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Oh, here is another crazy image I had of a country when I was a kid - whenever I thought of Tibet I always thought everyone looked like Ghandi and sat around sipping tea on a mountain top. Now, that may be happening somewhere in Tibet, but it's not the main way Tibetans pass their time.
Interesting that some people associated NZ with the tropics. The typical image is usually a snowcapped mountain, with some sheep in front - hardly evokes the tropics.
USA: That nation that was good at everything, I wanted to be there, instead of the U.K as I felt all the cool things were happening there. As a boy, I was really into three things: Basketball, technology and Astronomy. Well, the USA had the NBA, and NASA, so that made the USA highly atttractive, T.V also made the USA seem more bright and bubbly while the U.K seemed gloomy and dull. I didn't become aware of some of the dark sides of the USA until I was around 16 -17.
Canada: My main source of knowledge of Canada were from teachers who were from there, at the time I saw it as nothing more than a colder USA, didn't know it had a french speaking region at all. My view of the people was extremely positive, as all my favourate teachers were Canadians. I also really thought there would be igloos there, oh well.
Japan: Lots of Temples, highly technolgical, it seemed like all the cool technology was coming from there, so I naturally really liked the place and even caused me to learn a little Japanese when I was teenagers, because it was one of the places I wanted to move to.
France: Sophisticated, excessive smokers(that's all I remember seeing when I in Paris), I always though of mimes as well.
Australia: Coolest place on earth, very exotic environment, laid back people who greeted each other with "G'day mate", used to imitate the accent all the time.
Italy: Where all the best food comes from, very romanctic locals
Ireland: Saw it as a magical land. Leprechauns, pot of gold, very funny accents.
Mexico: Impressions of this country came mainly from WWE, I confused people like Eddie Guerro as Mexicans. I guess I just pictured very musical people with large hats.
Can't remember my impression of other countries as a kid.
Interesting that some people associated NZ with the tropics. The typical image is usually a snowcapped mountain, with some sheep in front - hardly evokes the tropics.
Until The Lord of the Rings was filmed there, I don't think many American kids ever gave NZ much thought!
I always thought New Zealand was really warm like Australia, and that Russia was cold, poor and sad and people queued to get bread.
I always imagined Africa as a very poor and dangerous place, except for South Africa, which I thought was all white (the two might be related - I grew up in a very white area with not much exposure to minorities).
Interesting that some people associated NZ with the tropics. The typical image is usually a snowcapped mountain, with some sheep in front - hardly evokes the tropics.
My guess would be that New Zealand is so far south in that part of the hemisphere, one would assume it is a "warm" country, especially since it's not too far from Australia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
Until The Lord of the Rings was filmed there, I don't think many American kids ever gave NZ much thought!
As to another post. I'm not sure how many American kids pay attention/concern themselves with the location of movies unless they know it's in/near their hometown, or a place well-known such as NYC.
My guess would be that New Zealand is so far south in that part of the hemisphere, one would assume it is a "warm" country, especially since it's not too far from Australia.
As to another post. I'm not sure how many American kids pay attention/concern themselves with the location of movies unless they know it's in/near their hometown, or a place well-known such as NYC.
All I can tell you is that my kids were teens when those movies came out and all their friends knew those movies were filmed in NZ.
There's always weather, animals and cultural symbols that get pinned onto countries.
Very childish but this is about childhood:
UK-old buildings, narrow winding streets, those guards with big furry black hats & red outfits, for some reason Jack the Ripper (visited the museum when I was very young so always connected that with the whole country)
When I was child, I past most of the time in a proletarian village where my grandparents lived. There were people of many distinct places: Italy, Portugal, Spain, Poland and Japan. The immediate neighbours of the house of my parents was a couple of a german woman and an egyptian man. And the owner of the furniture store near my house was a muslim lebanese.
So, my impressions...
Italy: A country where every people is familiar and where people only eats pasta and drink wine, and speak singing.
Portugal: A very religious society, very devoted to Our Lady of Fatima.
Spain: Also a very religious society with a strange habit of speaking 'b' instead of 'v'.
Poland: A cold country with a sad people.
Germany: A place where all the people takes the things too seriously and nobody laugh.
Lebanon: A terrible place for women.
Japan: A very original society, with a lot of technological features and with a weird system of writing. I thought also all of them were members of Seicho-no-ie.
Also:
USA: The place where all of the best things of the world come from.
Russia: Land of communists. I didn't understand at that time what is a communist, but people said they eat children...
Britain: An arrogant people who want to force all of the world learn their language.
Switzerland: Snow and chocolate
France: Perfumes, wine, accordion music, polite and elegant people, women with enormous dresses.
Argentina: Our enemies in the football.
Australia: Kangaroos.
Countries in Africa: Extremely hot. I found that the people in Africa have black skin because they pass most of the time under the sun.
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