Maine moves to Oregon. West Africa moves to South America.

Back when I lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I had a college student ask me, "New Hampshire... isn't that near Altoona (Pennsylvania)?" When I told her that New Hampshire is a state. Her reply was, "oh really?"

A friend of mine was at a gas station in California. Upon seeing his Maine license plate, the gas station attendant said, "Maine. Isn't that in Florida?" My friend replied, "No. Maine is a state in the northeast." The attendant said, "Oh, up near Oregon?" My friend, just smiled and said, "yeah."

I don't expect that international readers of this blog would know (or care) where Maine is... but people the US seem to have a problem with our geographical understanding. I offer these two further examples:



...an advertisement for a globe that shows children that Boston, Massachusetts is in India.



...a travel brochure that places West Africa on the west coast of South America.