Bizarre misconceptions about your home country

[NotQuiteCockney]

As a Canadian, living in the UK, people are always sharing some very strange ideas about Canada:

• It's really cold. No it bloody well isn't, not in the summer. It's hotter than the UK. Really.

• We have loads of beautiful countryside. Well, kinda. It's a long way away from everything, the countryside. We have no right to roam, and no footpaths, so it may well be beautiful, but that doesn't mean you can go see it. And as we have loads of it, we can put up ugly warehouses made out of corregated metal anywhere we like.

• It's very ecological. No, it's not. It's more car-dependant than the UK. Organic food is harder to get. And electricity is cheaper, so we use loads. And it's more of a consumer culture than here - more adverts on the telly, for one thing.

• It's cheaper. Not really. The taxes are quite a bit higher than in the UK. (Yes, really!) And work/life balance isn't great.

Which misconceptions are you tired of dealing with all the time?

I spent several months in international colleges outside the UK, and used to have a real laugh by going and making a cup of tea at about 4am whenever we had parties. When asked why I would respond "Well, we English always have 4 o'clock tea." And they believed me!

Mmmmm..St Jean de Luz

suzy? have you been?
it is my home away from home, my favourite place on earth

Ok Frenchie, have written it down and will mention it to dh - thanks!

good, hope you do go
I can give you more tips if you go

Oh god, coffee is such a minefield.

I remember a (n insufferable) teacher at the Institut Francais complaining that English builders never drank his coffee. He was using instant, at least, but I had to explain: dishwater with lots of sugar and milk.

NQC..I'd love to hear your accent then.
I'd have a crack at it.
Phonetics and Phonology is my professional field.

Yes FG went in the dead of winter years and years ago, actually stayed in Biarritz but took the train up to SJdL. Also passed through it in summer inter-railing. Charming place.

People who say things like this really irritate me...

"i was in new zealand for a while

felt like id gone back in time about 10 years "

I just don't understand where these people get that idea!

I've lived in 8 different countries in the last 6 years, including the US, Canada, UK and Ireland, and none of them had a patch on the technology that has been commonplace in NZ for years especially in the banking and communication (OK, online shopping is still a bit rubbish) sectors. And that is countrywide, not just in the cities.

Why do people think the place is so bloody old fashioned??!

I loved living in all the countries I've been to but can't wait to return eventually to the familiarity that is home...

Anyway...rant over!

Hmm, maybe they meant something nice, like it seemed unpolluted? Safe? Friendly? (In that way that everyone thinks the past was a nicer place than the present is.)

Nah...they said they didn't like it...which is fair enough in itself... TBH I've liked some places much more than others and I know that in some people's experiences, sometimes the allure of living overseas doesn't quite match up to the reality...but I still don't think it's at all behind the times in NZ!!!

I had to laugh when I read your comments on how others can perceive Canada! I'm in Toronto atm and thought most of the things that you mentioned before I got here. Can't believe how hot it gets, especially considering how bloody freezing it was when we first arrived, and it was March!

You know what, if you're from NZ, you're allowed to have bizarre misconceptions about Canada, we know sod-all about NZ, as I'm sure you're finding out.

It's when Brits (or Americans!) think these things that I really get riled. (I know, Brits aren't that close to Canada, but they're further north.)

That we shag sheep.

That Welsh people only ever talk in Welsh if there is an English person present.

From an American,
'that is a cute accent, are you Irish?'

'No I am Welsh'
'What part of England is that?'

Have never, ever, ever heard someone say 'boyo'. The correct Valleys term is Butty.

And i've seen a moose
at the zoo
and was really disappointed it didn't have the big moose antlers until my dh explained (I hate it when he does this, I'm supposed to be the well informed one!) they shed (?) them just like deer.

Do the Welsh get accused of sheep shagging as well??!! I thought it was only us in NZ, mostly by the Aussies!

My condolences...!

The ones I saw in the wild had antlers, big ones.

We saw them in Cape Breton Highlands National Park - one was a way off, near a trail, and the other was on the road. But very safe, you'd have to be in a very very big vehicle to hit a big bull moose with impunity.

I'm jealous! I hope we stay here long enough to see one in the wild.

We're going to Sandbanks Provincial park this weekend...don't expect there's much chance of seeing a moose there, antlers or no...but lots of massive dunes! And nearby is Canada's most photographed barn!

Canada's Most Photographed Barn! Bwah!

Oh god I am so glad I don't live there any more. Between the World Famous Bloody Hotdogs and the Most Photographed Barn ... gah.

I'm sure the dunes are nice though. Where is Sandbanks? I used to live in Toronto, and would go to nearby parks and go camping. I think we liked Elora Gorge.

In Eastern Ontario...Prince Edward County. We saw ads on the telly and it looked great, and is only a couple of hours drive.

We live right by the Skydome and on baseball night, everyone has "Toronto's /World's best hot dog" stand!

I do miss CBeebies (sad but true). All the presenters here seem to dress up as clowns.

And nobody has looked at me blankly when I say I'm from NZ...they've either been there/want to go/ apologise for calling me Australian (which I was over minding a long time ago!)

Yes MB.
My reply to ludicrous assertion that Welsh switch to English just as English person arrives on scene is
'Don't flatter yourself!'

Agree about Sydney, I think that it's just like London, but with slightly better weather". Melbourne is much better

"Noo Zealand? That's in Scandanavia isn't it?" (from a Californian).

Or more amusingly. "You come from Nooo Zealand? Gawsh! You speak good English!!!"

Nowdays I tell people I'm from Aeotearoa and let them work it out for themselves.