the world: places

I grew up in London, UK and I used to believe that Chelsea (located in London) was actually way up North - somewhere near Birmingham.

I'm not quite sure when I realized the err of my thinking, but for awhile, I thought Pennsylvania (where I live) was pretty much the entire country, and the states that border us were really far away. Someone I knew was moving to Ohio and I was aghast at how "far" she'd be. I'm pretty embarrassed that I was like, eight or nine when I thought this. I knew that Santa Claus was fake & had a basic grasp of what sex was, but I really thought our state was so damn important that it was the whole country. Blame it on the state maps the teacher used! Not a full nation map, just our own. It certainly *looked* big to me.

If you dug through the earth to the other side you would end up in China.

When I was wee and I got bored and played Monopoly with my siblings on rainy days, I always wanted "The Angel, Islington" because I believed that was where all the Angels lived and they threw parties there. It wasn't until I moved to London that I realised that it was just a tube station..and a rather skanky one at that.

Up until the 6th grade or so, I assumed that Washington D.C. was in Washington State. (Naturally!) It was a weird perception shift to realize the White House and the President weren?t just north of me, they were clear across the country.

I used to believe that the president lived in Washington state and that he commuted to Washington D.C. for work. (because everyone always said "The president lives in Washington". I thought this was stupid and he should just live in D.C.

My mom was 40 and we were going to Chicago... she told me to "book a hotel room by the ocean." She also confessed that she thought Hawaii was up by New York. Nevermind, because until I was 18 I thought the Statue of Liberty was in Washington state.

I used to believe that the Tallest Mountain in the world, Mt Everist, was actually in my own country, Australia.

I overheard a little boy talking with his dad in a bookstore:

"Dad, are England and Europe the same thing?"

This is a common misconception in suburban New Jersey.

I used to live in Hawaii while my extended family lived in Utah. We would find ourselves visiting them often, so I thought the entire continental United States was called "Utah."

I used to believe that the Lehigh tunnel in Pennsylvania was created by Superman.

When I was small my mom went to Vegas all the time. I thought it was the city made out of gold in the sky, because I would see the plan take off and not land. :)

When I was little, I used to think that whatever direction I was facing was north.

My dad told me (with a straight face) when I was nine that Mt. Rushmore was made in the same way as the Grand Canyon (i.e. millions of years of water carving through stone). For four years I believed him, speaking to no one about it and wondering why the world wasn't abuzz with excitement and awe that a constant rush of water could eventually carve out exact facial replicas of four of America's greatest historical figures. I thought maybe it had been discussed and accepted by people before I was born and no one therefore no one brought up the wonder of it anymore. When I was 13 I finally asked my mom didn't she find the whole thing amazing and she told me the (less than amazing) truth.

i used to believe that the battle of Hastings happened in a field at the edge of our village (which is in Somerset)

I was born in Brooklyn NY. Until I was 9 and moved upstate, I thought the entire state of NY consisted of the 5 boroughs (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island).

Apparently many people still believe this, as they are shocked when I tell them I live in the mountains of NY...