nationalities

I used to believe that Eskimos were literally immune to the cold, and that they had magic powers like the ability to freeze people or make it snow everywhere. I also thought the reason why they wore fur parkas and lots of layers was because they had to keep their powers secret, by pretending they were normal people who would die if they froze. When I was in 2nd grade, I got to meet an actual Eskimo and was so stunned and shocked. I was really, really, afraid to ask him about his magic powers, because he might get upset that I "blew his cover" and then use his powers to freeze me to death.

Anon

I remember the time i found out that people on "the other side of the world" was awake when we were asleep, and vice versa and they had night and we had day, vice versa again. And for me the other side of the world was Australia and japan and all those countries, since I live in Norway.
Then i remember thinking that they must have a really boring life, because all the stores, the schools, and the places were closed at night.
Later i realized that the ones that own the stores and the other places also sleep when the other people in the country sleep... complicated, really =)

Ingeborg

when my mom said that i should look at china because they got starving people, i used to think seriously why couldnt we pack it up and send it to them.

Anon

I used to believe that people from germany were called germs, and that they had a lot of germs. I was afraid to shake hands with my mom's friend because she was german and i didn't want to catch her germs!

Ryan

I used to think Asians who wore glasses were meant to be cross eyed, because of how they read and write backwards in languages like Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, etc!

Anon

When I was little, my sister told me that there were a bunch of different people exactly like me, doing everything I was doing, at that time, in every country. But I thought they were doing it in French in France, and Chinese in China. Like that Brown commercial.

Sonia

I used to believe that you can tell the Chinese from the Japanese by the way their eyes slant. Eyes of the Chinese slant downwards and eyes of the Japanese slant upwards.

Anamarija

I used to think everyone had to be born in the country that they were ethnically from or related to their accent.

Anon

When I was younger, I used to think people in China walked upside down.

Max

I used to think that because Chinese people were from China, Japanese people must be from Japa.

Rebecca

When I was a kid,(about 5 or 6), my mother was driving somewhere and she told me,"Look, there's an Indian man walking down the street." I looked, expecting to see a Native American chief complete with feathered headdress and war paint, like I'd seen in movies. When I saw an ordinary-looking man with a dot on his forehead, I said "That's not an Indian!" My mother had to explain the difference between people from India and Native Americans.

OpheliaHoss

when ever people said ther is an oriental rug i thought it was made from asian people

steve

Growing up in Germany, I used to believe that all Americans were black. That is probably because I assumed every white person I saw was German. Only when I saw a black person did it occurr to me it might be a foreigner, and those were mostly Americans in that region.

With the help of American movies and TV series, I later adjusted this belief. About half of the Americans must be black and the other half white. That seemed only fair to me. I was very surprised when I found out the real percentage in school.

allgrownupnow

i used to believe Hungarian 're always hungry .that 's why they callled Hungary.

Claudia Law

I used to think that Eskimo's actually always lived in Igloos, like that was their home and that Indian's lived in tents.....and I'm talking about the 1980's LOL!!

Smaada

I used to believe that about 25%-30% of the U.S. population was Jewish. After all, there were so many famous Jewish people!

Anon

I kept hearing my husband say that "AL needs a Visa" to return her for work. Well, one day I said to my Hubby "Why don't we get him a card under our account" Boy was I ridiculed about that. I believed a visa was a charge card......I was 35 yrs old!!

stella

i used to believe that when chinese people cried their tears went into their ears

Mari

When I was young, I thought lesbians were citizens from Lebabanon. I remember seeing an episode of Night Court in which some character says "Christine, I'm a lesbian!" and begins to kiss the surprised Christine and for a few years after that I thought that people from Lebanon had some rather interesting social customs. I found it a bit strange,but I knew that Mongolians stick out their tongues in greeting and it seemed to just be one of those things...

Anon

When I was about five or so, I saw a beer commercial on tv. It was two guys having a beer, watching a football game. and at the end the announcer said " The American Beer". Well see I'm Canadian, and I thought that an American was what you called someone who drinks beer and watches football today. I believed that for a couple of years, till i finally asked my parents.

krissie