The stereotype that many people share about Americans knowing very little about the world outside their borders is sometimes, sadly, very true. I don’t know anymore whether to laugh or cry when I hear some of the stupid questions asked. A French aquaintance was asked by a university student if Paris was near France. My own sister, upon hearing that I was traveling to Denmark for a weekend, asked if “that state” was located in Europe. After returning to the U.S. from Japan, countless people asked if I could now speak Chinese. Of course, this is NOT limited to Americans. When I asked some of my Japanese students where the capital of the U.S. was, many replied “Vancouver”. Does anybody else want to share some geography questions they have heard?
I’ve related this a few times before, but what the hell.
While on holiday in South Africa, I met this American guy. Seemed bright enough, mid twenties. So we chatted for a bit, and he asks where I’m from. So I tell him I’m from the Netherlands.
“You’re from the Netherlands? But that’s in Europe! Cool! My cousin lives in Milan, do you know him?”
I had to explain him that the distance Amsterdam - Milan is roughly the same as the distance Miami - Boston.
It’s not confined to the US, you know… My mother told me how, when she and my father were about to move to Wales, she told her mother they’d be living somewhere near Cardiff. To which my grandmother responded “That’s somewhere north of Scotland, isn’t it?”
(For those unfamiliar with UK geography: Scotland is the lumpy bit at the top, Wales is the lumpy bit on the left hand side, just above the sticky-out pointy thing, which is Devon and Cornwall.)
And, when I was unemployed and living in Gateshead, I once had a bit of a … debate … with a clerk at the local benfits office, when I applied under the Travel to Interview scheme for a rail ticket to Andover. I understood her reluctance when I realised she’d mixed up Andover (in Hampshire) with Hanover (in Germany). (Not that I wouldn’t have gone for a job in Germany at the time…)
::Raises hand:: Until a few years ago, I thought that Alaska was an island. You know how on maps it’s always in it’s own seperate box? I assumed it was an island, like Hawaii. I was so confused when I found out it was actually connected to the rest of the country. Grrr…
You’ll be even more confused when you find out it’s really connected to Canada. 
We would often hear this question when traveling from Hawaii to the mainland in the 70s and 80s.
“Ooh, what’s it like to travel in a foreign country?” Or we might be told that “We speak English so well for a foreigner.” grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
This reminded me of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” the other night when the couple debated for a couple of seconds whether Alaska or Hawaii were “completely made up of a group of islands”.
And, of course Pammi, you did mean to say Alaska is connected to a country,right? That country being Canada eh.
Outside their country?? Up until a couple of years ago, my roommate thought that New England was one of those states “up there somewhere.” Keep in mind that this is a college educated teacher. She’d just never had a geography course. Not that that’s an excuse to not know your own country, but one person can only know so much stuff. On a side note, she also though that Benjamin Franklin was a president. I like to keep these two little anecdotes handy for when she brings home a new boyfriend. 
I once had an argument with a girlfriend because she didn’t believe Canada was adjacent to the US. She refused to believe it was possible to drive all the way to Canada from North Carolina.
As I have mentioned before, while I was in school I learned a bunch about the USA. What did Americans learn about Canada?
What, you think this is limited to Americans? Surely you jest.
I know Canadians who don’t know how many provinces there are in Canada (there are 10, a nice round number you’d think anyone could remember.) I had a teacher who didn’t know that Labrador was part of Newfoundland and thought it was part of Quebec, even though we had a great big political map of Canada on the wall and Labrador and Newfoundland were both orange while Quebec was green. I cannot begin to tell you how many Canadians think the capital of Alberta is Calgary (it’s Edmonton) - even people from Alberta! Similarly, many do not know that Vancouver is not the capital of B.C. (it’s Victoria) or that Montreal is not the capital of Quebec (it’s Quebec City.) I can understand an American not knowing what the capital of a state is, you’ve got fifty to remember. But c’mon, we only have ten. Thirteen if you count the territories.
I’m not sure Canadians know as much U.S. geography as they’d like to say they do, either. I’ve met damned few fellow Canucks who can say how many states there are; I’ve gotten responses ranging from 47 to 55 on that one.
It’s cold and ya’ll talk funny. (KIDDING!)
I met some working ladies in a hotel bar in China, and they could draw a scaled map of China with rivers and valleys marked, but didn’t know where in the hell Korea was, or Taiwan, or what the US looked like. There good old Communist education for ya! Only SLIGHTLY better than US education (how many 20 year olds could sketch the US accurately?)
In fairness, a lot of maps produced in Québec show Labrador as part of La Belle Province. Perhaps your teacher was educated using a Québécois map.
Many Americans don’t know how many States there are. 52 is the most common wrong answer.
Travelling in SE Asia with a Canadian high school teacher, we were headed from Thailand to Bali, Indonesia (island nation). Several times she asked me if we were taking the train or the bus. Each time I would point out we’re going to an island, there was no bus or train! By the third or fourth time I was at a complete loss to respond without using the word idiot.
Geography neophytes abound…worldwide. From my experience (basically limited to Costa Rica), I have encountered that:
- People swear by Allah, Brahma and Thor’s Hammer*** that Sydney is the capital of Australia.
- Everyone would bet their grandmother on the “irrefutable” fact that Chicago is a state.
-
Hi, Opal! Cool, I finally got to say this. Now my life is truly complete.
- Almost no one knows how many states are there in the US.
As to Americans, well, let’s just say that you don’t get off the hook that easily. You won’t believe how many of your compatriots confound Costa Rica with Puerto Rico. :rolleyes:
***Yes, Mjollnir, they swear by you.
6 billion breasts and counting…Who ever said overpopulation was not a good thing?
Denmark is a state.
state 3a an organized political community under one government; a nation. (Canadian Oxford Dictionary)
And let’s not forget that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
…
I suppose the drollest one of my own is the ladies from Pennsylvania at Mont-Tremblant who complimented me on my English. (Yes, there are, in fact, anglophones in Quebec.)
Then there’s my roommate Moishe who was unaware that Egypt is in Africa, or that England is located next to Europe.
When I lived in California in the sixties I had a very noticeable English accent, having only just arrived. Several people complimented me on how well I spoke English for an exchange student!
On geography, a good bar bet is to challenge someone to name all fifty states- I have never known anyone get more than forty-six without resorting to a map or to friends, and most will fall at something around forty. People are more likely to know state capitals, but need the state name for the prompt. Try it.
Let’s see if I can, without consulting a map etc…
-
Alabama-Montgomery
-
Alaska-Juneau
-
Arizona-Phoenix
-
Arkansas-Little Rock
-
California-Sacramento
-
Colorado-Denver
-
Connecticut-Hartford
-
Delaware-Dover
-
Florida-Talahassee
-
Georgia-Atlanta
-
Hawaii-Honolulu
-
Idaho-Boise
-
Illinois-Springfield
-
Indiana-Indianapolis
-
Iowa-Des Moines
-
Kansas-Topeka
-
Kentucky-Frankfurt
-
Louisiana-Baton Rouge
-
Maine-Augusta
-
Maryland-Annapolis
-
Massachusettes-Boston
-
Michigan-Lansing
-
Minnesota-St. Paul
-
Mississippi-Jackson
-
Missouri-Jefferson City
-
Montana-Helena
-
Nebraska-Lincoln
-
Nevada-Carson City
-
New Hampshire-Concord
-
New Jersey-Trenton
-
New Mexico-Santa Fe
-
New York-Albany
-
North Carolina-Raleigh
-
North Dakota-Bismarck
-
Ohio-Columbus
-
Oklahoma-Oklahoma City
-
Opal-Hi!
-
Oregon-Salem
-
Pennsylvania-Harrisburg
-
Rhode Island-Providence
-
South Carolina-Columbia
-
South Dakota-Pierre
-
Tennessee-Nashville
-
Texas-Austin
-
Utah-Salt Lake City
-
Vermont-Montpelier
-
Virginia-Richmond
-
Washington-Olympia
-
West Virginia-Charleston
-
Wisconsin-Madison
-
Wyoming-Cheyenne
-
Washington DC (if you count the district as a state)
See, King Rat, there ARE 52 states!
You realize, Soup, that as far as most of us are concerned, you could have just made that list up and we wouldn’t know the difference.