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I was at Club Med Cancun in October 1989. I met a Manitoban. I asked him what city and he said I had probably never heard of Manitoba. I told him, jokingly, that I came from Churchill and shot polar bears for a living. He was amazed I was aware that Churchill was known for polar bears; even though I would venture to guess that 98% of Americans know that.
My knowledge of Canada is admittedly spotty. I can name by heart the PM's only from Laurier (around the turn of the last century) forward and I often forget who followed Macdonald, Canada's first PM. I can't name the GG's prior to the current one, David Johnston and his predescessor, Michelle Jean. Sometimes I remember the one immediately before (the CBC woman) and do know of Byng and Vanier. Other than that my knowledge is limited.
Do you know that it's against the law to have open alcohol in public?
I was at Club Med Cancun in October 1989. I met a Manitoban. I asked him what city and he said I had probably never heard of Manitoba. I told him, jokingly, that I came from Churchill and shot polar bears for a living. He was amazed I was aware that Churchill was known for polar bears; even though I would venture to guess that 98% of Americans know that.
My knowledge of Canada is admittedly spotty. I can name by heart the PM's only from Laurier (around the turn of the last century) forward and I often forget who followed Macdonald, Canada's first PM. I can't name the GG's prior to the current one, David Johnston and his predescessor, Michelle Jean. Sometimes I remember the one immediately before (the CBC woman) and do know of Byng and Vanier. Other than that my knowledge is limited.Further to my post above, most Canadians do not really appreciate Americans that do know about their country.
Do you know that it's against the law to have open alcohol in public?
Under many circumstances it is in many states in the the U.S. as well so I would assume that to be the case in many parts of Canada and other similar countries. But what does that have to do with my post?
Also see post as modified to respond to newdixiegirl's post.
I don't think anyone is "angry" that people in the US are ignorant about how things are in other countries ... but apparently it is entertaining from a youthful perspective to toy with people from the US when they presume that people from other countries know all about the US.
You call it "entertaining" to "toy" with people. I call it petty and immature to become passive-aggressive over such a trivial matter.
Wonder what your son knows about other Canadian provinces besides his own or about countries besides the US? Shall we test his international knowledge, too? That might be "entertaining."
Who would have guessed that a Canadian youth, deemed too young to consume alcohol in the US, could upset someone for simply reflecting common US behaviour!
Who would have guessed that a Canadian youth, deemed too young to consume alcohol in the US, could upset someone for simply reflecting common US behaviour!
Who would have guessed that someone could upset a Canadian "youth " (old enough to consume alcohol in Canada) for simply having only a little less knowledge of Canada than said Canadian "youth" probably has?
If Canadians don't think their country is worth exploring and knowing, then why should an American, or anyone else for that matter? Canadians expect something of Americans that they don't expect of themselves.
We need to put it into context of non-anecdotal and more broad based factual study of the issue.
If no less august body than the National Geographic devotes the resources shouldn't we at least consider the results.
Excerpted from above: "The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study polled 510 respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 in the continental United States. The poor performance of young Americans on the poll underscores the results of the 2002 study in which Americans scored second to last on overall geographic knowledge, trailing Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden. For additional 2006 Roper Poll results, go to www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006."
Admittedly it's an old study from 2006 "further highlighting" the findings from an earlier 2002 study but, would we opine the education system has markedly improved since or ...... ?
We need to put it into context of non-anecdotal and more broad based factual study of the issue.
If no less august body than the National Geographic devotes the resources shouldn't we at least consider the results.
Excerpted from above: "The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study polled 510 respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 in the continental United States. The poor performance of young Americans on the poll underscores the results of the 2002 study in which Americans scored second to last on overall geographic knowledge, trailing Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden. For additional 2006 Roper Poll results, go to www.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006."
Admittedly it's an old study from 2006 "further highlighting" the findings from an earlier 2002 study but, would we opine the education system has markedly improved since or ...... ?
Oh, I don't doubt the findings of that poll, whether the data is 9 years old or not. And I don't doubt that the average American's geographic knowledge is worse than that of the average Canadian. BUT only marginally. We North Americans, by and large, are pretty dumb when it comes to knowledge of other countries. Canadians, moreover, are pretty clueless when it comes to first-hand knowledge (not necessarily textbook knowledge) of their own country, but we've already discussed that.
Oh, I don't doubt the findings of that poll, whether the data is 9 years old or not. And I don't doubt that the average American's geographic knowledge is worse than that of the average Canadian. BUT only marginally. We North Americans, by and large, are pretty dumb when it comes to knowledge of other countries. Canadians, moreover, are pretty clueless when it comes to first-hand knowledge (not necessarily textbook knowledge) of their own country, but we've already discussed that.
Who would have guessed that someone could upset a Canadian "youth " (old enough to consume alcohol in Canada) for simply having only a little less knowledge of Canada than said Canadian "youth" probably has?
If Canadians don't think their country is worth exploring and knowing, then why should an American, or anyone else for that matter? Canadians expect something of Americans that they don't expect of themselves.
There's no need to assume that a Canadian youth is ignorant of his own country, or other countries. Let's keep the facts straight:
"According to the U.S. government's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 33 per cent of American eighth graders currently believe that Canada is a dictatorship."
"According to the U.S. government's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 33 per cent of American eighth graders currently believe that Canada is a dictatorship."
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