Tuesday, April 05, 2005
This will piss the Swiss off
Apparently, a Microsoft ad placed Switzerland somewhere in the area of Moscow. The Swiss are rather prickly about Americans confusing where Switzerland is located. I can attest to the fact that many Americans are unclear on it. I lived in Switzerland for 2 years, and I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times someone asked if I spoke Swedish. I guess in the database that is our brains, we have our "Sw" words indexed, and we get to Sweden (or Swaziland, my registered country on my credit card for three weeks until I noticed the error on my bill) first. My Swiss friends also sent streams of links to photos of major American news broadcasts (CNN made the mistake most frequently) that put Switzerland where the Czech Republic is located.
My response to these "Americans don't know Geography" Swiss types was "where's Illinois" or "where's British Columbia"? 9.8 times out of 10, they had no idea.
It just goes to show that you know the geography that affects you most directly. America is a nation of 300 million with a land mass as large as the entire European union. Most Europeans I've met don't know any more about Asian geography than Americans.
Apparently, a Microsoft ad placed Switzerland somewhere in the area of Moscow. The Swiss are rather prickly about Americans confusing where Switzerland is located. I can attest to the fact that many Americans are unclear on it. I lived in Switzerland for 2 years, and I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times someone asked if I spoke Swedish. I guess in the database that is our brains, we have our "Sw" words indexed, and we get to Sweden (or Swaziland, my registered country on my credit card for three weeks until I noticed the error on my bill) first. My Swiss friends also sent streams of links to photos of major American news broadcasts (CNN made the mistake most frequently) that put Switzerland where the Czech Republic is located.
My response to these "Americans don't know Geography" Swiss types was "where's Illinois" or "where's British Columbia"? 9.8 times out of 10, they had no idea.
It just goes to show that you know the geography that affects you most directly. America is a nation of 300 million with a land mass as large as the entire European union. Most Europeans I've met don't know any more about Asian geography than Americans.
