Comments on Lipsticks & Lightsabers: Contrary to popular opinion...

omg... so spot-on!!! i'm asian myself (chinese...

2011-10-13T03:37:58.292+01:00

omg... so spot-on!!! i'm asian myself (chinese to be exact) and am constantly having to clarify to people that tokyo is not in china, neither are china and japan the same thing, and yes, even east indians and russians come from the continent of asia. i friggin' love you for this post!

very educational. i always thought great britain =...

2011-10-09T21:17:27.142+01:00

very educational. i always thought great britain = UK >.> i didn't study much geography.

at least i know europe is a continent! :)

i don't know about other parts of the world, but here we always have terms like 'european design' cars / kitchens / furnitures / etc. i always thought, can't you be more specific which european country??

I disagree, a bit. When someone says "I want...

2011-09-27T01:29:22.291+01:00

I disagree, a bit.

When someone says "I want to visit Europe" in general, I wouldn't flip, just as someone saying they "Want to visit America" doesn't make me irritated about One: which of the Americas they want to visit, Two: which country, and Three: if they are referring to the United States, which section or state? Because there is as much, if not more variation in cultures in this country from county to county alone than in the UK, and is comparable to Europe in most cases. For example, Cajun Lousiana culture is different from Southie Boston, or Maine, or sections of Georgia. I don't get bothered by it, so when someone says "They want to visit Europe", yes, they could be more specific, and in fact, they probably have a more specific idea of what they want to do, unless they just want to visit al of Europe which, though admirable, is a lot to do.

I can see why you might get annoyed by the other stuff, though. My friend Pegs flips when the whole "British" thing comes into question. But I don't agree with some of the other things.

Ahahahaha, no, you totally are talking to me! The ...

2011-09-21T02:17:51.752+01:00

Ahahahaha, no, you totally are talking to me! The manfriend was horrified to discover my total ignorance of basic geography outside the US. IN OUR DEFENSE though, geography is taught only up to about .... 7th grade, maybe? And much of that is US geography ... and then after that you can join the extra-special-suck-up class that is dedicated to memorizing all the countries in the world and everything there is to know about them, but most people chose not to stay after school or whenever it was to do that.

At least, in my state that's how it was. I have to assume/ hope some areas, like Washington D.C., would be more concerned with students learning about countries other than our own.

@Anastasia It was lovely, I have now been twice :)...

2011-09-20T23:44:47.735+01:00

@Anastasia It was lovely, I have now been twice :) The first time I saw the lower half of Ireland (mostly Dublin, Cork, and Newgrange), Almost 3 weeks travelling through all of Scotland, down to Nottingham (THERE IS NOTHING THERE :( ), then stayed in London and travelled a bit while staying there and back a bit through Ireland to finish. The second time I stuck to London and Edinburgh, I was just there to see Love Never Dies when it was first there...

I have to say, I would live there if I could...

Lol this post made me smile! I'm Scottish and ...

2011-09-20T11:18:33.863+01:00

Lol this post made me smile! I'm Scottish and people always say "are you from England?" um mm....no!! It beggars belief that some people are so uneducated about the world we live in! Good on ya for this post! :)

Awesome post Ana! I'm Italian and at best peop...

2011-09-19T18:54:47.494+01:00

Awesome post Ana!
I'm Italian and at best people mistake my country for Spain. At worst, they assume that Italians are all guidos like in that Jersey Shore reality, that we all speak like characters from "The godfather" and that Italy=Sicily.
It's pretty depressing, expecially when you try to correct them and you get answers like "it's such an unimportant country anyway, who cares?".

Awesome. :D We always get "Oh, New Zealand. T...

2011-09-19T11:49:58.296+01:00

Awesome. :D
We always get "Oh, New Zealand. That's part of Australia, right?"
And people telling us we're wrong when we say it is now spring over here. There are two different hemispheres, buddy.
FOR THE LOVE OF BAGUETTES IS THE BEST SAYING EVAAAR!

Lol, great rant :) Its nice for someone to set eve...

2011-09-19T04:02:07.592+01:00

Lol, great rant :) Its nice for someone to set everyone straight once in a while.
Im from New Mexico and when I travel to other states and tell them where I'm from, they're like, "Your country is dangerous!" Im like o_o

Canada is a huge supplier of oil, water and power....

2011-09-19T03:05:29.706+01:00

Canada is a huge supplier of oil, water and power. There are oil sands in Northern Alberta which could satisfy world needs for many, many years although the environmentalists get pretty crazy about it because the extraction process leaves a barren landscape. Alberta is the only Canadian province without a sales tax and that is due to the oil revenue. Unfortunately, also in a typical Canadian way, we charge much lower royalties than many other countries. We have power tie lines which stretch from our northern areas into the USA.

And yes, Canada does get forgotten sometimes but there are also things like the military's role in the liberation of Western Europe during WWII which allow us to live on proudly in the history books. The other thing is that throughout the world a Canadian flag on your baggage pretty much guarantees respect and kindness.

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!! OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS ENT...

2011-09-19T02:17:26.863+01:00

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!! OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS ENTRY

As someone who has lived in 6 different Western European countries (8 if you count the ones i've done freelance work in) and a general expat baby and travelling weirdo who can't settle down - I completely and utterly heart this particular entry. I thought it was just me who felt particulary irked at blanket statements about geographic regions. I also happen to be half asian but lo and behold not chinese... because it is possible to be asian and not be chinese, japanese or indian. DAMNIT

At the risk of maknig this comment too long I must share this: I am close friends with this lovely Lady from Cork in Ireland (they even have different cadbury's too) who works with me with another colleague. One day, said colleague just turns around and says "I dont know why, but Irish people are my favourite people ever" - you know, like, how my favourite fruit happens to be the banana sort of thing. Fi (the Irish lady) and I stared at each other at a complete loss for words when the girl piped up again and said "there's just something about people who put alcohol in their coffee"...
....
.... exactly....

This post totally cracked me up! I laughed myself ...

2011-09-19T01:06:35.592+01:00

This post totally cracked me up! I laughed myself silly.

I'm an Australian and I've occasionally been asked whether I'm from England by some Americans when I've been over there. I also had to repeat myself a lot since my accent apparently makes what I'm saying undecipherable.

Oh and just to clarify a couple of things, we don't have koalas in every tree and kangaroos hopping down the streets. And Sydney is not the bloody capital of the country.

I totally hear you. I live in Argentina and most o...

2011-09-18T22:34:15.811+01:00

I totally hear you.
I live in Argentina and most of the foreign people keep asking me if I'm from Brazil.

Great post! I feel your paino, this stuff really b...

2011-09-18T20:34:49.119+01:00

Great post! I feel your paino, this stuff really bugs me too! Especially when people use the word England meaning Great Britain or the UK. They are not the same thing! England is just a part of it!

THANK YOU! I'm from Scotland, and the amount o...

2011-09-18T17:17:44.898+01:00

THANK YOU! I'm from Scotland, and the amount of people who say 'It must be nice to live in England.....' because they think England is another word for the UK? Hilarious!

xo

@Mjolnir - Mythology, too? :p Yeah I've heard ...

2011-09-18T16:22:49.227+01:00

@Mjolnir - Mythology, too? :p
Yeah I've heard the "what's the difference" thing with Chinese/Japanese before, which is incredibly insulting considering that there's a lot of tension politically and historically between the two. It's just as racist as thinking all black people look alike imo. I wish there was more education about the different countries within continents and how they are all different.

Rofl! When you get to my tiny corner I'll show you around :D

@Magenta - Oh, yes x] sorry if I sounded aggressiv...

2011-09-18T16:20:33.942+01:00

@Magenta - Oh, yes x] sorry if I sounded aggressive. I meant, it's an interesting point, right? Everyone has assumed that it's about America. I think everyone could stand to know a little more about other countries, so the comments here have really taught me some interesting stuff.

No no no - I didn't say that you were being et...

2011-09-18T15:56:47.956+01:00

No no no - I didn't say that you were being ethnocentric, just that it's bad in general was what I was trying to convey. Didn't mean it to come off that way. I was just saying that loads of Americans tend to get all "omg please don't hate me because I'm American" when people make statements like yours, and it bums me out.

Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no... I find it so we...

2011-09-18T15:42:43.126+01:00

Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no...

I find it so weird that people don't understand the difference between a continent and a country. I'm a geography/history nerd so maybe I'm an exception but the misconceptions are mind-blowing!

While working at a restaurant, we had a Korean businesswoman ask, quite pointedly, what made the 'asian' beef so 'asian' and a group of Japanese businessmen(who were very loyal customers), from the Honda plant no less, be dismissed as Chinese by several employees. "Oh whatever, they're all the same!" is a surprisingly common response I get when pointing out that the different countries in Asia are very unique and individual from one another.

I plan to visit Europe. ALL OF IT, MUAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!!

@Yin - What is "Europeanness" - when Eur...

2011-09-18T12:00:26.399+01:00

@Yin - What is "Europeanness" - when Europe consists of 50 hugely varying countries across the world, what exactly is 'European-ness'? Each of those countries has their own rich history and culture, something which has the air of 'Spanishness' is probably not similar at all to something which is 'Frenchish' or Swedish or Norwegian or Scottish or Croatian or Russian. That's my point, it's completely unspecific. Many of these countries have almost nothing in common, describing something as "European" is often a worthless description which many people use to mean "not American". It's pretty degrading to the people who live in those different countries when no one tells them apart of even considers that they're a part of the sweeping statement they just made.
They might not mean to be 'unintelligent', but it still looks that way.

@Cinseven13 - And those who don't know the difference between Spanish and Portugese :S

@Magenta - On the subject of ethnocentrism... I didn't mention America. At all, in my blog post. Everyone has simply assumed that's who I'm talking about and that it's all about the ignorant American stereotype. I could have been talking about any non-European country, not necessarily America.

@Robyn - I think that might be why Americans use 'British' instead of English so freely. Not because of YOU specifically, obviously, but to save confusion since English is a language. I don't think a lot of people really think of English as in being from the country of England.

@Jessica - Even I know that New York is a state as well as a city. London is a county as well as a city, I guess no one knows that either.
I had a Chinese friend in school who punched a guy after he asked if she was Japanese, and she said no, Chinese, and his response was "But they're basically the same thing right?"

@Marcey - My last boyfriend was Canadian and I absolutely did not believe him when he told me you set fire to the White House. Canada gets pretty overlooked which is surprising considering how huge it is, and aren't you like the second largest suppliers of oil?
Canada is my dream destination to move to. It's just socialist enough and there's snow!

@Tabiicat - Very derpy xP @Nocta Dea - Yeah that ...

2011-09-18T12:00:13.695+01:00

@Tabiicat - Very derpy xP

@Nocta Dea - Yeah that one surprised me, too.

@Duvessa - In England we usually say "oriental" to refer to China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan etc - certainly in terms of food, and "Indian" is just India. But apparently that's not PC in the US. I get horrified reactions if I say it online, so I stopped.
ROFL at TVs in Finland though, really?

@Mandy - Haha when I was little I thought Mexico was in Spain, and that Portugal was the capital. But I grew up x]

@Andreanna - Sweden have excellent broadband too, and lax piracy laws.

@Emily - Because England is pretty close to Spain, to us Spain and South America are completely different. I'd never heard of a mariachi band until I watched US TV and I've been to Spain twice.

@Michelle - State specific history? Wow. History in schools here is completely different. There are a lot of misconceptions about 21st centuary Africa, I agree, and 21st centuary UAE.

@Shattered - I was surprised. We just learn world history, but our roots come from all over the place. I'm fighting the urge to say "American history? What history?"

@Reiko - Thanks :D

@Aro - Oh, I love NZ. No sheep jokes, but I want to live there just because lamb is delicious and it would be cheaper. It's so expensive here and it all comes from NZ <.< I think it's sad that you're not technically in Oceania, because I think that's the coolest name for a continent ever :c
The passport thing sounds confusing but I guess I can see why. In England the option is always "White British", not English.

@Kimberly - I dated a nerd from Kansas and he didn't turn out to be Superman, so that pretty much shattered all my Kansas stereotypes.

@Julie - Yeah I suppose a lot of people think the continent is just North America.

@Julia - Our world history was very European focused, our roots, Romans, Tudors, England's eras and monarchs, Nazi Germany etc. I wish we'd learned more about Africa and Asia, and America was hardly covered at all.

@Cat - Lmao x.x makes me really wonder what the picture was of.

@Flo - Haha, at least you have a cool coat of arms? :S I'd hate to tell people in England I was from Little Britain, ugh, do you get Vicky Pollard jokes?

@Nikki - Yeah, the idea that a Briton could be Scottish or Welsh seems to evade a lot of people. If you described Sean Connery's accent as British people would stare at you.

@Autumn - XD Omg, Australia. Really? It sounds nice though, which parts did you see?

yaaay, at least someone knows where Croatia is! :D...

2011-09-18T11:24:54.354+01:00

yaaay, at least someone knows where Croatia is! :D I love my country, but most people have never heard of it -.-

@Sharz - I can't tell if you're being sarc...

2011-09-18T11:23:01.611+01:00

@Sharz - I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. When someone says 'Africa to win the world cup' I'd assume they were referring to the South African football team and abbreviating, not referencing the continent.

@Mai - Yes, I know the difference :p I don't l...

2011-09-18T11:19:09.370+01:00

@Mai - Yes, I know the difference :p I don't like the dialects so much. When I lived i Yorkshire for 6 years I worked really hard on NOT picking it up, because I don't like it at all. I don't mind Kentish, but I try to be pretty much region-free.

@Nihrida - <3

@Jezebel - Personally I'd say "I love som...

2011-09-18T11:16:30.805+01:00

@Jezebel - Personally I'd say "I love some Mexican food", I don't think accuracy is particularly hard, but then I don't think that the variety in the different Mexican dishes is as wide as it is when you're talking about fifty countries. Perhaps I should have said not to say it if you don't understand that Europe is fifty countries and have a rough idea of what you're talking about. It's just extremely unspecific, and it does look ignorant, especially when someone says it because they want to appear 'cultured' and continental by sampling things from exotic Europe ._.
My rants are catharthis, not an ongoing war. When something bugs me I rant about it, and then I feel better. No one is getting 'uptight' every time someone incorrectly says 'British accent' instead of English, we've said it once and now we can move on. Anyone who reads the blog who didn't know before, does now.