places

i used to live in philippines and when i was 9yo. my mom told me that we were going live in canada and i thought that we have to go on a spaceship to travel. i used to believe that each planet is a country!

miz_kuletz

I also used to believe that if you turned on the hair dryer and pointed it at a globe, it would blow us all off the planet. *snerks at self*

Blair

i didn't know canada was a separate country from the usa until i was about 12... i grew up right by the border of niagara falls ny and niagara falls ontario and thought it was the same city cuz we went there all the time to shop. i think i found out it was a separate country in school, and i just remember being shocked that i was actually an international traveler.

jessica

I got the word immigrant confused with terrorist. I moved to the US when I was 4 and I used to think I was a terrorist instead of an immigrant.

Anon

I was well into my teens before I realized that Pearl Harbor wasn't in California.

Anon

I used to think that countries were states and states were countries.

Rachel

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...

Anon

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

Paul

When I was about 6 yrs old...I'd often hear your facing North... hmmm
So; it did not matter which way I was facing; North it was...East was to the right of me...West to the left...and South was behind me... I got so messed up when I finally realized that it wasn't the case. hehehe!!!

know better now

(i live in northern europe)i believed that america was placed where asia is, and duckburg was an independent city within the usa (!)

little miss from norway

When I was little, I thought east/west was exactly the same as right/left, and if I turned around they would change places...

baka

I used to think Pennsylvania was the United States capitol.
(Well the white house is on Pennsylvania Ave or something, isn't it? I guess that was one of the moments I was dazing out during class...)

Carrie

To understand this, one needs to know two facts:
1. My mother lived in Greece for a while in her 20's.
2. My grandmother lives in a house by the riverside.
Going to my grandmother's house was always an adventure, especially going out back to swim; and I was convinced that, if one swam far enough, one would get to Greece, just on the other side of the river.

Jade NB

I used to believe that if you dug deep in the ground, you would pop out (upside down of course) in China.

Monty

Living in the US for a while I meet people allllll the time who believe that Holland and The Netherlands are two different countries. I met a boy a few days ago who said that his ancestors were from Holland but even he didn't know that the official name for Holland is: The Netherlands.

Renske

While growing up in upstate New York, whenever my sister and I would be fighting or causing a ruckus, my mother would often say, "You kids are making me crazy! You're going to drive me to Poughkeepsie!" (Referring to a large Mental Hospital that used to be in that city.) Not knowing anything about the hospital, I used to think that Poughkeepsie was a city over-run with insane mommies that had been dropped off in the streets by their children. I still laugh when I get this image in my head.

EricS

During my first years at school we had an outline map of the world on our classroom wall. I often wondered why someone had written the word 'and' in the bottom right corner near Australia. Years later I realised that this was New Zealand.

Mike B. London

As a young child, learning the United States map....I believed each state had the lines around them, there were times in travelling I looked for those lines

Beth

Someone told me if you dug and dug and dug you'd eventually reach Australia!!!

Anon

i live in a lakeside house and when i was about 4-7, i thought across the lake was disney land and mexico. i picked out the hotels, rides, everything.

samantha