I grew up in London and remember seeing lots of cranes and building sites in the city (as there still are). I used to think that one day, London would be completed, and that then all the builders would pack up and go home.

James

When I was a little girl, I made a point of memorizing each country's flag so that if I was ever kidnapped and ended up in a strange place, I'd know where I was.

texasbabe

I used to think that you could actually dig a hole to China and set about attempting it when I was about four. My mother found me in the backyard, trowel in one hand and a suitcase in the other, and asked me what I was doing. I informed her that I was going to China for the week and I would be back in time for church.

texasbabe

I used to believe that Florida was really heaven becuase we would fly through the clouds to get there and it was filled with many old people, including my grandparents.

Jason

I used to look at a map of the world and think that it was only half of the world, and that when I flipped over the map, the other half of the world should be there. I would demand "but where is the other half of the world?" and become very distressed that grownups apparently weren't alarmed that half of the world was missing, which made me think that they were being brainwashed and I was the only one who knew that some greater power was trying to hoodwink us, or else the other half of the world didn't show up on the map because it wasn't discovered yet. I swore to become an explorer and find the other half of the world when I grew up. And yup -- I love traveling the world, though I know all the major landmasses are where they are supposed to be.

moon grocer

I used to think I could go to a country like Australia, see what the winning lottery numbers were, then fly back to Ireland in time to play those numbers anf become a millionaire. It didn't help that my aunt encouraged this belief.

Clare, Ireland

I used to think that the faces on Mt. Rushmore was a natural phenomenon. Of course, I grew up in Canada so it wasn't like they bore resemblance to the guys on my money.

gihrose

I used to think that The Great Wall of China was made out of porcelain.

Morten Vestergaard

When I was about 5, my family went to New Hampshire and saw the Old Man of the Mountain. My parents were pointing at it and asking me if I could see the old man. Well, here I was thinking there really was this old man up there and wondering why we were bothering him, staring at him like that!

Lisa

Diana, Princess of Wales was a confusing title to a seven year old girl. Unaware that Wales was part of the UK, I thought she was princess of the big, underwater mammals. I wanted to be Princess of Dolphins. Still do, actually...

Xornia

As a child I used to listen to radio programs. Often the host would indicate that contestants were chosen at 'random'. I spent hours looking through the atlas trying to find out where
'random' was located. I finally for some reason came to the conclusion that it was somewhere near Rochester.

Ken Bobrosky

When I was about six, my father introduced me to the map of the world. He pointed to my country (Sri Lanka) and said, 'see this country the size of a grain of rice, that is where we live'. For years after that I lived in mortal fear of waking up one day to find myself and everything around me engulfed in boiling water. I figured if our country is as small as a grain of rice, it's only a matter of time before somebody decided to cook it!

damith

A friend told me (and I didn't totally disbelieve him either) that when you go in an aeroplane on holiday, the plane just flies around and around in the sky, while the people on the ground change the scenery and the temperature. The more complicated the change, the longer you stayed in the sky (which is why places like Japan take so long to get to). Then, when the people on the ground were finished, you would land back at the same place, but never know the difference!

Sharon

I used to think that Norwich was Britains answer to Las Vegas, all because of the glamourous image projected by Nicholas Parsons and Sale of the Century. Palm trees, big cars, beautiful women.
Sadly, this belief persisted until I was 19 or so, and actually went to Norwich, and found out it was a dump.

Loz H

I used to believe that countries really had their names written across them and that when you reached a border there would be a red dotted line on the ground.

Looby

When I was 4 or 5, we took a family trip to North Carolina. As we were driving back, it was getting late and my mother mentioned that we were getting close to Pennsylvania. My father then said "Uh-oh, it's getting late! I hope it's not closed!" For the longest time after that I really believed that certain states closed at night, and everyone had to leave and come back in the morning.

I wonder if parents realize that kids take everything literally!

Phil

i believed that england was a medieval country without cars and telephones. the reason was that i watched the silver jubilee of queen elizabeth II. on the telly in 1977 and there were only horses and old uniforms. the announcer was also referring to queen elizabeth I. who had lived in the middle ages. logically, number one is mother of number two - how exactly elizabeth II. could ever manage to live from 14hundredsomething til this day i couldn't sort out but it was amazing to know that there was a medieval country still in existance.
i also thought that latin america had to do with ancient rome and people would walk around in togas, live in colosseum- and temple-like buildings and speak latin

german geographer

As a child, after I found out that "urine" is the "proper" word for pee, but before anyone had told me how to spell it, I was studying maps. I looked at maps of various places, including the great lakes region. When I first saw Lake Huron on a map, I thought h-u-r-o-n might be the way to spell that new word, urine, that I'd recently learned, so I really wondered about Lake Huron. I was well learned enough by then to think it extremely unlikely that there was literally a giant lake of pee there between Michigan and Ontario. But I thought the lake must have been named derogatorily by someone who perceived something inpure or unaesthetic about its waters. Even though this was a confusion on my part, it might have just given me a head start for later being aware of water pollution!

Janice

When I was a child, I used to believe that USA is a state of Poland, and someday we go there for a trip like we were doing this to Warsaw :)

nocnyMark

When I was very young, probably six or seven, I thought the D.C. in Washington D.C. stood for "Decorated by Columbus".
I imagined Columbus running about ballet style flinging columns and buildings and painting the sky patriotic. Oddly, I never thought it was "Discovered by Columbus", probably because that wouldn't lead to such entertaining images. ;)

Tom S.