How well do you know your neighbours?

This is a forum about neighboring countries and how much you know. I'm a Canadian, and I like to think I'm smart and that I know something about neighboring countries like the US or Mexico, or even about father off countries like in Europe. Anyway I was watching a show about a Cold Case in the US and it made me realize, I really don't know as much about the US as I thought. Also not liking to speak for other people, but since the Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, a local newspaper was taking questions about Canada from people in other countries. Some of these were quite ridiculous like, "When can I see the Hippo races," or "Will I see polar bears walking the streets?" So my question is did a bunch of guys get drunk before writing these questions? or do we really know so little about the cultures around us?

They were either drunk or stupid. Polar bears wouldnt be allowed to walk in the streets, even if they were in the city areas. And hippos wouldnt live in Canada. They live in Africa... right? Yeah. How much do you know about America? I don't know much about Canada. Except they speak french in some parts.

I know America's Geography well, I can find a lot of states on a map, or a lest place it in a general region. I understand how the American electoral system works, I can name the two major American political parties, and I can separate most stereotypes about Americans into fact and fiction. I also know a fair chunk about American history (mainly regarding wars).

well i dont know a whole lot about canada, but i know its often colder then US, and their money is smaller and i think bluish...and i know where a couple places are..like Ontario and Vancouver, yellowknife, Kamloop..yeah just a few..

I believe Quebec and Ontario are primarily French speaking territories. I know a few things about other countries, but I don't really care much about what happens over there. Shoot, I'm not even keeping up with the war that, honestly, we should have stopped as quick as Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japan attacked us, and we bombed them. Now we're pals. They send over anime and videogames, and I'm sure we give them stuff too.

I mainly just handle my own stuff, which already takes up a lot of my time. What free time is left isn't reading/listening to the international news.

I don't know much about Russia or Norway, but Sweden is a totally different case.

Ever since i can remember, Finland and Sweden have always had a friendly rivalry going on. Especially in sports and even more especially in hockey. There is always a certain feel when the two countries face each other in hockey. We also make fun about one another, all in the spirit of fun of course.

Btw, Hombre de Mundo, i hope you can post your expressions on this matter.

And now a nice picture to help you understand:

lol @ Conan O'Brien. That man is the living end.

I'd say I know a good bit about the UK: tabloid culture, obsessed with Big Brother, loves urban music, manufactured boy/girl bands and dance music, crazy about football, rich and illustrious history (much of which I know but obviously I won't go into that here), has a few key soaps that it likes to watch (Corrie and Eastenders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks), landscape mostly like Ireland, comprised of 4 separate nations (give us back Northern Ireland, dammit!). Welsh, as a language, is largely unintelligible and the Welsh people attract a lot of sheep-shagger jokes from the other four countries. Northern Ireland is basically like the Republic except for its sectarianism (which is thankfully starting to die out since the implementation of the power-sharing agreement)

The US is quite a bit further away and its citizens don't tend to travel abroad as much as others do so I don't know as much about it: hugely diverse in both cultures and ecosystems, it's hard to pin down in a single generalisation anyway.

Originally Posted by Daphnes

believe Quebec and Ontario are primarily French speaking territories.

Technically, the whole country is bilingual, but Quebec is the only place where French is spoken by the overwhelming majority. New Brunswick also has a sizeable French-speaking population. In both places most speak both languages. Everywhere else most have simply a basic grasp on Quebecois french, and some don't speak it at all.

When it comes to knowing about other countries, I don't claim to know a lot. Mostly I know about other countries histories, being a history major and having taken histories all through high school, I can speak fairly well on several nations and regions pasts. When it comes to the present I'd say I'm not exactly ignorant of what goes on in other countries, but I don't keep so much on top of it.

Originally Posted by TheGreyWanderer

This is a forum about neighboring countries and how much you know. I'm a Canadian, and I like to think I'm smart and that I know something about neighboring countries like the US or Mexico, or even about father off countries like in Europe. Anyway I was watching a show about a Cold Case in the US and it made me realize, I really don't know as much about the US as I thought. Also not liking to speak for other people, but since the Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, a local newspaper was taking questions about Canada from people in other countries. Some of these were quite ridiculous like, "When can I see the Hippo races," or "Will I see polar bears walking the streets?" So my question is did a bunch of guys get drunk before writing these questions? or do we really know so little about the cultures around us?

I've been to Canada several times, and I do know for a fact that Canadians do not ride polar bears. I'll be honest, I have a canadian friend whom I crack jokes like that on, but in all seriousness I realize that he probably has never ridden a polar bear

Anyways, about just knowing things about other countries in general, I'd say that we all think we know a lot until we actually go to those other countries and meet some of the people there.

I live in Canada. My perception of the rest of the world is essentially an amalgamation of stereotypes punctuated by my own intelligent conclusions based on those stereotypes.

I live in the US. I know that our neighbor to the north criticizes our motives and our people along with the rest of the world, but they usually make intelligent arguments about it. However, I know they are not the perfect country that the rest of the world likes to make them out as when comparing the US to Canada. Hell, they're no different from us when you get to know them.

Our neighbors to the south, I just usually think of them as the source of all our illegal immigrants that are busily sapping from their local governments. I do know, that the economy and living conditions in Mexico is what drives this, but it doesn't stop me from being against it. That's another topic anyway.

I don't know much about Canada, I can't say I know much about Mexico, I do know somethings about Cuba.(I come from a Cuban family, so the subject always comes up). I have gottem more intrested in politics, not alot though but I guess its something that you get into as you get older.

A few things an Australian Would like to say:
-The Hippo Races thing is mentioned here too, but here it makes a little more sense due to the slight similarity in location name. Here is (our) full joke:

Q: Where are the hippo races held?
A: AFRICA is the continent south of Europe, while AUSTRALIA is th... never mind; go to King's Cross in Sydney at midnight every thursday. Come naked.
Q: When do the Vienna Boy's Choir perform?
A: AUSTRIA is a little country in Europe, while AUST... *sigh* ...King's Cross in Sydney, straight after the hippo races. Come Naked.

(Just so you know, King's Cross is famous for legal prostitution)

-replace "polar bears" with "Kangaroos", and you've got the Australian version of that one.

-Yes, Welsh is completely unintelligible, but luckily no-one here speaks or writes it. Our sheep shagging jokes get aimed at New Zealand (and I think theirs get aimed at us)

Originally Posted by sea

I live in Canada. My perception of the rest of the world is essentially an amalgamation of stereotypes punctuated by my own intelligent conclusions based on those stereotypes.

-I just had to address this one directly... this is a joke, right? Stereotypes are rarely right, and your "intelligent conclusions" are probably way off. If you want to stereotype people, do it like this:
Politicians=Lying Morons
Homeless=Needs Help (but rarely get it)
Everybody Else=Misunderstood




Now for my own points:
-Australia is "girt by sea" (surrounded by water), and the closest nations to us are also islands, so cultures can be quite different.
-If I were to name the most culturally diverse country, I would say Australia. Our cultural diversity includes high proportions (~2%) of a number of Asian cultures, and many European cultures too(We even have the largest Greek population outside Greece (Third largest population of Greeks in any one city in the world)).
-New Zealand is the most similar country to us, however much we'd like to say otherwise.
-Indonesia & East Timor (our next closest neighbors) are currently feuding (Indonesia doesn't like that East Timor wanted to be their own country). Australia is aiding East Timor.
-We are really close to the South-East Asia region, which is known for being the easiest place to get pirated movies & games. I personally don't trust pirated stuff.
-Finally, if you ask a random Australian, chances are that they will know the 1st President of the USA, but not the 1st Prime Minister of Australia.

...

Ummm... was I making a point with this?

Hmm, our neighboring countries, I heard a while back that in Canada, because some parts of it speak 2 different languages there were having problems with sending people to either a french speaking hospital, or an English speaking hospital, although, that was some time ago.

Africa. . . . . . Southern Africa has had a war that has lasted for over 20 years, Children must hide at night with the fear of being kidnapped and put into the rebel army. Although, I have heard that the leaders of the government and the rebel army are soon to have talks . . . . we shall see about that . . . . And yes, hippos live in africa, they would die in Canada because it is way tooo damn cold.

France, A new leader has been recently elected, although, he isn't Pro-America . . . . . .

Spain, dunno, havent heard any news recently on them . . . . . . . . .

Japan, Had a major eathquake about a month back that devastated Southern Japan.

Hawaii, USA Got hit by a medium sized earthquake yesterday and Hurrican Flossie is right on there doorsteps, but luckily for Hawaii, it won't see the worst of flossie

Russia, hmmm nothing important im aware of . . . . .

Eastern Europe, nothin

Western Europe, nothin

England and the UK, heard that they are preparing for a devastating flood, but like California, were preparing for the "Big One" (earthquake forr those of you who don't know what i'm talking about)

USofA, California getting ready for "The Big One" and also the western coast is preparing for a tsunami, says were long long long over due for for a giant Tsunami and a devastating Earthquake(I live like less than a mile from the San Andreas Fault Line >.> hehe). also, I hear that New york is over due for a Cat3 Hurricane, which. . . . . . . . will kill millions if they aren't prepared. . . . . . .



And thats really, all i know. I might be wrong on some stuff or its old news too some, but hey, i haven't watched international news in about 4 months >.>

Everything there is to know about New Zealand can be summed up in one word- sheep.

I do know New Zealand well, I've been there a few times and I also know a fair few New Zealanders that live over here. Their accent is pure comedy gold, having a New Zealander say "fush and chups" or "sux" never fails to amuse me. Other than that, we are fairly similar culture wise. New Zealanders get better surf though, they complain endlessly when they have to surf here in the summer.

Their accent is pure comedy gold, having a New Zealander say "fush and chups" or "sux" never fails to amuse me.

I know what you mean. The Americans in the southern states have an accent that can make the most intelligent people sound like complete idiots. Always makes me laugh.

Originally Posted by MMKB

Their accent is pure comedy gold, having a New Zealander say "fush and chups" or "sux" never fails to amuse.

Just so people don't get confused, "sux" is really "six", and "six" is really "sex". (and of course, "fush and chups" is "fish and chips")