Beets and Pickles

When Edgar and I got a TV and finally cable, we were so excited to be able to watch some of our favorite American shows. It seems at any one point in the day, you can find Friends or Scrubs, our two favorite shows. But as much as I like these shows, I can only watch so much of them. So we started branching out and discovered that most every show was a really bad American show that I didn't watch in the first place, or they are old shows from the 80's that are now in rerun mode. I guess if you have a hankering for The Golden Girls, Cagney and Lacey, Knightrider, Xena: Warrior Princess, or even Battlestart Gallactica, you are in luck! This is only a sampling of the wonderful programming included with our Virgin Media cable package. One of the reasons I wanted to get a TV was to be able to watch British programming and get a further insight into the subtlties of the culture as well as understand the different accents a little better. There are some really funny, edgy sitcoms and dramas on tap over here. They are much more riske than American shows and sometimes I can't believe they show them in primetime. I guess Europe is just a little more liberal.

I've really gotten into watching Breakfast on BBCone. It's like Good Morning America...a mixture of the day's news and weather, with some fun stories thrown in. This morning they had a teaser about the next segment showing "the newest thing to come over from America". On a side note, I've been surprised at how much they compare British vs. Americans, because Americans never really seem to have whole segments or stories related to anything in British (or any other) culture. Maybe it's what makes us the "Ugly Americans", to be so ignorant to other cultures and trends. Anyways, so what was this newest thing to come over from America? Baby Showers. Yep, they had two "experts" on the show to discuss it. And I must say it was quite funny to hear someone else describe this newfound thing that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. One expert was the editor of a parenting magazine and I can't remember what the other lady was, but an expert nonetheless. Apparently the British are really bad at receiving gifts, they like giving, but not receiving, and the 2nd woman said she would just feel so uncomfortable being surrounded by friends who had brought things for her unborn child. And the "gift list"? Just another bad, materialistic thing ranking up there with the wedding gift list that the Americans have also sent over.

It's little discoveries such as this one that make me feel like I'm back in the 3rd grade spending the night with my best friend Holly McCaleb. Up until that first slumber party, I thought every family ate beets and pickles with their dinner...my family always had them on the table. As I was helping her mom set the table for dinner, I asked "So, Mrs. McCaleb, where are your beets and pickles?" She gave me the strangest look and I think at that point, I had my first realization that people are different. I loved her family and always had a ton of fun at their house, so I came to the conclusion that it's OK if they don't have beets and pickles, they are still good people. When I find myself in a different culture, be it European or South American, and I think that some little thing may be a bit odd, I just say to myself "Well, some people like beets and pickles, and some people don't".

We are headed to Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday to spend some time with Edgar's family. I'm sure we will have so much fun...with a few beets and pickles thrown in.