Where is this woman from????? ( Archived) (53)

Funny huh? That reminds me of the time when I was attending Fordham University. This one guy mentioned that he couldn’t wait to get his passport so that he can go visit Puerto Rico with his girlfriend.

His girlfriend, being a Puerto Rican, was embarrassed and dumped him on the spot. I was not aware of the fact that many people don’t realize that Puerto Rico is part of the United States!

Okay fair enough if she didn't know that Budapest was the capital of Hungary but to not know that France is a country and Europe is a continent is just stoopid, stoopid, stoopid

Well at least the 5th grader was more intelligent, so there is hope!

Thats true.

OMG Sooooooooooo glad I didn't go to her school!!!!

I am surprised to see any kind of mean spiritedness coming from you. It is all too true that in general Americans are lacking in knowledge about other countries around the world, not just Europe and not just geography. The American culture and education system are quite egocentric. As I grew up, I believed the British Isles meant Wales, England, Ireland, and Scotland. I have traveled a bit, to over 30 countries, and have lived in 4 countries outside of the US; I too am an international teacher. Two summers ago I back-packed around what I would call Great Britain, but I guess that is wrong, and it is Great Britain and Ireland. I went to Dublin and other parts of Ireland, I also went to Northern Ireland and Belfast, Wales, Scotland and England, though I had been to England and Scotland before. In my mind was the idea that they were all one unified entity called the United Kingdom, and I was surprised to learn Ireland is a completely separate country. I should have known, but I didn’t. I'm one of those silly, ignorant, egocentric Americans, apparently. The other night on the forum I was reading and following along, drinking and also on cold meds, & I jumped in and said something about Dublin being part of the UK. A mistake for which I was/am extremely embarrassed, but the old thinking that I grew up with had prevailed. To Americans, the divisions in the European landscape can be confusing. It is about the same size as the US, geographically, and the boarders and governments have changed somewhat over the course of history, including recent history. I would hazard a guess that most Europeans are not totally familiar with all the US states, though they have not changed for a hundred years or so. Most American states are about the size of European countries; the states I have lived in are each about the same size as Germany, and each nearly as populated and complex. Americans don’t generally expect Europeans to be familiar with the specifics of each state, its government, culture, geography, history, etc. Almost everyone, here in Europe, and around the world, who asks me where I'm from in America has little or no idea where it is, much less what it is like, the government, etc. We should know more about Europe, yes, and I am very embarrassed about the mistake I made.

The program you cite on this forum post is an American program, and it is making fun of the lack of knowledge in America about geography. We are laughing, quite mean spiritedly I think, but laughing at ourselves. For you make the statement “Is Europe such a mystery to people in the US??” is hurtful. Few Americans are quite as clueless as that woman. She is purposely there to be ridiculed, and it isn’t, to me, funny to watch, but painful because of the mean spiritedness involved. I hope you will not take offence to this. It is only meant to present another viewpoint. I hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is offered as I have seen you as one of the more thoughtful people who contributes to the forums. I am not suggesting your posting is directed at me, and I hope I am not being overly sensitive. But, I do think that mean spirited is not the way to respond to ignorance. I know you, as a teacher, can understand this.

Oh dear, I'm sorry you see my thread as being mean spirited that was not the intention at all.

The programme is not one that I am familiar with therefore I had no idea it's sole aim was to ridicule people, but having said that people who volunteer to take part know this beforehand don't they?

Don't Americans watch this programme and laugh too? Perhaps those Americans that do watch it are the mean spirited ones as they know what the programme seeks to do which I didn't.

It was meant to be what I thought, and apparently many others agree, an amusing reference to a video clip, not another dig at America. In fact the funniest part for me was not the woman's lack of knowledge, but the expressions of incredulity on the faces of the schoolchildren participating, who were by the way bright kids.

So yes I do think you are being overly sensitive but given some of the content of the thread you referred to last night I'm not surprised.

From Mars

I don't know what exactly is taught in American schools but if I believe you then I can say whatever America teach to their kids in the end they can't change the world. Who cares about the egos they have.

I guess I had you alll wrong. My mistake.