TV Abroad

Sports: where would I be without it?

When living abroad, it's nice to have a taste of home with television. Most people I know use a VPN and Netflix or Hulu or any other streaming service site to get their tv fix when living overseas. Sometimes, though you just need that fix to watch Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives or Conan O'Brien or The Weather Channel for whatever reason. Getting live TV is nearly impossible or incredibly difficult unless you're looking for sports which you can find almost anywhere with a quick something-something search. I'm not a fan of it because I never know which sites are trustworthy or not.

I own the top model which is now discontinued.

That's why I use Slingbox, it will become your best friend living abroad for those that love to watch TV. How it works: At home, like where your permanent address is (such as your parent's house), you buy this box, hook up the included cables from your cable box (YES, the prerequisite is you need a TV cable plan), plug in the phone jack that leads from your router to get it on the internet (the higher end model is Wi-Fi enabled), set up an account, and configure it so you can figure out the cable TV provider and BOOM you can watch TV anywhere you want with your computer for no additional charge! There are even Android and iPhone apps that you can purchase for about $15. I had the Android app and it was crucial when there was something I needed to watch while I was on the go.

Live TV with a fully working remotely remote control and a rockin' mullet from John Stamos

There are some downsides to it however. Firstly, this is connected to one cable box, so if someone, say your dad, wants to watch TV, you'll be watching the exact same thing he'll be watching AND vice-versa. So if you log in and the box is already on, you can secretly freak him out by changing the channel. Second, there is something like a ten second delay from the moment it's broadcasted to the moment it's shown on your monitor. That's really not a big deal though for this huge convenience. Third, again, you have to have a cable provider... or I guess be very good friends with that manager who owns local the Buffalo Wild Wings and hook up the Slingbox to one of their myriad of cable boxes and their internet.

Watching TV live is a different challenge while abroad. You need to adjust for the time. I'm a huge Fresno State football fan (I will not talk about their decimation tonight) and will sacrifice any amount of sleep to watch them, win or lose. My Korea time trick is to take the time (Pacific Time) add 4 hours and switch AM to PM or vice versa. Thus, games that are aired at 4:30 pm (like the USC/Fresno State game pictured above) it is 8:30 AM for me in the next day. It gets very difficult for NFL games since those first games will start at 10:30 AM Pacific Time on Sunday morning which will be 2:30 AM for me in the next morning. THAT IS, unless you have DVR, which I don't have; that would make life even more luxurious if I had that.

So for those fresh new expats that are fretting about moving and are worrying about TV or sports, I highly recommend investing in a Slingbox. I honestly don't watch it often, only when there's something I really need to watch, but this is definitely one of the greatest technological inventions (along with Skype and Facetime). AND! You don't need a VPN to have it to work (Yes. Even in China.)