the world: places

I used to believe that Australia was a series of concentric circles, with prairie in the middle where kangaroos lived, then a band of jungle for all the creepy crawlies and snakes. There was then a ten feet high brick wall to seperate it from the road, and on the other side of the road were the houses.

I used to believe that no one lived in Anarctica not because it was cold but because it was at the bottem of the world, so you would fall off the earth into outer space if you went there.

I always believed that the White House was in Pennsylvania, because it sits on Pennsylvania Avenue. I didn't learn until recently (at an emberassing age I won't mention) that the capitol is in Maryland.

We lived in Texas, and my Mom was from PEI, Canada. When people would ask, "Why don't you drive to Prince Edward Island, instead of flying? My father would reply you HAVE to fly up to the Island.

I thought the adults were incredibly stupid because Canada was obviously the roof of the United States and you flew up like taking an elevator.

What my Dad really meant was he wasn't going to wait hours even days to take the ferry across to the Island. Not to mention Sis and I nearly killed each other in the car on trips from Houston to Kerrville. Even after the Confederation Bridge, Dad had no desire to drive from Texas to PEI.

I used to believe that Brazil was where RUSSIA is supposed to be!

I used to believe…

That Mexico and Canada were part of the US.

I was born in New York. We were one of the few Anglo families in our neighborhood; most of our neighbors were from Puerto Rico. We left and moved to the Midwest when I was 4. Until I was in my teens, I kept my misunderstanding of what my parents had told me about the location of Puerto Rico; I thought it was right off the coast of New York City.

I used to believe that Arkansas was pronounced "Ar-CAN-sas," not "AR-can-saw."

Ex: "Mommy, if this state is Kansas, why isn't this state Ar-kansas? It doesn't make sense."
"It just is sweetie."
"Maps are hard."

Growing up in the South, I used to believe there was a black dotted line dividing America. North of it was a vast wasteland of dirt and concrete, and South of it was paradise.
I got this from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. The first time we drove through Pennsylvania I was pleasantly surprised. I was 21.

Growing up I had a hard time with the state of Arkansas. I always heard people say the state of Arkansas and I always read about the place "Ar..Kansas" (the second part sounding like the state of Kansas). So I thought there were two different states...the state of Arkansas and the state of "Ar....Kansas". Geez...this one actually threw me off until I was in my late teens (i'm not american so it took me awhile to get that straighten out ).

i used to believe that ''Melbourne'' in Australia, was in the state of ''New South Wales'', instead of ''Victoria'', MELBOURNE IS IN THE STATE VITCORIA!. I believed this until I was 16!! haha

i used to believe that Chicago was the capital of Illinois because that where Oprah lived....i found this not to be true in fourth grade after i had raised my hand proudly and said...."Chicago is the capital of Illinois because Oprah lives there."

I used to believe that the country was still full of wild Indians and Cowboys in my state ok. and in tx.

Thanks to old Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons they used to air on TV all the time, I used to think that Hollywood was just like it was in the 1930s, all the old movie stars like Groucho Marx, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Greta Garbo and Mae West were still alive and Shirley Temple was still 6!

When I was in elementary school I had no idea that Great Britain and Enlgand were the same county or even in the same general area. Imagine my confusement when I heard about the UK, too.

When I was a kid, my mom and I were out driving, and she looked at a guy's license plate and said, "Guess that guy's from Alabama."
I wasn't too familiar with Southern states, growing up in California, and was rather amazed with my mom's ability to deduce the origin of a fellow driver without even talking to him.
I thought for a moment, and then in a rush of inspiration, I asked, "How do you know? Is it because he has a banjo on his knee?"