Podcasts

One of the many challenges of being an expat is the limited opportunity for English language conversation outside of the normal sphere of colleagues and immediate family (immediate as in "live in the same house with you.") In the US, I can have a nerdy conversation about DS9 while waiting in line at the local 7-11, whereas any attempt at conversation at the local Carrefour will soon be reduced to a painfully-conducted English lesson. ("Your Chinese  very good!" "No, no, your English is very good!") When I go to Mysterious Job Number Two, I take a taxi and the only way the hour-long ride is bearable is the judicious use of my Ipod in conjunction with a light nap. The Ipod is loaded not only with music but with podcasts.

Podcasts are a godsend to the lonely expat who is starved for jokes, banter, and themed conversation that has nothing to do with The Pen of My Aunt or Please Invite Xiao Ding to Sing. So what if you're a fly on the wall and can't comment along--you're hearing actual authentic human voices spewing forth actual authentic conversations and damn, some of it is funny too. I subscribe through iTunes (because I am a Good Girl who believes artists shouldn't get ripped off by file sharing) to a number of podcasts which are FREE, people. They are: Trekcast, Gleeful, Prairie Home Companion (It's just the News from Lake Woebegone, not a conversation so much as a dramatic monologue) Escape Pod (science fiction stories read aloud--again, not a conversation) and About Heroes. I prefer the West Coast version of About Heroes for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the Hate Mail Haiku. If you're going to diss them, at least do it with class and use an English-language Haiku to frame your comments. Word.

Without these podcasts, I would never know about Comic Con, which is rapidly replacing the Sweet Potato Queen float at the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Jackson, Mississippi, as the dream destination of my adolescent heart. I wouldn't be up on the latest slang, I wouldn't know that Green Lantern can be rendered inactive by wood or the color yellow (thus making a Number Two pencil a deadly weapon, as one of the commentators stated) and I wouldn't be grinning when I arrive at my destination, having been engaged and challenged and opened to a slew of new ideas and information. Podcasts are fun, and for an expat, a wonderful way to keep in touch with home culture. Fluency in Klingon not necessary to enjoy listening. Qapla', y'all.