<p>Hi..the int'l forum is full of, well...int'ls, so I decided to post this here. for some reason, people always have these ideas about how other people live in other countries, and have to have it explained to them that people in other parts of the world live just like they do. If you're one of those people who does all the explaining, please say everything there is to say in this thread for everyone to see.</p>
<p>I guess I'll start!</p>
<p>If you haven't already read my location, I'm from Egypt (Alexandria to be exact). People are always asking me: "Do you go to school on a camel?" "Do you live in a pyramid?" "You don't live in tents in the desert?" "But I thought that Egyptian people didn't dress like Europian people?"
Well, I'm proud to announce that I go to school by bus, and that there actually are concrete buildings in which people live, work, and learn. Also, Pyramids are ancient burial chambers of long-since-dead Egyptian kings, so does it seem at all logical that 80 million egyptians live inside them? You decide.
I'd like also to dispell the horribly infuriating misconception that there are no American or international franchizes here. Meaning that: yes there are lots of Pizza Huts, McDonalds', KFCs, etc... Not to mention that there actually are malls here, which house most of the international brand names - in case anyone was wondering.
As for the dress code: Most people dress in trousers and a t shirt, but some others choose the more traditional dress which looks something like this: <a href="http://hasanbm.ec51.com/images/bank/1166499852.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://hasanbm.ec51.com/images/bank/1166499852.jpg</a></p>
<p>edit: one more thing. I noticed that some people ask: "I often see men kissing (cheeks) and holding hands, is homosexuality that openly expressed in Egypt?" Well, no. That's just tradition. In most western countries a man would greet a woman with a kiss on the cheek, and another man with a handshake. Here it's the other way around. There's only same-sex kissing greeting, and a handshake with the opposite sex. As for the hand holding, I have no idea, I've never done it, so I guess I'll just have to ask someone about that.</p>
<p>I can't think of anything else at the moment, so I'll be back in a while, or anyone can just ask what's on his/her mind.</p>
<p>PERU
Once an officer of a US university asked me, do you have telephones in Peru, so I can call you back?
*We do have telephones! (and internet!) duhh</p>
<p>Also once my sister-in-law's family came to visit Peru and her dad asked me, How do you wash your clothes?
*We use laundry machines! </p>
<p>Well I think mainly misconceptions come from tv! I don't blame people for believing what appears there, but keep in mind that reality can be very different!..</p>
<p>I am from Pakistan, grown up in Saudi Arabia. I know what a colorful life right???</p>
<ol>
<li>We do have dishwashers in Saudi- someone asked me this while I was in the US once-</li>
<li>I absolutely know no terrorists.</li>
<li>We have other schools in Pakistan, other than the "madrasas"</li>
<li>Camels are not a mode of transportation here in Saudi either, contrary to common belief.</li>
<li>There are those of us Pakis who can pronounce W and V separately and accurately.</li>
</ol>
<p>1)No, pple don't get caned or whipped for every little offenses. Michael Fay vandalised and stealed public property, you can decide for yourself if he deserved to be punished.</p>
<p>2) Yes, the laws are strict and exact, but we don't feel restricted or live under fear. Actually we like it because it feels safe and we know exactly what to expect. No undertable deals and everything is well regulated.</p>
<p>3)Yes, there is a fine for spitting (if you get caught), but you don't get caned!</p>
<p>4) YOU CAN CHEW GUM, YOU WOULDN'T GET CANED, YOU JUST AREN'T ALLOWED TO SELL THEM!</p>
<p>Romania is not a country full of burglars or beggars. I know you have heard of many Romanians that steal or beg for money, but you have only heard of them doing it abroad. The ones who do it are not even native Romanians, they are gypsies who have relatives in Romania and are proud of having Romanian citizenship, so they yell it as often as they can. But remember, ROMANIANS ARE NOT LIKE THAT. They respect other people.</p>
<p>ok, I get really worked up with misconceptions about my country, especially does that come in the form of pen pall letters from people trying to share with us a little bit of American culture that they assume we know nothing about, so here goes:</p>
<p>Country: Brazil</p>
<p>1) We do not have monkeys in our backyards, though sometimes wild animals randomly wander into the city, like capybaras and a jaguar was once found in my teachers backyard but its HIGHLY uncommon
2) We do not all dance Samba, most people in Brazil hate Carnaval and spend Carnaval (a beautiful week sometimes right before APs) up in the mountain regions
3) The amazon rainforest does not occupy the entire territory, its in the Northwest only, and we do have other biomes, some called the atlantic rainforest, the caatinga, the cerrado, and even pine forests
4) we know what a hamburger is (we received pen pall letters where people described to us what a hamburger looked like), there happens to be a McDonald's right next to our school
5) We also happen to know what TGIF, Blockbuster, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and Starbucks are
6) We have cars, not canoes. You don't have to tell us what a garage is
7) Capoeira isn't as popular as most people believe</p>
<p>there's more, but I have portuguese homework to do, gah (we also have internet, as you can see)</p>
<p>liangshengtm, I was just pointing out the fact that not only are there Chinese people who don't know kung fu, most Chinese people don't know kung fu ;).</p>
<p>And its a paradox with Nepalese as well
-MOST People don't run after tourist like they've seen some god.
-It is not some Hippies area of 70s where you get to smoke booze.
-And Believe me or not most people think Nepalese go abroad to work as a gatekeeper, but it's an unqualified prejudice.
- And this goes to CocaCola industry of Germany: We don't eat Oranges without peeling it.
-Not all the Nepalese are porters and mountain trekkers.</p>
<p>some add ons about Singapore (from some really idiotic people)
-no we are not somewhere in China (<- this came from a Chinese from PRC)</p>
<p>And I've just realised that not only I know nothing about some of the countries you guys are from, I know nothing about the misconceptions too (Nepal and hippies?!) Oh well, that means I don't have too much prejudices to clean off ^_^</p>
<p>here's a little more about Egypt:
- it's a republic, not a Kingdom.
- Beans isn't the only thing we eat all day.
- Egyptians are caucasian, not black.</p>
