places

I used to believe Finland didn't really exist, it was just a make-believe land with a made-up name, because "fin" means "end" in my mother tongue. Also, I heard Santa Claus lived there, and I already knew he wasn't real.

Koala Bala

Haha, I used to believe (2 or 3 years ago) that Las Vegas was LOST Vegas and that it couldn't be found and it was shrouded in mist!

Sam

I used to believe that Kansas was really black and white because of the Wizard of Oz.

Valerie F.

I used to think the Black Country region in the UK was called that because everyone lived in darkness there.

K

I was amazed when I first heard that people took vacations in Bermuda because I assumed they were putting themselves in danger of getting sucked into the Triangle.

Soap

When I was growing up in a suburb of Boston Massachusetts I heard a commercial for the Herald Newspaper that ended with the line "Boston Moves to the Herald!" Well I didnt know what the Herald was, or even what a commercial was, so I figured that it meant they were moving the whole city and everyone was going to have to get up and move somewhere else in the state if they wanted to stay in Boston.

Soap

I used to (up until the age of about 10) believe that there was a place called Random. I thought that it was a place in London, used to pick winners of competitions!

Anon

when I was little I loved digging deep holes in the sand at my cottage. My Grandpa used to say "you are going to find China soon". I always pictured that I was going to come accross dinnerware (china plates and cups!) buried in the sand... I never thought he meant I would find China, the country! :)

ts

i used to believe that "North" was whichever way i was facing at the time.. because on the maps in school books the directional star always had north pointing away from me..

kimber

I used to want to go to Africa so bad, so and every time I saw a nice row of trees, I used to thin Africa was right beyond the trees.

Summer

When I was little, my sister had a globe on which the states of the U.S. and those of Australia were shown in different colors, although elsewhere on that globe, different colors indicated different countries. I had already learned at the time that the U.S. was all one country. But for a long time thereafter, I thought that the states of Australia were all separate countries.

Deirdre

When I first heard that Newfoundland didn't become a part of Canada until 1949, I thought its name meant that it was a land only first found at that time, and was previously unknown.

Deirdre

When I was in my college class somebody held up a picture of the Empire State Building. I was so shocked! "Who moved the Statue of Liberty?" I asked. Nobody knew what I was talking about. "Who moved it off of the top of the building?" Of course everyone laughed their heads off. I visited the Empire State Building when I was little and when we were going to the top my Dad said we had to hurry so we could see the Statue of Liberty. I somehow inferred that we were hurrying up there to see the Statue of Liberty up there. I believed my whole life that Lady Liberty was atop the Empire State Building.

Merrie Lee

Ok so I live in Ontario, Canada and i remember when there was all this talk that Quebec wanted to seperate from Canada I was so dumbfounded because I couldn't for the life of me figure out how they would drill through the earth and physically seperate fom the rest of the country.

Stephanie V

I was babysitting this girl and her sister, they asked me about the places I have visited. Well I mentioned that I had been to Chicago. The girl looks at me in disgust, and says, "I will never go to Chicago! THEY EAT MONKEYS THERE!"

One of the most hilarious things I have heard from a kid, I really would love to know how she came upon that wonderful notion!

Stephanie

When I was little, I thought Saudi Arabia was 'Salty Arabia', and that all those sand dunes were made of salt. It made sense to me.

John Price

When I Was About 5 My Mum Got Me A Map Of The World For My Room. And Up Until I Started High School I Thourght That Ireland Was France & Germany !!

Crystal-Anne

...that each country was a different planet...that's why we had to fly to get there =]

Anon

i used to think that desert islands, pirates and kings with their castles don't or didn't exist at all

lacerta