This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[TheHighwayMan3561]

"Where are you really from" is about the rudest/most racist way of wording it, though. "Where is your family originally from" might be a bit better, or even better, not asking at all because it's none of your business.

I heard a story once about a math teacher at my school who was giving an African-American family a tour. Allegedly she asked where in Africa they were from and they replied "we're from Cincinnati". Even stranger that she did this because she had taught in Senegal for a couple years.

[webny99]

My reading of his post is that someone asks where Bruce is from, he says "Snohomish County", and because he's noticeably not Caucasian, they ask "where are you really from" because they're racist, so he says a country from Europe that he has heritage from, which confuses them, because he doesn't look like he's from there either.

This is all conjecture at this point, but I took it that the reference European ancestry came first. To me, "Where are you really from?" is the type of response you'd give if you genuinely don't believe the answer or think the person is joking, which is why I doubt it would follow directly from "Snohomish County" or whatever.

"Where are you really from" is about the rudest/most racist way of wording it, though. "Where is your family originally from" might be a bit better, or even better, not asking at all because it's none of your business.

Or, if you really need to know for some reason, "where are your ancestors from?"

[Roadgeekteen]

"Where are you really from" is about the rudest/most racist way of wording it, though. "Where is your family originally from" might be a bit better, or even better, not asking at all because it's none of your business.

I heard a story once about a math teacher at my school who was giving an African-American family a tour. Allegedly she asked where in Africa they were from and they replied "we're from Cincinnati". Even stranger that she did this because she had taught in Senegal for a couple years.

Most African-Americans don't know where in Africa they come from.

[SP Cook]

We know nothing about Africa, although our roots are there in terms of our forbearers. But I mean as far as the average Negro today, he knows nothing about Africa. And I think he's got to face the fact that he is an American, his culture is basically American, and one becomes adjusted to this when he realizes what, what he is.


Martin Luther King, Jr.

--

As to the "where are you from" deal, around Charleston, there is a big community of Arab descended people.  They are Orthodox Christians, in fact the cathedral for the religion, Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Cathedral, is in town.  I have a lot of friends and co-workers from that community.  Beautiful services, BTW.

People around Charleston get it, but outside of the region, there are three really demeaning and ignorant things that happen, all three are automatic ways to piss them off:

- People call them "Greek Orthodox". 
- People, and this can happen from the "left" or "right" will suggest they are not "Caucasian". 

And the big one, which can also happen from the "left" or "right",

- People will assume they are Islamic.  Had a good friend, lefty professor told her that she had her back, and to report any "anti-Muslim" things to her.  She just let it go, but I know it hurt her feelings.  I also knew her grandfather, who immigrated here to escape religious persecution BY Muslims.

[Roadgeekteen]

We know nothing about Africa, although our roots are there in terms of our forbearers. But I mean as far as the average Negro today, he knows nothing about Africa. And I think he's got to face the fact that he is an American, his culture is basically American, and one becomes adjusted to this when he realizes what, what he is.


Martin Luther King, Jr.

--

As to the "where are you from" deal, around Charleston, there is a big community of Arab descended people.  They are Orthodox Christians, in fact the cathedral for the religion, Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Cathedral, is in town.  I have a lot of friends and co-workers from that community.  Beautiful services, BTW.

People around Charleston get it, but outside of the region, there are three really demeaning and ignorant things that happen, all three are automatic ways to piss them off:

- People call them "Greek Orthodox". 
- People, and this can happen from the "left" or "right" will suggest they are not "Caucasian". 

And the big one, which can also happen from the "left" or "right",

- People will assume they are Islamic.  Had a good friend, lefty professor told her that she had her back, and to report any "anti-Muslim" things to her.  She just let it go, but I know it hurt her feelings.  I also knew her grandfather, who immigrated here to escape religious persecution BY Muslims.

Never assume someone's religion.

[empirestate]

Here's something you probably didn't expect:

Ontario has no land border crossings with the United States; every crossing from Ontario to the US involves a bridge or ferry.

...or tunnel. I guess the surprising part of this one is that Ontario has no land borders with the U.S (crossing or no).

I wouldn't call that racist necessarily, more ignorant.

Racism is often the result of ignorance.

[andrepoiy]

Here's something you probably didn't expect:

Ontario has no land border crossings with the United States; every crossing from Ontario to the US involves a bridge or ferry.

...or tunnel. I guess the surprising part of this one is that Ontario has no land borders with the U.S (crossing or no).

I wouldn't call that racist necessarily, more ignorant.

Racism is often the result of ignorance.

My mistake, phrased that wrong. And also forgot about the Detroit tunnel.

[webny99]

Here's something you probably didn't expect:

Ontario has no land border crossings with the United States; every crossing from Ontario to the US involves a bridge or ferry.

...or tunnel. I guess the surprising part of this one is that Ontario has no land borders with the U.S (crossing or no).

Also, what makes it even more unique is that the immediately adjacent portions of both Manitoba and Quebec do have a land border with the US.

[CoreySamson]

Not necessarily geographical, but I didn't know Calgary and Edmonton were so large in regards to population until a couple months ago. I always thought they were more like the size of Saskatoon or Halifax.

[NWI_Irish96]

"Where are you really from" is about the rudest/most racist way of wording it, though. "Where is your family originally from" might be a bit better, or even better, not asking at all because it's none of your business.

I heard a story once about a math teacher at my school who was giving an African-American family a tour. Allegedly she asked where in Africa they were from and they replied "we're from Cincinnati". Even stranger that she did this because she had taught in Senegal for a couple years.

Most African-Americans don't know where in Africa they come from.

Of course that is through no fault of their own, having been kidnapped from Africa and sent on ships to North America, then sold into slavery with little or no record keeping.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I guess the surprising part of this one is that Ontario has no land borders with the U.S (crossing or no).

Except that it has a very short dry border at the Height of Land Portage, where it crosses the Laurentian Divide. In fact when they first drew the border they were unaware it crossed that divide (and thus they didn't realize going West from the Lake of the Woods they wouldn't hit the Mississippi), eventually leading to the creation of the Angle Inlet. Even more surprising is that, from that point on, water flows towards the Lake of the Woods (and eventually Hudson Bay), as opposed to the long-standing belief that water flows from the Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior.

[empirestate]

I guess the surprising part of this one is that Ontario has no land borders with the U.S (crossing or no).

Except that it has a very short dry border at the Height of Land Portage, where it crosses the Laurentian Divide. In fact when they first drew the border they were unaware it crossed that divide (and thus they didn't realize going West from the Lake of the Woods they wouldn't hit the Mississippi), eventually leading to the creation of the Angle Inlet. Even more surprising is that, from that point on, water flows towards the Lake of the Woods (and eventually Hudson Bay), as opposed to the long-standing belief that water flows from the Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior.

Ah, there it is. I figured there must be some tiny stretch along the way, but I didn't go into full zoom detail when checking. But the "conventional wisdom" would probably be that Ontario has a substantial land boundary with Minnesota, with only the Great Lakes portion of the border comprising mainly water boundaries.

[vdeane]

If that's the conventional wisdom, then by conventional wisdom I-81's crossing over the International Rift between Wellesley Island and Hill Island is also a "land" boundary.

[Bruce]

"Where are you really from" is a rude question I get occasionally, being a foreign-looking person.

I refer to my European ancestry first to trip them up.

If you're doing it intentionally to trip them up, how could you call the response "rude"?

My reading of his post is that someone asks where Bruce is from, he says "Snohomish County", and because he's noticeably not Caucasian, they ask "where are you really from" because they're racist, so he says a country from Europe that he has heritage from, which confuses them, because he doesn't look like he's from there either.

Exactly this.

Asian people are seen as perpetual foreigners even if they've lived for generations in the U.S., which is why this is classified as a microagression at the very least.

I've never been across the Pacific, and have only called Washington home my entire life, so I'm only "from" here. Heck, one side of my family came to the Northwest before Washington had earned statehood.

[empirestate]

If that's the conventional wisdom, then by conventional wisdom I-81's crossing over the International Rift between Wellesley Island and Hill Island is also a "land" boundary.

Maybe, I guess it would depend if you consider the waterways between the Great Lakes, or only the lakes themselves. The Niagara crossing would be similarly "land" boundaries. In fact, there is the most minuscule sliver of land crossing the boundary at the tip of Goat Island, placing the Horseshoe Falls entirely within Canada.

[kphoger]

Not everything is about race, of course.

If you move across the street from me and have a Southern accent, then I'm going to ask where you're originally from.  If you move across the street from me and have a Mexican accent, then I'm going to ask where you're originally from.

I usually just ask people if they're originally from Wichita.  Then they can tell me as much or as little as they want.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

In today's chapter of "things getting straightened up": Italy. It is often though the Italian boot as going due North-South, while it actually goes Northwest-Southeast. Termoli, an Adriatic coastal resort town in the nonexistent (or at least said so xD) region of Molise across the boot from Naples, is actually sightly further North than Rome.

[Dirt Roads]

It's well known that I-40 from Raleigh to Wilmington is almost due south.  But I-40 from the split near Hillsborough runs mostly southeast as well, except for the section around the southern part of the Raleigh Beltline.  That got me wondering about any local geographic oddities.  Sure enough, the geographic center of North Carolina (depending on which one you consider) is pretty much due north of Charleston, South Carolina.

Charleston SC - 79W 56^o
(traditional) near Goldston in Chatham County NC - 79W 27^o
(geosat calculation) near Star, Montgomery County NC - 79W 49^o
(local folklore) atop Purgatory Mountain, Randolph County NC - 79W 76^o

[Roadgeekteen]

It's well known that I-40 from Raleigh to Wilmington is almost due south.  But I-40 from the split near Hillsborough runs mostly southeast as well, except for the section around the southern part of the Raleigh Beltline.  That got me wondering about any local geographic oddities.  Sure enough, the geographic center of North Carolina (depending on which one you consider) is pretty much due north of Charleston, South Carolina.

Charleston SC - 79W 56^o
(traditional) near Goldston in Chatham County NC - 79W 27^o
(geosat calculation) near Star, Montgomery County NC - 79W 49^o
(local folklore) atop Purgatory Mountain, Randolph County NC - 79W 76^o

The east coast really curves in the Carolinas.

[dkblake]

Less physical geography than human geography, but: if you made a list of the largest city in the world that begins with each letter of the alphabet as transliterated in English, two of the cities on that list would be from western Canada: Edmonton and Vancouver. This is more than would be from the US (NYC), South America (Rio), or Europe (Paris).

[Roadgeekteen]

Less physical geography than human geography, but: if you made a list of the largest city in the world that begins with each letter of the alphabet as transliterated in English, two of the cities on that list would be from western Canada: Edmonton and Vancouver. This is more than would be from the US (NYC), South America (Rio), or Europe (Paris).

E surprises me.

[SkyPesos]

I'll type a list out here for reference, and to see how many are from China or India. Numbers from these two sites.

A - Ahmedabad (7.7m, Asia, India)
B - Beijing (19.6m, Asia, China)
C - Cairo (20m, Africa, Egypt)
D - Delhi (28.5m, Asia, India)
E - Edmonton (1.4m, N America, Canada)
F - Foshan (7.2m, Asia, China)
G - Guangzhou (12.6m, Asia, China)
H - Hyderabad (9.5m, Asia, India)
I - Istanbul (14.8m, Europe/Asia, Turkey)
J - Jakarta (10.5m, Asia, Indonesia)
K - Karachi (15.4m, Asia, Pakistan)
L - Lagos (13.5m, Africa, Nigeria)
M - Mexico City (21.6m, N America, Mexico)
N - NYC (18.8m, N America, US)
O - Osaka (19.2m, Asia, Japan)
P - Paris (10.9m, Europe, France)
Q - Qingdao (5.4m, Asia, China)
R - Rio (13.3m, S America, Brazil)
S - Shanghai (25.6m, Asia, China)
T - Tokyo (37.4m, Asia, Japan)
U - Urumqi (4m, Asia, China)
V - Vancouver (2.5m, N America, Canada)
W - Wuhan (8.2m, Asia, China)
X - Xi'an (7.4m, Asia, China)
Y - Yangon (5.2m, Asia, Myanmar)
Z - Zhengzhou (4.9m, Asia, China)

So there are 9 in China and 3 in India. Good to know

[andrepoiy]

Yangon can also be spelled as Rangoon...

[Scott5114]

I don't think it's legit to include cities that don't use the Latin alphabet in their native language.

[Road Hog]

I figured Vienna would nose out Vancouver. But in the native Swiss German language, Vienna is called Wien. The home of wieners and Wiener schnitzel.