I, for one, am a rather sheltered individual. I have not travelled very far from my home state of Maine - just a couple of the adjacent states, adjacent areas of Canada, and Mexico. So much of the world, and indeed, even much of my own country, remains rather mysterious.
Every country, and even different regions of those countries, has it's stereotypes that are propagated by film and television and people who have never even actually been there. For example, when most people think of California, they imagine a sunny wonderland of beaches, palm trees, and beautiful movie stars. Never having actually been there, I can't really say what it's actually like. And I'm sure people from Cali have their own ideas of what Maine must be like - a frozen wasteland dotted with small settlements of dour, flannel-clad folk who subist on a diet of moose meat and lobster.
So, with as diverse a group of folks as we have here on the Escapist, I'm sure we can set the record straight on a good portion of the world. Are there any pre-conceived notions of your own home region or someplace you've actually been to that you would like to put to rest? Do you have questions for someone else about what their home is really like? Are there any particularly amusing stereotypes that you'd like to share?
I'll go first. Maine - a lot of people probably think it's actually part of Canada. It's not. And it is not just a forbidding, rugged land of dense pine forests - sure, there are places like that, but we have large cities and population centers as well. And you can go years without ever seeing a moose.
And the people are diverse, as well - there are some toothless hicks, but no more than most places have, I'm sure. Not everybody here works on a lobster boat - we have doctors and lawyers and architects and artists and engineers, too.
Every country, and even different regions of those countries, has it's stereotypes that are propagated by film and television and people who have never even actually been there. For example, when most people think of California, they imagine a sunny wonderland of beaches, palm trees, and beautiful movie stars. Never having actually been there, I can't really say what it's actually like. And I'm sure people from Cali have their own ideas of what Maine must be like - a frozen wasteland dotted with small settlements of dour, flannel-clad folk who subist on a diet of moose meat and lobster.
So, with as diverse a group of folks as we have here on the Escapist, I'm sure we can set the record straight on a good portion of the world. Are there any pre-conceived notions of your own home region or someplace you've actually been to that you would like to put to rest? Do you have questions for someone else about what their home is really like? Are there any particularly amusing stereotypes that you'd like to share?
I'll go first. Maine - a lot of people probably think it's actually part of Canada. It's not. And it is not just a forbidding, rugged land of dense pine forests - sure, there are places like that, but we have large cities and population centers as well. And you can go years without ever seeing a moose.
And the people are diverse, as well - there are some toothless hicks, but no more than most places have, I'm sure. Not everybody here works on a lobster boat - we have doctors and lawyers and architects and artists and engineers, too.
