the world

I remember asking my dad what state MichiganStateUniversity was in? Yes, I lived in Michigan but thought that when you went away to school you went out of state even if it was a state college!

When I was in kindergarten we were taking a family trip to Florida and my parents explained that we had to take an airplane. Naturally I assumed Florida was in the clouds and was trying to imagine what it would be like to walk in the clouds.

I used to hear adults using the phrase "sectarian violence" in relation to Northern Ireland and think it had something to do with garden secateurs. I also thought the "Cod War" between Britain and Iceland in the 70s was some sort of battle being fought by the fish themselves.

Until i was 14 i thought that volleyball was pronounced volleyvall...that is until my mom corrected me...i dunno it sounded right to me...even now i still say volley vall on occasion

I was 7 or 8 years old when my parents told me we were moving to England and I was convinced that London would be a small village with fluffy, warm dry snow all over it. I was very disappointed when I saw my first London snow storm (a whole 3 mm of cold wet grubby ice. Yuck!)

I also learnt about other kids' beliefs. I went to a school in Slough, where a pretty decent number of nationalities were represented and yet when I told them I was from South Africa, the response was: "but you can't be African! You're not black!"

Other favourites were:

"Did you have TVs?"
"Did you live in a mud hut?"
"Do lions wander all round the streets?"

Kids, eh?

I used to believe that if you touched a map, you would actually touch that place in the world--there would just be this huge finger descending from the sky, and you might kill people! So I never touched anyplace on a map until I was 8!

When I was a child at about 4 years young I used to believe that every time me and my Mom would go to the checkout at a store I thought that the person at the cash always gave you change no matter what the circumstances.

I used to believe that money was free and you could just go to the bank when you need some. Every time someone said they needed money I was like "HELLO!?!? Just go to the BANK!" People laughed and I didn't get it...I just got mad at them for laughing at me.

When I was 5, I asked my mom if we could go shopping and she said that we didn't have enough money. So, I just said "Then, let's go to the bank!" Little did I know, the bank is not a place that just has an endless supply of money that they just hand out to whoever wants it.

When I was about nine, I heard someone saying that they spent all afternoon balancing their checkbook. I thought that it meant they *literally* balanced their checkbook. I imagined people trying to keep their checkbooks balanced on the tip of their finger, and they kept it up there the entire afternoon. Those people must have been really bored!

When I was little, I thought you could get money at a store because I would see the woman behind the till giving my mother change. If my mother said I couldn't have something because we didn't have enough money I would say 'but we can just buy some money at the shop like you always do'.

I used to belive that if yo wrote a check, you didn't have to pay for it. So if my mom said,"I'm sorry honey, but we can't afford that", then I'd say "Just write a check!"

I used to believe…

for the longest time i thought that Stockwell Day was some kind of holiday about the stock market. but stockwell day was a leader of the canadian alliance (or something). it's not my fault if his name is weird!

When I was a little girl my Dad gave a friend and me a quarter. My friend put hers in her mouth and accidentally swallowed it. We went crying to my Dad and all he said was, "Don't worry, it'll all come out in the wash." It just so happened my Mom was washing clothes that day (using the old Maytag wringer washer). We followed her all day looking for that quarter and could never figure out how it would get from her stomach to the wash.

I used to save money up by throwing coins into the bottom of my wardrobe, among all the shoes and things. I believed that it would be easier to save this way, and that I would end up saving more money, because I wouldn't be tempted to go rooting around down there to take the money back. Also, I would never be certain how much money was there. It was a brilliant scheme.

I used to believe that Hawaii was down by Florida. because that's always where they put it in that little square...oh and I thought Alaska was right next to it.