I hate bashing on the ignorance of people encountered by travelling because I'm totally certain that someone will come up with an equal or worse tale about boorish Aussies, but this one just dumbfounded me so much I have to share. I recently was visiting an unnamed southern US state when I got chatting to a fully-grown, apparently fully-functioning adult male... who in total seriousness asked me what language we speak in Australia. Someone please tell me we're not that small on the geopolitical landscape.
It can get much worse than that in the states (in Europe I seriously doubt that you'd get that question asked though). A teacher of mine told me that he met ppl in the states who though Germany was one of the 50 states of the US. a friend of mine had ppl asking them whether we have trees in germany or not Other met Americans that tried to explain to them what a microwave, an escalator and a car (BMW is british or belgis, isn't it?) are and how they work. I got asked if Hitler is still alive... There are just some ubelvievable dumb ppl in the United states of A... Not all of them, of course, but some...
Bart: I can't get a straight answer out of this crazy hemisphere. [tries another number] [a phone rings in a car in a foreign country] Adolf: Eine minuten, eine minuten! [ringing stops] Ach! Das facken phone ist ein...nuisance phone! Man: [riding by on penny farthing bicycle] Buenos notches, mein fuehrer. Adolf: Ja, Ja.
A girl (who had a reputation for being a ditz), was going to Ireland in the summer (this is last spring, so this past summer). And she asked what language they speak in Ireland. And then when I was relating this story to someone else, instead of getting an expected laugh, this person asked me what language they speak there as well. So it's not uncommon.
For some reason more and more american tourists have been coming to Northumberland and Newcastle. Several times i've had people come up to me and shout in my face in "i can't speak your language so i'll just shout" english thinking that we in the simple north didn't actually speak english. After 10 minutes of explanation and hand gestures on my part, they finally understand me and go of on their merry way.
That's a trick question. Toilets flush clockwise everywhere. It's just that in Australia, clocks run in the opposite direction.
true story. there was a kid who was flying on his first mission. we were in spain, and had the usual time off. so a bunch of us go off base to get some food, and when we came back i was asking him what he thought of the town and stuff. this is not only his first mission, but first time overseas, mind you. he told me that he was surprised. he expected to see kids living in poverty in the streets and trash everywhere, kinda like those christian childrens fund commercials. and we were in spain (which, granted, i think is filthy compared to germany, norway, sweden, ect, but STILL!) i was shocked.
Dont worry about it, its not just America, it happens all over ther world. Its not a geographical thing, but its an ignorant type of person that is just as common in Europe as in America, or anywhere else for that matter. Just enjoy it!
I know that stupid people are a disease the world over - but are you telling me that inEurope someone wouldn't know what language they spoke in Australia? It is Australia, not that insignificant, especially if you follow some kind of sport. To be honest I'm amazed bty Caesar's story, I'd be even more amazed if that happened in Europe. We/They seem to be more aware of these things. I've never met anyone from anywhere that didn't know simple things like that.
In England it would be amazing simply because of Australia's close historical ties, but im sure we have people equally ignorant about other cultures that we have less to do with. I genuinely dont think people in Europe are any less ignorant than those in the U.S. I know know some f ucking stunningly ignorant people that could challenge the very best of them, and our country is full of them. I have also lived in Germany and I know they have some of the daftest freaks over there, and in Miami, where once again, I met exactly the same type of people, but just a different nationality.
I once met an Englishwoman who did not know which coast off of England Ireland is. She also did not know who Jack Charlton is. I've often found Americans to be more ignorant of geography than Europeans.
To be honest I'd find it almost equally as amazing since the US is closely linked with Australia too. Crocodile Duindee, Mel Gibson, RUssell Crowe (yes I know a Kiwi but still..) - there's still more than enough links to Australia to make it utterly bizarre that an American wouldn't know what they spoke in Australia. And certainly, I know we have plenty of people here who are ignorant of lots of things. years ago when I was doing my A-Levels, a girl in my 6th form went on holiday to the Pyrenees - so I got into chatting about it. "Ahhh the Pyrenees, I've never been down the South West of france, pretty much everywhere else but not there - was it good? I bet it was hot" "You mean the South East" "No, the South west is where the Pyrenees are" We continued on like this for a while but with her being predicted 3 As for her exams, and me not, she decided to take her position of superiority. Now I'm not saying everyone the world over should know where the Pyrenees are - but you damn well should if you go there on holiday. For the record, she's now a doctor - scary isn't it?
I'm sure every country has its share of uneducated folks/idiots but Americans tend to be worse at geography just because its size and relative isolation makes it so sheltered. Whereas dealing with neighbors is a daily reality in Europe, you can drive for days without leaving the US. But yeah, I'm surprised that the guy didn't know what they spoke in Australia. So, like, everyone in Australia lives in the outback and hunts kangaroos, right?
"And it seems to me if you travel for 19 hours to another another country, when you get there they should have the common courtesy to speak another language. I did not fly all this way to hear English again. Speak gibberish. Speak Pig Latin, ya fvck. And if they really wanted to be a part of the community, I think they should jump off their island and push it closer." - Lewis Black comments on travel to New Zealand and Australia.
Me and my mom were in Hawaii last December and she still doesn't grasp the fact that Hawaii is indeed a part of the United States. We were at the Dole Plantation on Oahu and she was talking with someone and told 'em that we were from Idaho and then she goes on to explain that we were from the U.S. as if we were coming in from another country.
Once at work (I'm a librarian), a kid asked me for help with his assignment--he needed books about countries for a report. When I asked him which country he'd decided to write about, he said he'd narrowed it down to either Wyoming, or Africa. True story.
maybe they thought you were from Austria and didn't know what language they spoke there. I think there are a lot of Americans who just don't pay attention when it comes to geography because they don't care and we all get to laugh at them when they expose their weakness in the subject.
I used to work with a guy who was from New Mexico. When he was in college, he waited tables. He said that on more than one occassion people would ask him if they could pay with dollars.
I've seen one or two cases (well, two to be exact) of American tourists being annoyed that the locals wouldn't accept dollars. I saw another American tourist generously giving a busker some American coins. I chatted to a couple of guys in the US (again, only a couple) who went into speeches about what made America the greatest country in the world - apparently you having shopping malls, cinemas, cable TV and major roads there. A guy I was with had two young (21) Slovakian girls staying at his house for a while, and they asked him if people spoke English in Scotland. A guy at work used to be a club 18-30 rep on Majorca, and he was just dumfounded by the amount of British tourists who'd get all anxious and complain because they'd arrived at Mallorca by mistake. A guy in Washington DC asked me if I was from New Zealand. When I said no, he asked "are you sure?"
If you've ever seen jay leno on TV when he does his jaywalking epidode, asking people on the street geography and history questions you would not be amazed about that person's ignorance about Austarlia. The general american public, even those in college now, are way too ignorant of history and geograhy.
When I first took my wife to Scotland, we ended up driving down to London to visit a friend of hers. As we approached the Scotland/England border somewhere south of Dumfries, she got into a panic, saying that we had to pull over so she could get her passport out of her suitcase. Not a word, Richard...
I've always been fascinated with this phenomena. During the '04 Olympics one story came out in Croatian newpaper. Although I allow it could be made up, it's really a symbol for American ignorance. Basically, our reporter was in a bus that was passing by the Acropolics with two American reporters. He overheard the conversation that went sth like this: American A: Wow, how about that Acropolis, fascinating isn't it? American B: Yeah, I've heard it's over two hundred years old.