the world

I once believed that the bank was where people went to pick up money, and it gave out infinite amounts of it. When I used to want toys, and my mom said she didn't have the money right then, I'd say "Well, we can just go to the bank and they'll give us some!"

I was told as a child that you couldn't enter Scotland without a kilt on. Pertrified of having to wear a skirt I used to hide under my coat in the back of the car when we crossed the border...

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.

When I was a child, I somehow got it into my head that 'The Government' was the same thing as the cobbler who wore a stained white overcoat and worked in a small shed at the bottom of the railway bridge near our house. I'm not sure where the connection came, but I remember it being maddening when, as a five year old, I attempted to explain to my mother the truth of the matter -- hoping she wouldn't be duped into believing the lie that everyone else had bought into.

When I was a small child, I used to believe that each night, Jimmy Carter (then president of the US) would come into every little girl's bedroom and say good night. We never did find out who (or what) that person was that I saw each night!

I used to think that each country was stacked on top of each other. That's why planes took off into the sky after all!
Because of this, I used to watch Golf and get worried as the ball went down the hole. I was keen for the golfer to get it right away before it'd fall through to another world.

When I was a kid they would put the name of football team West Bromwich Albion on TV as West Brom Albion, yet the presenter still said West Bromwich Albion. I, naively, assumed Albion was pronounced idge-albion [I was a kid] and naturally thought that Brighton and Hove Albion was pronounced Brighton and Hove idge-albion.

when i watched grandstand on a saturday, i used to think that if you came last in the 4th division at the end of the season, you would get releagated to the scottish first division

A friend of my mother's moved to Texas when she was little. Her best friend was terrified for her because she was afraid my mother's friend would be shot by Indians. This was the 1950s when Westerns were REALLY popular.

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.

When I was little I used to confuse the word "Lebanese" with "lesbian." There was a civil war going on in Lebanon when I was little, so I thought all Arab-looking people were lesbians. I remember my mother being very embarrassed when I ran into an Iranian classmate in the supermarket and said, "Look mom, a lesbian!"

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.

Many years ago I saw a disaster movie about a bridge collapsing. After that I was insanely frightened whenever my parents took me to Edinburgh, as we had to drive over the Forth Road Bridge to get there...

i used to believe that the name 'Gibraltar' was actually spelt 'Gilbratar' for years and until quite recently I was convinced that there was 2 separate place 'jibrolter' and 'gilbratar' I had seen one written down, misread it and made no connection to the actual word. Even now if i see it written down i have to read it twice to make sure.

I used to believe…

having grown up in western germany, i was told the strangest things about the eastern part of germany: socialism is very bad, you have to help harvesting during your summer holidays and socialism means that everybody has the same, that is close to nothing.
i was really terrified to get kidnapped by east german police. that changed when my gran got a letter from some distant relatives in east germany. thea had sent a photo, showing them all on a swing hammock - my idea of glamour and success, which i never got from my parents. naturally i thought that if everybody has the same i will recieve such a swinging hammock immedeately after entering GDR. i didn't move after all because i hated to help my mother in the garden and thought it even worse to harvest grain and hay...

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

Around the age of five, I thought that there was a huge apple somewhere in NYC because of it's nickname, the big apple. I kept asking evryone if they could see it when we watched the New Year's Eve program on TV

I used to believe the Bank was where poor people went to get money, I didn't know you had to actually have money IN there.....I would be so humiliated to go into the bank I would cry and hide behind my mom.

I was very insistent that Grand Prix was pronounced Grand PRICKS

I would argue with my parents all the time that it couldn't possible be pronounced the way they said it was.