# Your geographical misconceptions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294 "2020-12-30T20:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/542 "2021-02-09T19:32:17Z")
I bought a goat in Ellsworth Wisconsin once. We named him Ellsworth. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/543 "2021-02-09T19:33:04Z")
Sounds like a different incident from the one involving the student, who got off the plane. That one happened when I was living in New Zealand in 1985, so I remember it well. But I also recall that a similar thing happened later, but I haven’t been able to find it on line. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/544 "2021-02-09T20:01:51Z")
@Colibri Here’s a description of the 1985 event, from a [1985 newspaper article](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-04-02-mn-19265-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/545 "2021-02-09T20:06:58Z")
“These people in Oakland are crazy. Why are they all driving on the wrong side of the road? And what is this ‘there’ doing here? I know for a fact that there is no there in Oakland.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/546 "2021-02-09T22:17:25Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > But imagine the confusion, if you were in LA at the International terminal, hearing the announcement for a flight to “[Oa]kland” and thinking that flight were merely going to the Bay Area…so why would it be leaving the Intl. terminal? Others have covered the specifics of that event. In general, some major airports have dedicated “international terminals”, and some airports depart and arrive their international flights from the same terminal(s) as their domestic flights. These kinds of mistakes are a lot easier to make when the flights to Oakland and to Auckland might be across the concourse or adjacent along the concourse from one another. At US hub airports, it’s common that the hub carrier arrives and departs (most of) their international flights predominantly from their own gates in their own terminals and if a dedicated international terminal exists at all, it’s used by all the myriad of carriers from all the other countries of the world who fly through there. For example, at O’Hare in Chicago, United and American (and their codeshare partners) mostly use UAL & AAL’s terminals. It’s the British, French, Chinese, Polish, Latin, etc. airlines that are all sharing the international terminal. Similarly Delta at Atlanta, AAL at Miami, UAL at Newark, etc. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/547 "2021-02-09T22:54:46Z")
The hottest time was between 12 and 3. In the rainy season, you could pretty much guarantee that it would chuck it down at around 4pm. In the dry season we suffered the Harmattan, a dry wind that blew sand from the Sahara (hundreds of miles away) and everything was covered in red grit. My sister and I spent most of our time wearing just a pair of shorts and sandals if mother made us, so were were as brown as berries. Anyone arriving from England would be very pale and subject to serious sunburn if they weren’t careful. I recall a Young lieutenant who fell asleep on the beach and had to be shipped back home. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/548 "2021-02-10T01:08:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s usually only the case at the height of the rainy season in October and November. Admittedly it can get a bit tedious. It looks like Panama City gets an annual average of 1,730 mm rain while my city on the north east coast of Taiwan gets 2,864 mm. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/549 "2021-02-10T01:25:06Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Anyone arriving from England would be very pale and subject to serious sunburn if they weren’t careful. I recall a Young lieutenant who fell asleep on the beach and had to be shipped back home. My brother’s wife is South African. His kids, now in their 20s, have often visited South Africa. (They live in upstate New York). A couple of years ago they came here on vacation and we went to a coral island off the Atlantic coast for a weekend. I warned them about being careful of the sun. They said, “We can handle the sun! We’re African!” They both got badly sunburned, the older one so badly he was out of commission for a couple of days. > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > It looks like Panama City gets an annual average of 1,730 mm rain while my city on the north east coast of Taiwan gets 2,864 mm. The rain is very unevenly distributed. There is very little rain in the dry season from December to April. October, the peak of the rainy season, gets 330 mm (13 inches). ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/550 "2021-02-10T01:26:11Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > my city on the north east coast of Taiwan gets 2,864 mm. That is 112 inches of rain in American measurements. Which is a lot, by any standard. Does it rain every day? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/551 "2021-02-10T02:45:16Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > Up until today I thought it was a bird and a mosquito. Philistine! The beautiful shape of the pipes should be instantly recognizable! ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/552 "2021-02-10T05:28:45Z")
The original name for the state was to be Columbia, but this was rejected as being too similar to the District of Columbia. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/553 "2021-02-10T05:34:46Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Philistine! The beautiful shape of the pipes should be instantly recognizable! We should demand an audio file attached to the avatar - that would play when you read/quote a post. Or in your case - maybe not! 😀 😀 As oG is my witness, I thought is was green mosquito as well. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/554 "2021-02-10T05:40:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@Ynnad](#): > > > > Up until today I thought it was a bird and a mosquito. > > Philistine! The beautiful shape of the pipes should be instantly recognizable! It’s a weird green bird with skeleton wings. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/555 "2021-02-10T06:14:02Z")
It might be clearer as a set of pipes if it had a Scottish tartan on it, instead of a solid colour. **Northern Piper** , is there any way you could do that? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/556 "2021-02-10T06:21:45Z")
Techno-peasant, remember? As discussed in a different thread today, I don’t even know how to link to a screen-shot. Plus, most pipers that I know don’t have tartan bags, but solid colour. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/557 "2021-02-10T08:44:19Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Plus, most pipers that I know don’t have tartan bags, but solid colour. I’m tempted to remark that most pipers of my acquaintance have tartan-covered pipes, but a quick check of a favourite folk-music instrument supply website indicates that the pipes they’re selling are about half tartan and half plain. So, a plain-pipe avatar works, I guess. As an aside, while browsing that folk-music supply website, I found these: > **[Beautiful Musical Spoons, Ebony, 8”](https://larkinthemorning.com/collections/spoons/products/beautiful-musical-spoons-ebony?variant=5276375089193)** > > Beautiful ebony spoons that sound great. Great finish. Easy to hold. Might be a nice addition to my collection. I need more wooden spoons. 🙂 End hijack; let’s go back to geographical misconceptions. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/558 "2021-02-10T09:48:57Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > That is 112 inches of rain in American measurements. Which is a lot, by any standard. Does it rain every day? No but it rains a lot. There are more rainy seasons and less rainy seasons, but even in the less rainy season, there a minimum of 20% chance of rain, IIRC. I’m from Utah originally which gets most of the annual precipitation in snow, and the rain gods send a post card sometime in August. Even Japan is about 60% of here, with a lot of rain in the spring rainy season, so I wasn’t used to it. > [@smithsb](#): > > As oG is my witness, I thought is was green mosquito as well. I actually didn’t know what it was! When someone mentioned a mosquito, then I thought that was as good of an explanation as anything! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/559 "2021-02-10T12:46:03Z")
I always see it as an arm holding an arrow and impaled by three arrows. Even if I try to see the bag I can’t see it and see the arm instead. I can sort of visualize the bag _behind_ the arm, with just the pipes sticking out, but it seems like an awfully small bag to be totally concealed by the arm. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/560 "2021-02-10T14:30:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The rain is very unevenly distributed. Does it stay mainly on the plain? Or am I thinking of some other country? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294/561 "2021-02-10T16:13:05Z")
Mine’s more of a cultural geography thing, but I always thought that most of the Midwest/Great Plains states were all kind of vaguely Kansas-ish, but it turns out that west of about Grand Island, NE everything has a distinctly Old-West kind of flavor, and that it’s a very different sort of Old West flavor than I was used to in Texas. In Texas, the “Old West” is mostly about the post Civil War cattle drives from south and West Texas up to Kansas, and the settlement of the Texas Panhandle & subsequent fighting of the Comanches, because the eastern/southeastern parts of the state had been more or less settled and pacified long before the Civil War. Meanwhile, in Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota, it’s more about things like the homesteading, Oregon trail, Black Hills gold rush/Deadwood, etc… I didn’t quite realize that the “Old West” differs depending on where you’re at. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-geographical-misconceptions/929294.md?page=29)