Refreshing

I sometimes find it refreshing to discover there are places in the world where American culture has failed to infiltrate society. I am certainly in one of them. Any movie reverence... completely missed. Any movie reference. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Cinderella, the classics, all of them... not a part of the culture at all. The Oscars? People get a gold statue of a little man who ends up becoming a door stopper years later? Why?

Franchises too. The only one is Coke. Not a single brand name... and the ones I do stumble across have lost their meaning. I'll drive down the street and see any number of second-hand name brands or t-shirts that have significance in America but are just something to cover your back here. For example... the cool looking young man with a Curves light pink t-shirt. He has no idea it's a womens' exercise club... and if he did, it wouldn't matter. Or the off chance I come across an Ambercrombie and Fitch shirt... again, no meaning.

I love the shirts. They really crack me up. Like one extremely built friend who rarely cracks a smile and looks like Mr. T. He only wears black shirts, but some have writing on them. One is the USA Army slogan: "Lead, Follow, or get out of the way." With him wearing it, I believe it. Another says "Some Like It Hot" but my favorite has hot pink writing and says Bridesmaid. Of course I'll never mention what it means.

While it would be nice to be understood when making a cultural reference every now and then... I'm thankful this country has remained hidden from many of our Western influences.