4 ms·

If you told me you were "Californian", I would give you a really weird stare, think for a moment, and then reply with "Oh, American?", while wondering if you th

If you told me you were "Californian", I would give you a really weird stare, think for a moment, and then reply with "Oh, American?", while wondering if you thought California was a country. And even then, very few will know the cultural difference between, say, California and Tennessee or Alabama. Just like an American might think of China as one thing with one culture, we generally view USA as one thing with one culture.

arethuza 10y ago
I've known people who said they were Texan when asked their nationality. However, I'm a Scot so perhaps I'm biased... ;-)
pif 10y ago
> If you told me you were "Californian", I would give you a really weird stare, I would as well! You'd immediately remind me of those people from Paris who introduce themselves as Parisian rather than French. By the way, I like Paris. But I love France because it is much more than Paris.
skissane 10y ago
> And even then, very few will know the cultural difference between, say, California and Tennessee or Alabama. As an Australian, I will say I think most Australians understand there are cultural differences between California and Tennessee or Alabama, and could probably even identify what some of the differences are (even if incompletely and overly simplistically). Australians would probably struggle to explain the cultural differences between Tennessee and Alabama, but then I imagine many Americans would struggle to explain that too. I expect that this very basic understanding of US cultural geography is common in some other countries also (such as New Zealand or Canada or the UK or Ireland). > Just like an American might think of China as one thing with one culture, we generally view USA as one thing with one culture. I would think that most educated Americans would understand that the culture in Beijing or Shanghai is quite different from that in Tibet or Xinjiang.
- arghwhat 10y ago
  Understanding that there are differences is one thing, knowing what they are is a whole other. Unless you know anything about those areas, you're still going to simply think "China". I'm not saying they'll refuse the idea of differences. Maybe this is a cultural thing, with Australians generally having better geographical understanding than Scandinavians? Up here in Scandinavia, China and USA are both just large countries. People of course know that the American states are different (they might even remember a few of the names), but unless they've been there or specifically studied the subject somehow, then they're not going to know how they differ. They might recognize Alabama due to Forest Gump or other movies, but won't necessarily understand a joke about cousins. They might associate Texas with a funny accent and cowboy movies. They'll know that Las Vegas is famous for casinos, but don't ask what state it's in. I happen to have a personal connection to China, but I can also guarantee you that most people will just give you a blank stare if you mention Xinjiang, guessing its location based on it sounding Chinese by their broken definition of what Chinese sounds like. They will have heard of Tibet, but won't know the dynamics between Tibet and mainland, or even Hong Kong and mainland. And, just for fun: The only thing I know about California off the top of my head would be that a few sorta successful IT companies have their headquarters there, and as a fellow developer, I assume that there at least has to be some sensible people there as a result. I also happen to know that they were primarily anti-Trump, but I would have to look it up to figure out what things California is famous for. To me, despite having been there, thorough knowledge of USA is simply not relevant information, so I only know about it if someone tells me or if I happen to look it up.
  - zild3d 10y ago
    I think you are correct that most (Americans at least) don't know any cultural differences between Chinese cities unless they have a personal tie to knowing them, such as business or relationships. And yet I was still taken aback when you described how little you know about California. I had assumed being on a site like ycombinator, which is arguably the most famous startup incubator, based in sillicon valley, the most famous startup hub, that you would know many globally dominant companies (uber, google, apple, facebook, netflix, twitter, intel, adobe, etc, etc) are headquartered/founded there, not just a few sorta successful IT companies.
tome 10y ago
I suspect RangerScience meant that he/she tells people she's "from California" rather than "from America".
dplgk 10y ago
What about new york?
- arghwhat 10y ago
  We know New York. We have movies and stuff.
ethagknight 10y ago
Total anecdote, but I'm from Tennessee and went to Auburn University (AL), so I guess I'm exactly that, but when I travel abroad (Europe, Middle East, Ukraine) I always tell people "I'm from Memphis, TN" and, almost invariably, the response is "oooohh! Elvis!" It's a fun conversation starter, providing a humanizing connection beyond 'America'.
- treebeard901 10y ago
  I live in Memphis, TN... Never been to Alabama. I'm inclined to believe certain parts of Tennessee and Alabama are exactly the same.
- arghwhat 10y ago
  Ah, yes, Elvis. Everyone knows Elvis. It's actually quite relevant - You can be absolutely sure that people know the connection between Elvis and Memphis, but they're just names to most people, and unless Memphis is full of Elvis replicas (well, it probably is), they'll know nothing about the city or the state from that bite of information.
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arethuza 10y ago

I've known people who said they were Texan when asked their nationality. However, I'm a Scot so perhaps I'm biased... ;-)

pif 10y ago

> If you told me you were "Californian", I would give you a really weird stare, I would as well! You'd immediately remind me of those people from Paris who introduce themselves as Parisian rather than French. By the way, I like Paris. But I love France because it is much more than Paris.

skissane 10y ago

> And even then, very few will know the cultural difference between, say, California and Tennessee or Alabama. As an Australian, I will say I think most Australians understand there are cultural differences between California and Tennessee or Alabama, and could probably even identify what some of the differences are (even if incompletely and overly simplistically). Australians would probably struggle to explain the cultural differences between Tennessee and Alabama, but then I imagine many Americans would struggle to explain that too. I expect that this very basic understanding of US cultural geography is common in some other countries also (such as New Zealand or Canada or the UK or Ireland). > Just like an American might think of China as one thing with one culture, we generally view USA as one thing with one culture. I would think that most educated Americans would understand that the culture in Beijing or Shanghai is quite different from that in Tibet or Xinjiang.

arghwhat 10y ago
Understanding that there are differences is one thing, knowing what they are is a whole other. Unless you know anything about those areas, you're still going to simply think "China". I'm not saying they'll refuse the idea of differences. Maybe this is a cultural thing, with Australians generally having better geographical understanding than Scandinavians? Up here in Scandinavia, China and USA are both just large countries. People of course know that the American states are different (they might even remember a few of the names), but unless they've been there or specifically studied the subject somehow, then they're not going to know how they differ. They might recognize Alabama due to Forest Gump or other movies, but won't necessarily understand a joke about cousins. They might associate Texas with a funny accent and cowboy movies. They'll know that Las Vegas is famous for casinos, but don't ask what state it's in. I happen to have a personal connection to China, but I can also guarantee you that most people will just give you a blank stare if you mention Xinjiang, guessing its location based on it sounding Chinese by their broken definition of what Chinese sounds like. They will have heard of Tibet, but won't know the dynamics between Tibet and mainland, or even Hong Kong and mainland. And, just for fun: The only thing I know about California off the top of my head would be that a few sorta successful IT companies have their headquarters there, and as a fellow developer, I assume that there at least has to be some sensible people there as a result. I also happen to know that they were primarily anti-Trump, but I would have to look it up to figure out what things California is famous for. To me, despite having been there, thorough knowledge of USA is simply not relevant information, so I only know about it if someone tells me or if I happen to look it up.
- zild3d 10y ago
  I think you are correct that most (Americans at least) don't know any cultural differences between Chinese cities unless they have a personal tie to knowing them, such as business or relationships. And yet I was still taken aback when you described how little you know about California. I had assumed being on a site like ycombinator, which is arguably the most famous startup incubator, based in sillicon valley, the most famous startup hub, that you would know many globally dominant companies (uber, google, apple, facebook, netflix, twitter, intel, adobe, etc, etc) are headquartered/founded there, not just a few sorta successful IT companies.

tome 10y ago

I suspect RangerScience meant that he/she tells people she's "from California" rather than "from America".

dplgk 10y ago

What about new york?

arghwhat 10y ago
We know New York. We have movies and stuff.

ethagknight 10y ago

Total anecdote, but I'm from Tennessee and went to Auburn University (AL), so I guess I'm exactly that, but when I travel abroad (Europe, Middle East, Ukraine) I always tell people "I'm from Memphis, TN" and, almost invariably, the response is "oooohh! Elvis!" It's a fun conversation starter, providing a humanizing connection beyond 'America'.

treebeard901 10y ago
I live in Memphis, TN... Never been to Alabama. I'm inclined to believe certain parts of Tennessee and Alabama are exactly the same.
arghwhat 10y ago
Ah, yes, Elvis. Everyone knows Elvis. It's actually quite relevant - You can be absolutely sure that people know the connection between Elvis and Memphis, but they're just names to most people, and unless Memphis is full of Elvis replicas (well, it probably is), they'll know nothing about the city or the state from that bite of information.

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