What's the STUPIDEST question you've been asked about Canada

conrobby
New Member



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 7
Location: Edmonton

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:16 pm

 

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Hey I got some good ones:

Every summer I go to Waterton National Park, where every year the Americans pack there massive motorhomes and expirence some beautiful country. I've heard some good ones:


These two were asked to a tourist info worked I chatted up:

What time do they round the animals up?

What time do they turn the pumps off for the waterfalls?

In Edmonton one night, I was wearing my Australian Outback hat: and a guy stopped me on the street and said " thats a cool hat" and i replied "o thanks it belonged to my late uncle"(in my regular urban-albertan voice, then he said "whats it made of" and i said " oiled australian canvas" again in a regular voice, then he asks "are you from Australia" and at this point i just thought owow what a goof. So i did my best at an Australian accent and talked to this goofy Canadian guy about what life was like in Melbourne! what a goof!

(i've never even been to the southern hemisphere!)

The best Rick M. is when he tells all those people we don't run on a 24-hour clock! he is so good, we need another segment of that!

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Deus
CanuckAbroad VIP



Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 225
Location: Wrecsam

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:11 pm

 

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A kid kept asking me to speak spanish. After a while, I asked what was it all about. She said " Isn't Canada in Spain?"
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thenurse
New Member



Joined: 22 Feb 2007
Posts: 3
Location: Toronto

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:31 am

 

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Abo(o)t 10 years ago I lived and worked in Rochester, MN. When I arrived, everyone was surprised I spoke fluent English and not French, and wanted to know what the exchange rate of our currency was - the FRENCH FRANC!

I am not even from Quebec! I'm from Toronto.

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smurff
New Member



Joined: 15 Jan 2007
Posts: 9
Location: Afghanistan

Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:46 am

 

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It is funny to see that all four pages of replies in this thread refer to stupid questions by Americans.
In other parts of the world, I found that people are much more educated about Canada. I often get asked if I know this hockey player, of if I have been to Niagara Falls,etc In all, fairly educated questions.
I have seen in other threads that information about Canada is hard to find in the States, and that their schools do not teach about us. Even in Afghanistan I found that either people are afraid to ask stupid questions, or they know more about our country.

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CanuckAbroad
Site Admin


Back in Victoria after living in Budapest

Joined: 04 Mar 2003
Posts: 482
Location: Victoria

Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:05 pm

 

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That's a really good point. I met people all over Europe and even in North Africa who knew quite a bit about Canada, all things considered. At the very least, they asked intelligent questions. Not stuff like "So does it really snow in July?"

I wonder why that is.

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Reba
Moderator


Canuck in NC

Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 1449
Location: North Carolina

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:58 pm

 

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yeah, I had a guy comment to me today and say something like "does it snow every month of the year up there?"

He's a "reporter" now for our local paper (where I work) and is recently retired from 25 years or so as a freakin' teacher!

Yeah, it snows every month of the year somewhere! Once you get up to the arctic circle sheesh!
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eddycurrents
CanuckAbroad Regular



Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 42

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:37 pm

 

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I love how most people here stare blankly at me when I say I'm from Alberta, even though the local weathermen talk all the time about "Alberta clippers", and I've seen "Alberta spruce" in Costco. There is even a town called Alberta nearby, but they don't connect that either.

I have met Americans in different countries all around the world. One fact: when you ask them they are from, they tell you the city or the state and assume you know it. When Americans ask where you are from, they just want the country.

Of course, Canadians do know all the US states and major American cities, but that is beside the point.

Canadians get tired of constantly explaining Canadian geography to Americans, so they just say they are from Canada. I don't. I say I'm from Edmonton or Alberta and don't add "that's in Canada", because I like to see the reaction.

Surprisingly, a lot of Americans do know Edmonton, or Alberta, but that is almost always because they have been there. They don't learn anything about Canada in school or on TV.

According to US schools and US news channels, nothing happened in the world unless it happened in America or there was an American there to witness it. Americans are aware of their ignorance of the rest of the world, and laugh about it. But they don't do anything about it.

I know a Dutchman who once told an American tourist he was from Amsterdam. The tourist thought Amsterdam was the capital of Europe. At least we aren't alone.

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gtoast
CanuckAbroad Regular



Joined: 10 May 2007
Posts: 64
Location: Fulda, DE...

Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:31 am

 

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im originally from ottawa, and many an american has asked if that was a separate state like washington dc.
aslo, if we drive on the left or right.and i was in michigan, under an hour from the border :roll
i find people here in europe more educated about the geography of the world, but even a vast majority of germans I meet can't tell where im from, most thinking im from Australia or the UK.
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