philippines, we learned the majority of our information about what life in the USA was from the movies and shows out of Hollywood. We were able to pick up of some of the news from the TV News stations as well or at least the big main networks who sometimes had their content repeated. Most of the time though, you were too concerned about doing what your parents asked of you and basic survival to care much about what was going on in the USA.

Now that I’ve lived here long enough to get a clue as I was lost amongst all of the changes in my new life in the first two years.

Why was I lost? What I saw on the movie screen and on TV did not match at all what was really going on in the day to day life of the average American. There is a very solid reason why.

Just like in the Philippines and most other countries, the TV news and newspapers are not restricted to just the national level. Much of the real information is restricted to the local level as you have to live there to understand the reports and to care about them. What happened in Gensan that applied to Gensan primarily stayed in the Gensan local news. Rarely did it get carried to other parts of the Philippines unless it was a “big” story. The exact same thing applies here in the USA. The vast majority of the real news is not share on an international level. You have to look for it.

Where then are most of those big news companies based out of in the USA? Nearly all of them are based out of New York and particularly in and around New York City. Just like I’ve said before, most of the entertainment of movies and TV shows is based out of Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. So what makes that such a big deal? Those are two of the largest cities in the USA and both states are considered to be some of the most liberal states as well. When you go out of the big cities and New York and California, the values of much of America are completely different than what we heard of from Hollywood, the USA news media and their Federal Government.

So if you are going to move from one state to another state or from one country to the USA, find out what the main publications are for that local area and of the areas where the relatives live. Most newspapers offer a version online so read up and learn about the place you are soon going to live in.

Anah

“If the shoe fits, wear it.”