Actually, he didn't 'learnt' it specifically because he is an American. "Learnt" is a British English word, not used in American English. So he would have actually learned what he knows about geography. Assuming, of course, that any of us Americans learned anything at all about geography, which according to large parts of the world, we did not. Then again, according to our maps, after America (the country, not the two continents known as the New World), there are not many large parts of the world.

Just to illustrate the point, this is a map given to me in Germany by German nationals. So I guess this is the German view of the American view of the world. It still kills me every time I see this:



   Perception is everything. 



Brian

Or so you learnt.

...sigh....

Yeah well if this thread ends up there I won't be able to follow 'cause I don't 'do' the arena.

For whatever it is worth, as an American, born and bred, and raised under the umbrella of.... what, shame? that the world would cast on us for being ignorant, I found Germans to be amazingly unaware of history including their own. And not just the stuff that no one would want remember either- they didn't even know about the good stuff (huge number of German Nobel Laureates before 1940, Werner Von Braun, etc.).

As far as embarrassed about being American- not me. Somebody had to pick the standard measurement system of the Earth's moon and those footprints ain't measured in meters, cubits, chains, rods, fathoms or any other unit but good old inches.

And a little bit offtopic: the trusty 'sickle got a new pair of sneakers, axle seals and brake pads along with a 'cheap and dirty' caliper cleaning. The tire are Pirelli Angle GTs (the new ones) and they are a bit stiffer than the older STs. Not hard to mount really, just not as giving in the sidewall and bead than the old types. Now for a brake bleed and another 10K miles before the next major service.

Brian

I think that map is pretty funny, and I also think that except maybe for the depiction of Australia,
it may be embarrassingly accurate as to the way many U.S. citizens view the world. Especially the
"Greatest country in the world" crowd that haven't even been to the other side of the Mississippi River
let alone to another country.

Darn, that map made me say it, bite my tongue, makes me sound like I should be sent to the arena.....noooo...
........I'll be good, I promise, please don't send me there!