The Same, But Different

Tonight, Mark went out to the local cineplex and took in a showing of Thor.  (It is not clear why this movie was already showing here while it appears to have not opened yet in the United States, but Mark is willing to watch a movie without asking a lot of questions.)  For those who are interested here is Mark's Review: it was a pretty good summer movie.  Lots of action and special effects.  In fact, Mark will go so far as to say it was the best movie based on a comic book based on a Norse god myth that he has ever seen in 3-D.

Ever.

Astute readers may have noticed slight differences in the two posters for this film posted above.  The version on the left (no, your left, not my left) is the American version.  The version on the right is the poster hanging outside the theatre in Blagoevgrad.  The most obvious difference is the title.  The American version is called "THOR" while the Bulgarian version appears to be called "TOP."  Anne and Mark have been informed that there is no equivalent for an "H" in the local tongue and the written "P" is pronounced like an "R" would be in English, so "TOP" is as close to "THOR" as they are going to get (although it will probably sound more like "tore" when pronounced).  This is a minor difference between the two posters to be sure, but interesting nonetheless.  And it got Anne and Mark to thinking about what other things they have seen that look or sound really familiar, but might not be exactly the same as they are in the U.S.

The first thing that came to mind was the beefeaters.  In England, a 'beefeater' is a name for the royal guards.  This name may go back to the middle ages when the guards received part of their wages in food, including beef, or they may have had the privilege of dining with the royals from time to time, on the better food of the day, which may have included beef.  Whatever the source, the name stuck and now when you tour the Tower of London for example, the beefeater will guide you (*for those who are curious, the beefeater guards are quick to point out that their name is totally unrelated to a popular gin of the same name).  In America, obviously, 'beefeater' has an entirely different meaning.

English Beefeater

American Beefeater

Similarly, there are some things in various parts of Europe that look familiar to Anne and Mark, but upon further review are probably something completely unrelated.  For example, this work of art that Anne and Mark saw at the British Museum is actually a bust of Achilles, the Greek god, not a Pro Football Hall of Fame bust of Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris.  But you can see how one could make that mistake.

1 Significant Ankle Injury

12 seasons, 12,120 Rushing Yards, 91 TDs, 4 Super Bowl Titles

Speaking of pro football (the real kind), Anne and Mark saw this man walking around Blagoevgrad.  They initially assumed that he was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, but it is possible that this was an erroneous assumption.

A little off center, but pretty sweet.

Butt ugly.

Some things here are very similar to things that we have in the U.S., but are just used differently, like the letter "P" as discussed above.  For another example, around Memorial Day every year, motorcycle riders from around the U.S. converge on Washington, D.C. to ride and raise awareness for veterans' issues in an event called "Rolling Thunder."  Blagoevgrad (apparently) has a similar event - but it's a little different.

Rolling Thunder

Cycles Through Blago

Quick Comparison:


                                 "Rolling Thunder"                              "Cycles Through Blago"

Most Popular Ride    Harley                                              Dink

Main Effect              Raise awareness for veterans issues            Wake up Anne and Mark
                              

Date         Memorial Day, every year                Saturday morning, a couple weeks ago

Where to See It       National Mall, Washington, D.C.     Anne and Mark's kitchen window  




And finally, in Greece, Anne and Mark saw a whole bunch of these:

These were all over the place there.  The locals refer to these as "Smart Cars."  At first, Anne and Mark wondered if this were a new thing, essentially half a car (no back seat or trunk) that probably got great mileage and was 'green.'  However, after stepping on a few of them (like I said, they're all over the place), Mark realized that what the Greeks were calling "Smart Cars" are actually what Americans refer to as empty beer cans.