Considering the things we don’t have - grizzly bears, tigers, hippos, wolves - I actually feel we’re a bit underdone in terms of dangerous wildlife. Sure we have crocs and sharks - but so do America and Africa and Asia.
I’d much prefer a dangerous critter that’ll bite you on the ankle, versus one that’ll chew your head off. No antivenom is available for decapitation!
And where are those blasted flattish spaces?
Nava, you’ve been whooshed.
Actually, I’m pretty sure she did get it. Google the Spanish phrase from her post.
(incidentally - it Hebrew, it’s hail in southern Spain).
I was asked one time in Illinois if we had pizza in Ireland.
My American cousin on her first visit to Ireland expressed amazement that we had microwaves.
:smack:
Would that make it a 2nd order whoosh, or a meta-whoosh?
I’m amazed at some recent posts here by people expressing the view that all British people look down on everyone else, and that British people are all polite and emotionally restrained. This may be true in comparison to Americans in a very broad sense, but there are plenty of working class (and indeed middle class) Brits with “earthy” demeanors and modes of expression.
I wonder how many misconceptions are based on misunderstood comments.
About 5 years ago, my husband and I vacationed in Maine for the first time. There were a couple of foggy days, and I commented about the fog, because the way it rolled in was different from fog I’d experienced other places where I’d lived. One young woman I was talking to asked in amazement “Don’t you have fog where you live?” Had she just overheard me and moved on, she might have thought that Maryland doesn’t get foggy.
Indeed! Well played, Nava.
My favorite two misconceptions I’ve heard about China are:
[ul][li]It’s exactly like North Korea.[/li][li]The city streets are clogged with bicycles.[/ul][/li]
Of course, the first one is often coupled with another misconception: that South Korea is North Korea. Yeah, I can’t wrap my head around that one either.
Yes, that was part of the point I was making.
The second isn’t exactly a misconception. The city streets are clogged with bicycles… and mopeds… and motorcycles… and cars… and trucks… and pedestrians. Your point is valid that the streets aren’t mostly clogged with bicycles, as happens in some under-developed countries. But, to be fair, there are lots and lots more bicycles and mopeds than you would see in most North American and European cities.
Nope. The misconception is that the sole mode of travel in the cities is bikes. Not electric bikes. Not scooters. Not a whole bunch of scooters and motorcycles clogging 4-wheeled traffic. Freaking bicycles.
My brother, who has only been to Mexico, was floored to find out that my Indian friend Rashani is Protestant. He thought Indians were all Hindu. Major education point about emigration, spread/mix of religions occured.
My Peruvian friend Becky constantly finds she shocks Americans by being Black instead of Hispanic or Indian. I wonder if they even understand the connection Peru has to Japan.
Wha? You mean it’s not rickshaws?
Um… in the second case, you mean white or Amerindian/Native American, right?
Because there are plenty of black Hispanics, although the *image *most people associate with South America, especially of the Andean countries, is either white or Amerindian (or mixed). Perhaps one of the most famous afro-Peruvians is Susana Baca. Nice, powerful voice.
I saw lots of rickshaws there. Most are pulled by bicycles, but they are common. Many are used for tourists, but many are not.
I don’t understand this post. But I might if I knew what “ZA” was.
ZA is an abbreviation of the Dutch Zuid-Afrika (South Africa)
As an anecdote I do remember a few cases of exchange students or tourists from the old country telling me that when did travel to other countries like in Europe (about 30 years ago), many times when their hosts found that they came from Central America then the hosts did try to teach the students how to use cutlery, or other very basic stuff. Thanks but no, we were not living in the jungle…
In a more general way one should not forget to point at one of the greatest debunkers of misconceptions about other countries, Hans Roslin.
One of the best short talks he made was about how many countries are progressing in leaps and bounds and many in the developed nations are not noticing.
Particularly fun is the time when he put a very ignorant Danish reporter in his place: