Results of Poll by Email No. 18

        Sorry that this is a wee bit late, I was at a wedding that was two hours away
so by the time I got back I was too tired to tabulate the poll. But better
late than never. This was another popular poll, with 34 responses. The
results are as follows:
        I am a citizen of:
        A. A country in Western Europe. (11 responses, 32%)
        B. A country in Central Europe. (1 response, 3%)
        C. A country in Eastern Europe. (1 response, 3%)
        D. A country in the Middle East. (1 response, 3%)
        E. A country in the Far East. (0 responses 0%)
        F. A country in North Africa. (0 responses, 0%)
        G. A country in Sub-Saharan African. (0 responses, 0%)
        H. A country in the Austronesian/South Pacific region. (2 responses, 6%)
        I. A country in South America. (2 responses, 6%)
        J. A country in Central America. (0 responses, 0%)
        K. A country in North America. (16 responses, 47%)
        L. Other. (Several responses, all hammered in elsewhere. :)

        Several of you expressed your interest in being elsewhere. Interestingly
enough, all of them were in North America (and probably all in the US--not
that I blame you). Clint Baker wrote, "I'm a K who'd much rather be an A."
Hanuman Zhang also tried to confuse me: "A.K.A.  *hehe* I was born in: (A.) A
country in Western Europe. [London, England,UK] I grew-up in and I am in:
(K.) A country in North America. [USA] I wish I was in:  (A.) A country in
Western Europe. [mayhaps the Netherlands ;)]" Well, until you visit the
British consulate, you're still a K! Ha! Another one pegged!
        Another one with immigration plans is Christopher Wright, who explained his
plan of action: "I'm a US citizen, but I'm moving as soon as I learn Tai
Sheng Pek Kwar and Bak Mei Pai and Tatsu-Do, and, incidentally, earn a
master's in linguistics. (Tai Sheng Pek Kwar is Monkey Axe Fist; Bak Mei Pai
is White Tiger; Tatsu-Do is Dragon Way. Two gung fus and a karate.)" So,
where are you moving to? Kenya? Peru? Lithuania? ;>

        In the "You need to get out more" category is Stephen Degrace, who writes,
"K. Canada. Which I've never been out of except the visit Saint-
Pierre, which is technically part of France, even though it's an hour
off the coast of Newfoundland by boat :). It's kind of sad, really." Indeed.
He also included his roles in the Conlang Cabal (shh! Top Secret!): "You
decided not to ask, but my role in the Conlang Merican Military Cabal (CMMC)
is as political operative... my job specifically is to destabilise the
federal government of Canada and the strategically key provincial government
of Prince Edward Island with the ultimate goal of having Uatakassi replace
English and French as the official language within ten years. This is
enormously strategically significant to American military goals, but I can't
tell you why because then I'd have to kill you. Which I'm licences to do. I'm
sure you understand." Say, that was my first (written) death threat! Maybe I
should start collecting them. :)

        Tristan McLeay saw my grouping of Australia under "Austronesian" as
discriminatory: "Poor old Australia. Just because it's the oldest, smallest
continent, is that any reason to discriminate against it? You've given
at least two options for every other continent except Antarctica (which
you didn't even include, for shame) and South America, but Australia has
to settle with being a part of a large, varied area. Or maybe it's a
backlash for our selfishness and having an entire continent for one
country? That's it isn't it? Well---blame Western Australia, they
could've pulled out (or not even joined in in the first place---our
constitution is a mess with clauses assuming WA would join and clauses
assuming they wouldn't. Indeed, at one stage it was more likely that NZ
would join than WA. Just as well they didn't, we couldn't mock the Kiwis
if they'd joined... although we mock the Bananabending Rednecks from Qld
anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter)) but they didn't. So it's their
fault." Just to add fuel to the fire, a certain Kiwi who shall remain
anonymous had no trouble in answering "H"...

        It looks as though we're a pretty diverse group, albeit with heavy
concentrations in Western/Northern Europe and North America. Some of the
countries that you responded from included Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Colombia, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway (Sorry, Arnt, but
since I included Sweden as Western Europe, Norway has to go there, too),
Israel, Czechia, Ireland, and of course, Southern California (which any
'Mercian will tell you is a separate country.).

        Well, thanks to everyone who participated, and stay tuned for Poll by Email
No. 19!
        :Peter

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