Differences...

I'm back in Canada. It's always felt like home here, but every time I come over, I notice more differences. It's not just the use of different words for things, strange spellings and a different way of life.

Earlier on today, I noticed that Thomas the Tank Engine was about to come on the TV. I was rather looking forward to hearing Ringo Starr's voice narrating it. But it was new. And narrated by an American. I'm sure that even new episodes in England don't have an American narrator. Wierd. And what about Rupert the Bear? American voices on that too. How very odd. I've noticed a lot over here that there's a certain urgency to become more European - a lot of English shops are opening over here, and everyone's rushing to them trying to catch up with European fashions and so on. But nobody seems quite comfortable being entirely British; they want a comforting American edge to it.
Here's an example of what I mean. I'm sat watching the Antiques Roadshow right now; but not as I know it. It's an American version.

I know that the main attraction of this program is the discovery of the value of the items that people bring in, but in the UK this is all wrapped up in the discussion of the interesting features and history of each piece. For 23 years, The Antiques Roadshow has run on the BBC, giving viewers a chance to laugh at hopeful people being told that the masterpeice they paid a fortune for is a reproduction worth next to nothing, or to smile with delight when a little old lady finds that the teapot she's been using to keep coins in is worth a little over £100,000.
The BBC knows that what people want is to find out how much each item is worth. But, because they're British, they make sure that most of the show is based around the history of the pieces. The experts tell the owners of the antiques how much they should insure them for, and the owners brush over the value, as though it's far more important to them to know a little more about it than to find out how much money they can put in the bank after flogging it. All very British indeed.

The American version, whilst covering the history of the antiques to some extent, doesn't beat about the bush when it comes to the value of the pieces. The experts (who are all from famous auction houses) quickly run over a bit of information about the antique they are looking at, and then say something about how much they think it will sell for. The owner of the peice will then get excited about taking it to auction.

I don't think that Americans are more greedy than the British, I just think that the British do a better job of disguising their greed. Right now, the jury's out on whether or not that's a good thing.