In my previous life in Washington DC, I used to read the Washintong Post newspaper (a real <em>paper</em> copy of the newspaper) every morning and on Sundays, I'd curl up with the New York Times and read it cover to cover.  I felt plugged in. I knew what Congress was up to, I could follow along with local issues and I generally felt well read.

Curling up Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and my laptop is nowhere near as wonderful as reading the newspaper section by section and trading read sections with roommates was but my first year abroad, I quickly adjusted to reading my news online. The New York Times threw me for a loop earlier this year when they launched their paid subscription plan but then I ended up getting a free subscription until January 2012.

Still I find that it's harder to keep current living abroad. I think that this is because of two things. <!--more-->

First, generally speaking in Washington DC people care about what's happening locally, nationally and internationally because the city is the nation's capitol and because of this many residents have jobs in fields that require that they stay current. Topics and events like this spill over nicely at happy hour, over dinner or at a party. It's kind of like talking about work without actually talking about work. The problem today is that I have fewer friends who regularly read or watch the news and then discuss it.

In Washington DC, I used to say things like: did you see that <a title="Is Sugar Toxic?" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?scp=2&amp;sq=sugar&amp;st=cse" target="_blank">article in the NYT about sugar</a>? And the response would be: Yes, wasn't such-and-such-fact a surprise? I've decided to cut back on my sugar intake because of it. Today though I find myself saying things like: I read this article in the NYT about whether or not sugar is toxic and it got me thinking about reducing the amount of sugar in my diet. Have you ever thought about doing that? Then I feel nerdy because I am citing newspapers in my day-to-day conversations.

But that's okay because I am really a nerd at heart.

The second thing that makes keeping current hard is that I don't have access to the same cultural references and touch-stones as I used to. So it isn't as easy for me to parse out what events, topics and issues are garnering the most attention because people actually care about them or if they are garnering attention because of a sensational element of the story.  So in addition to reading widely, I also find myself watching much, much more of <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">The Daily Show with Jon Stewart</a> than I ever did the in the States.  It's clearly because he filters the news, distills it and mocks it all at the same time that I like it. And it helps me digest all of the various different mediums and sources that I get my news through.

Last week, it was basically impossible to avoid royal wedding drama and then in one night, the royal wedding has been replaced with Osama bin Laden's death.  Certainly part of this had to do with the cycle of 24-hour news programs but it <em>is</em> also news. Am I shocked by his death? No. Not really. It seemed inevitable--but then again so was the royal wedding.