i wouldn’t have found Burkina Faso either, but because it was called Obervolta back then.
can you tell, i just hate it when countries change their names.
later a friend started to work in Ouagadougou, so it was easier to relearn that one.
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It was definitely a map that had national borders. Also, since the Soviet Union still existed at the time there were a lot fewer national borders in the region.
I wouldn’t have either. I think they’d just changed the name at the time I was taking that test, but whatever it was called I doubt I could have found it. Turkey, on the other hand…
Not surprised. I will forever recall one of my science profs giving our mostly freshman class her annual map test, out of some kind of masochistic impulse. Most of the class at this highly selective university couldn’t find Turkey – Turkey! – on the map, a result that the prof noted was very normal.
That’s more because they don’t know what Turkey is, as opposed to not knowing where it is. Once you know that Turkey is in both Europe and Asia (which are separated by the Bosprous and the Dardanelles), and was the first secular Muslim nation, and is trying to gain entry into the EU, it is easier to find. But if you mentally can’t separate Turkey from Iran, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia, then honestly, what’s the point of being able to label it on a map? At least by not being able to find Turkey on a map, you’re being honest with yourself.
American public K-12 schools just do a horrible job at teaching geography, history and civics. Also, a lot of households don’t have an atlas or globe that would allow young children to explore.
Because there’s no geography factory hurr durr.
Then there’s the provincialism that’s part of the reason why only 46% of Americans hold a valid passport.
Also, America is huge. The US is nearly the same size as Europe.
However, the provincialism is very real. Most Americans not only stay in the US, but also stay within the same region, state, or even city where they grew up.
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[quote=“Grey_Devil, post:12, topic:100985, full:true”]So that’s where Taiwan is!). Granted my mind seemingly retains certain knowledge real easy while i immediately forget others, i am certain that by the end of the work day i will have forgotten where Taiwan is… again.
[/quote]
But one can make reasonably guesses. Taiwan is one of the great economic powers, an island and is seen - by china - as a rogue province. So it must be a reasonably big island, near China and it’s NOT Japan, arguably the US biggest ally in the region. This basically limits it to three islands in a major map.
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Ah, the Sea Of The Lost Korea.
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Or the people who chose the middle of the ocean.
Our public school system SUCKS for geography. They don’t teach it at all, and when they do, it is through the lens of “multiculturalism”, that is, they teach the kids about different countries, but not WHERE those countries are located, their relationship to neighboring countries, any sort of geo-political history of the world, nothing. It’s crazy! And this is a new thing, I graduated HS in 1983 and we had all that stuff - identifying and naming countries, capitals, states, etc. But now? I don’t think a globe or atlas exists at my kid’s school.
They’ve dumbed-down history, too, it’s taught “through the lens of Social Justice” according to my 11th grade son’s history syllabus. It’s like this: Columbus killed the native americans, we drove out the British to found democracy, the Civil War freed the slaves, WW1 started because somebody was assassinated in Europe, WW2 was fought to stop the Holocaust, (no mention of Korean War), Vietnam was a mistake we lost, 911.
No kidding that’s what it’s like.
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Off topic: Apparently the home of The Tan Man Group!
http://www.bizard.net/index.php/2010/10/30/ouagadougou-burkina-faso/
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Judging by my prof’s experience, they weren’t teaching it very well in the 1980s either. Teaching geography and history through the lens of multiculturalism and social justice is a valid approach, but a solid foundation is required before you build the fancy and progressive house.
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I’ve moved from Boston to Los Angeles, and from Los Angeles to Seattle … but I’ve never had a passport. I can move thousands of miles and not really go anywhere.
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I can move thousands of miles and not really go anywhere.
Sounds like a lot of interstate highways I’ve been on.
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Yeah, I drove through Idaho once. My suggestion for their new state slogan: Idaho: A Thousand Miles of Beige.
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we drove out the British to found democracy
That’s not even close to correct.
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I’ve been through Oklahoma many times. This seems like a good plan:
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Same as a German, but those aren’t countries we have any beef with.
Someone in or from Jamaica made a similar point regarding Europeans not knowing where Jamaica is, but this is a faulty comparison.
Most Europeans are not that concerned about Jamaican missile tests, Jamaican nukes or the complex relationship between Northern Jamaica, Southern Jamaica, the EU and the peoples Republic of Canada. They also didn’t went to war with Jamaica, sent some 300.000 soldiersm and made a successful TV sitcom/drama about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
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Maybe not, but this book was certainly eye-opening for me:
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Thanks to the the sameness of American commercialism one doesn’t have to adapt to a new and different environments normally associated with journeys to different and far off places. One goes from a Target-Best Buy-HomeDepot-Safeway-Starbucks Combo to another. It all looks and feels the same.
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Have you driven through Nevada? It’s not much better.
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I have! It’s less Beige and more Post-Apocalyptic, I think. Once you pass Vegas there’s nothing.
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Driving through Nevada is dull as hell but having lived in the desert for so long i enjoy and miss it. Currently in Austin where it’s very green and i low key wish i could enjoy some barren landscapes lol.
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