The Clash of Cultures

No not between me and Africa. Rather, the US and the UK!

In the Office/Guest House, lives Renee (Canadian, but fairly US-unized because she lived there for so many years). Now Me, and long long term is Ruth. Ruth is from Manchester, England.

So, last night we somehow got on the topic of words we say differently. I think it started with Renee asking Ruth if she says "Pop" or "Soda". Ruth seemed confused, so Renee clarified by asking what she calls carbonated beverages. While Ruth was thinking, Renee said she says CB. "May I have a CB please?" Ruth says she says Fizzy Drink. And as we looked on in questioning belief, she said that when she's at a restaurant, she asks if they serve fizzy drinks. So, on the conversation went, until the inevitable topic of ALUMINUM foil came up. Of course the British say "Aluminium" (a-loo-MIH-nee-uhm). But seriously, there's no extra "i" anywhere in the packaging. I have done a THOROUGH search of this, and even Ruth concedes that there's no extra I in the word, but THAT IS THE WAY IT IS PRONOUNCED. She says the ENGLISH KNOW their ENGLISH.

I even looked it up on Wikipedia, and THIS is the first sentence in their entry:

Aluminium foil (known as aluminum foil in North America) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leafs, with a thickness less than 0.2 mm / 0.008 in, although much thinner gauges down to 0.006 mm are commonly used.
As opposed to OUR Aluminum foil (correctly spelled and pronounced, Renee and I might add).

But, SERIOUSLY, THIS is how it's spelled:



Renee thought we could settle the dispute by seeing how the Kenyans spell it, seeing as how they were a British colony until the 1960's, this seemed reasonable. So, she pulled open the drawer where we keep such supplies and, Voila! this is what we found...
I need your help - please weigh in your thoughts on this topic. WHICH way is correct?