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Re: OT: baloney and cheese

From:Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
Date:Tuesday, March 18, 2003, 11:50
Quoting Sarah Marie Parker-Allen <lloannna@...>:

> No, but there are for a lot of places that are geographically close > together. A lot of people mix up states that are next door or nearby > (of > course, that's also because there were sadists involved in the > determination > of state boundaries, who had a secret love of squares). But a lot of > people > can't tell which is which in the pairings of Vermont/New Hampshire, > Kentucky/Tennessee, etc.
I guess I shouldn't be dissing the Americans too mcuh, since on a good day I might be able to get 30 of the American States right, and I'm considered to have an excessive knowledge of geography here.
> Most people also don't know which one is > Latvia > and which one is Lithuania, and I'm always impressed by anyone who can > find > Albania or Bulgaria on a map correctly. Also by people who remember > the > names of the countries that are in the *middle* of Africa, and people > who > can label a map of Southeast Asia accurately.
The middle of Africa? There's not alot of countries there. West Africa is alot worse.
> It probably doesn't help that the Swedes haven't left much of a > cultural > impression beyond tall women with blonde hair.
Nitpick: That's a racial, or whatever term you prefer, trait, not a cultural one. Incidentally, to me the land of blondes is Norway.
> When you know a lot > about a > place, it becomes easier to locate it on a map, in my experience. I > have no > doubts about my ability to find Ireland, Spain, or Lithuania on a map > of > Europe, but I'm a lot more careful about Wales, Norway, and Austria (I > have > serious problems with the centers of every continent).
Don't tell me you've got trouble locating the countries in in the centre of Norht America? Same for Australia ... :-) Andreas

Replies

Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...>
Sarah Marie Parker-Allen <lloannna@...>