Tell me it isn't so...

An old(ish) story I just stumbled accross on the BBC site...
[Full story here > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2491509.stm]

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Tuesday, 19 November, 2002, 17:56 GMT
'Americans think UK is in Mid-East'

Numbers of overseas visitors to the UK are still down

Many Americans know all about London and England but think the United Kingdom is in the Middle East, Tourism Minister Kim Howells has told a committee of MPs.
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I know Europeans often have a chuckle at our American friends for not knowing a lot about the world beyond their borders...but it is hard for me to know if this stereotype is justified. I have spent a lot of time in the US, but among the company of a lot clever people who tended to have travelled extensively, so I couldn't use them to draw any conclusions.

But once I was chatting to some guy, and he had no idea that European cities were not based on a grid layout system. And when I showed him the sprawling mess that is a street map of London, he couldn't believe it!!!! (How do you know where to go?) Of course, the British navigate by pubs 🙂, and I don't think they do that in any other country.

-Russ

??? I thought Europe was part of eastern Texas. It isn't?

Marc

Originally posted by mwmiller
??? I thought Europe was part of eastern Texas. It isn't?

Marc

Russ,

It is true! When I was seeing an American girl and went over to stay I was asked such classics as "can you see Britain from England", and been told "that I speak very good English for someone from England (they thought we spoke French)". I just don't think Americans are taught anything about the rest of the world in school. I nearly had a fight with a head stong American lass travelling through Asia who refused to accept that Russia had any part in winning WW2.

Andrew

Originally posted by latex bishop
Russ,

It is true! When I was seeing an American girl and went over to stay I was asked such classics as "can you see Britain from England", and been told "that I speak very good English for someone from England (they thought we spoke French)". I just don't think Americans are taught anything about the rest of the world in school. I nearly had a ...[text shortened]... travelling through Asia who refused to accept that Russia had any part in winning WW2.

Andrew

Originally posted by UncleAdam
I'm from the USA and I know that people from England speek English
and people from France speek French, and that *French* frys are an American food and did not have anything to do whith France 😀

-Adam

(maby I'm the only one)

And the Map King is from a country without a Royal Family. Classless? By no means. We have the Very rich, the rich, high middle income, middle income, low middle income, the poor , the very poor, and the homeless.
John
Merry Christmas

Originally posted by UncleAdam
I'm from the USA and I know that people from England speek English
and people from France speek French, and that *French* frys are an American food and did not have anything to do whith France 😀

-Adam

(maby I'm the only one)

Originally posted by latex bishop
Don't worry Adam, I am not having a pop at Americans in general. I'm British, we have a go at every nationality :o)

It is sad when our "smart" bombs are smarter than our people. It weems like we don't know where a country is on the map unless we are at war with it. We excell at a lot of things, some not so good, but never at geography. 😳 Kirk

I read somewhere (irony?) that over 60 per cent of American men never read another book after high school (this obviously doesn't include magazines, which might give Bobby Fischer more of a chance)

OK, quick quiz for any Americans. Which of these is the odd one out?

Africa
Poland
The Bay of Biscay
Ho Chi Minh City
Lapland
Tergunia
The Caspian Sea

No cheating and browsing the Internet for the answer!

Originally posted by Acolyte
OK, quick quiz for any Americans. Which of these is the odd one out?

Africa
Poland
The Bay of Biscay
Ho Chi Minh City
Lapland
Tergunia
The Caspian Sea

No cheating and browsing the Internet for the answer!

Originally posted by Russ
An old(ish) story I just stumbled accross on the BBC site...
[Full story here > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2491509.stm]

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Tuesday, 19 November, 2002, 17 ...[text shortened]... nd I don't think they do that in any other country.

-Russ

Originally posted by UncleAdam
Off the top of my head

Ho Chi Minh City

All the others are contrys and that one is a City
-Adam😀