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I really wouldn't say New York State is the second most well known, because we all know that would just be because of NYC, and the reference people make would be towards NYC, not NYS.
It's pretty much on the same line as Chicago and Illinois. I've been to Europe 24 times, love meeting new people, and while everyone I've met knows what Chicago is, no one understands anything about Illinois. Same with NYC-NYS. There certainly ARE other things in NYS, but a vast majority of people overseas don't have a reason to, and aren't going to know much anything about the area outside NYC. Just pretend that NYC was in a state with a different name and see how you feel about it all...
I think Americans and people on here in certain topics give WAYYYYYYY too much credit to foreigners as far as knowing about cities/states/locations around the United States. Most of this is just because it's OUR country, we live here, we learn about it, we know where things are, what cities are the largest, etc.
You have your NYC, LA/SF(California really), Washington DC. Those are your "London, Paris, Rome", etc. Then you get other places that people have heard of, but don't really know anything about except a few key sterotypes. Your Chicago, Florida, Texas, Boston, etc.
By the time you get down to Houston, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, St. Louis, Philly, etc. Those are huge cities, they're important and Americans know about them - but they just don't really hit the radar outside our country. Sure people can identify the name, maybe know Houston is in Texas, Seattle is in the mountains and pretty, Atlanta had the olympics, but not much else.
I mean think of all the cities around the globe, all those massive important places that blow away most cities in our country. How much do we actually know about them except for the major few like Tokyo, London, Paris.....
It's not a bad thing - it just is what it is.
I would say New York and California would be the most recognizable, followed by Florida and Texas.
Being from Chicago, I've always just said I'm from Chicago. Saying I'm from Illinois is really nothing that the 75% of the people who live in this corner of the state would ever say.
New Jersey would be one such state. In other countries, people either don't know where it is or think it's right next to NY, which part of it is. For me, that's no problem since I live in that part of NJ right outside NYC, but for people in the southern part of the state it can lead them to have to explain a little. When my brother traveled overseas, he had to explain it to people because the ones who knew where NJ was at all thought it was the portion by NY City, and he actually lives in Central Jersey, closer to the shore.
NY has a strange reverse of this situation, where people from NY state say they're from NY and people overseas presume they must be near NYC. My cousin, who lives in Jamestown, NY, said she had a hard time convincing people that she is from the state of NY but has hardly been to NY City and that she's closer to Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
As a New Jerseyan, even within the US I get a lot of interesting reactions when I say I'm from NJ. Obviously, people know where NJ is, roughly, but many of them don't realize south Jersey is in the Philly area. Also, almost everyone in the midwest and south assumes I'm either Italian or Jewish (I'm neither, at all). Before I caught on to this, I would get comments that knocked me back because they seemed so random, until I realized that they were just going on an assumption they made. One time someone said something like, "Well, you know I have this friend whose grandma is Italian and she made this great thing with cheese and tubes of macaroni, - John what do they call those?" "Um, Ziti??" "Yeah, that's it, thanks. I'll bet you learned all those things from your grandma and parents!" "Uh, no...[then I realize they think I'm Italian]...oh, oh yeah, yes I learned these things when I was a kid!" lol Or, around Christmas, I'd say "I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!" to which the response I get would be, "Thanks, and I hope you and your family have a...um...uh...a great..HOLIDAY" LOL I'd just think that was so weird, and get really puzzled by it, and it would hit me anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours later why they said that!
Than maybe new york should be dismissed from the argument than. Considering the city and state share the same name. If not, it still stands that the name "New York" (which happens to be the name of the state) is the most recognizable. Regardless if it comes from the city or not
But that's only because of NYC, not because of Buffalo, or Syracuse, or Rochester. I see what you're saying, but be honest. It's only because of NYC.
I would think California would be more popular then NY in Asia as far as name recognition. Same thing CA, TX, and FLA in Latin America.
Correct.
The dream schools, especially in engineering and tech, guarantee that CA is more recognized than any other state.
The UCs (University of California), especially Berkeley, Caltech, and Stanford are dream schools to almost every young boy and girl in the most populous countries on Earth (India, China, Japan). Asia, which a good 4 Billion plus people come from. Many dream, their ultimate goal since day 1, ingrained from childhood, to make it to the US into one of these schools and many of them are based in California.
Its part of the reason California's Asian population is so high. More evidence is seeing all the H1B1 hires from all the tech companies based in California.
All they have been hearing for their entire lives is "California", and you can’t really blame them.
I really wouldn't say New York State is the second most well known, because we all know that would just be because of NYC, and the reference people make would be towards NYC, not NYS.
It's pretty much on the same line as Chicago and Illinois. I've been to Europe 24 times, love meeting new people, and while everyone I've met knows what Chicago is, no one understands anything about Illinois. Same with NYC-NYS. There certainly ARE other things in NYS, but a vast majority of people overseas don't have a reason to, and aren't going to know much anything about the area outside NYC. Just pretend that NYC was in a state with a different name and see how you feel about it all...
I think Americans and people on here in certain topics give WAYYYYYYY too much credit to foreigners as far as knowing about cities/states/locations around the United States. Most of this is just because it's OUR country, we live here, we learn about it, we know where things are, what cities are the largest, etc.
You have your NYC, LA/SF(California really), Washington DC. Those are your "London, Paris, Rome", etc. Then you get other places that people have heard of, but don't really know anything about except a few key sterotypes. Your Chicago, Florida, Texas, Boston, etc.
By the time you get down to Houston, Seattle, Dallas, Atlanta, St. Louis, Philly, etc. Those are huge cities, they're important and Americans know about them - but they just don't really hit the radar outside our country. Sure people can identify the name, maybe know Houston is in Texas, Seattle is in the mountains and pretty, Atlanta had the olympics, but not much else.
I mean think of all the cities around the globe, all those massive important places that blow away most cities in our country. How much do we actually know about them except for the major few like Tokyo, London, Paris.....
It's not a bad thing - it just is what it is.
I would say New York and California would be the most recognizable, followed by Florida and Texas.
Being from Chicago, I've always just said I'm from Chicago. Saying I'm from Illinois is really nothing that the 75% of the people who live in this corner of the state would ever say.
I would think California would be more popular then NY in Asia as far as name recognition. Same thing CA, TX, and FLA in Latin America.
Pretty much every country on the other side of the Pacific has heard of the name California at one point or another, whether it's from product or tourism ads.
While traveling throughout the United States, I would always say I'm from Ohio. When getting specific, I would mention either: (A) I grew up near Cedar Point Amusement Park (most people knew about it) or (B) I grew up about 50 miles outside of Cleveland.
While traveling in Europe, a restaurant owner in Rome asked our family (who is of Italian heritage) where we were from (he could obviously tell we were from the US). My uncle said Ohio, and he asked, "is that near New Jersey?" LOL stereotype
Where I went to school (DeKalb, IL) and live now (Rockford, IL) my family in Ohio, Indiana, California, etc. considers it to be Chicago (no mention of Illinois). Heck, for simplicity I consider it in the Chicago region.
EDIT:
So, to answer the opening question:
When traveling abroad, I would:
I would identify with the state of Ohio (when I lived there).
I would identify with the city of Chicago.
People are concentrating on what states are popular in the united states instead of the world. California and texas are extremely popular states in America but are no competition to New York when it comes to name recognition overseas.
Last edited by A.J._in_L.A.; 03-10-2010 at 04:56 PM..
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