I had heard of certain suburbs of big cities referred to as "bedroom communities" before I ever actually visited such a place. When I first did visit residents of such a suburb, I was very surprised to find that they lived in entire houses, and not just bedrooms.

Cheryl

The world is flat.

Babui

When I was little I use to think that the United States was the entire world. I was shocked when I found out otherwise!

Emma

well, when i was 5 years old i was in the former checersslovakia(sorry about spelling its late at night) when they split into slovakia and chek republic, i thought a huge lazer beam from space was goona come and cut the country in-half, meanwhile it was only a line drawn on a map how bizarre

kitana

When I was young (probably around three or four) I thought there were two Hollywoods, one in Miami and the other in San Francisco. I have no idea where I got this, but I think it was because my mom read a lot of magazines like People and I liked to look at maps. But I'm not sure about that.

Mike

When I was in first grade, my teacher taught us about the equator. She explained that it was an invisible line circling the earth. However, she had quite a thick southern accent. I thought she said there's an invisible lion (yes, the animal) circling the earth. I even raised my hand and asked her again! For quite a while I believed that there was an invisible lion running around and around the earth. Too funny!

Kris

I have no idea why, but until I was five or so, I thought that there were two Hollywoods, one in Miami and the other in San Francisco. I thought you could only shoot movies in those two cities. I don't know where I got this, but I know I liked to read maps, that may be where I got this.

Mike

Until junior high, I always thought of Africa as one whole country with lots of states. No one told me otherwise till the day I answered a question about what was the biggest country in the world. I said it was a tie between Russia and Africa.

Vella Van Jaun

I live in Arkansas, and at my preschool, there was a US map hanging on the wall. My state was green and the trees are green. Texas was purple.. my family and I went on a vacation to TX, and I asked my mom, "why aren't the trees purple?" I thought that colored map was what the US looked like from a space ship!

Sydney

up until i was 9, i used to believe that the Grand Canyon was in Downtown Manhattan. ( I live in the Bronx)...i used to ask my mom all the time if can go see it cuz it was only a train ride away....man i was soo disappointed to learn it was in Arizona...i cried.

Not a smart child

I used to believe that England was in the Moon.
I am from Brazil!

Anon

When I was little, I didnt realize the Middle East existed. I would watch Aladdin and think it was set somewhere in Asia or in a land that the Disney company made up for their movies. I didnt realize it was actually supposed to be a place on Earth.

Lily

I thought "Made in China" meant that was the material of the product. So naturally, I thought china was the most versatile material.

Ava

I used to beleive that the world was flat until I got into the fifth grade and my teacher told us that that wasn't true. I felt so dumb!

Melanie

When i was about 3 years old i thought that St Patricks Cathedral in Melbourne was Disneyland

Maxine Milton

I used to believe that Mexico and my family was in the sky, because we had to take a plane to visit them.

Kara

In the early 80's, I remembered there was a huge campaign to the save the world from hunger such as the song "We are the world," and I also remember all the talk about space exploration. So when they had can food drives at my elementary school, I assumed that they were sending the food by rocket to Ethopia which was located on the Moon.

Anon

When I was little I had heard the phrase "digging a hole to China." I have no idea where I heard this phrase from...but it stunned me. So...to see if it was really doable I took to the backyard and started to dig. I got about 1.5 feet, decided that no one could dig to China, and so gave up.

Anon

When I was little I used to believe that I had made up the country Italy (random I know, I have no idea where it came from). I was always surprised if other people knew about it, and I was only eight when I finally sussed it. I was devastated.

Someone-Who-Will-Remain-Anonymous