places

I thought that New York and Florida were neighbors. I think it was from hearing about my N.Y relations constantly going there on vacation!

Robyn

I used to think that France was in England and i wondered why we had to go by boat!

Miss Rainbow

When I was little, I had an aunt who lived on Long Island. All I knew about Long Island is that it was "far away" (according to my parents!) from Boston and that being an island it must be across the water somewhere.

With this information in hand, I looked at the map in my Charlie Brown Encyclopedia and determined that Long Island was located in the U.S.S.R. When my friends came over I would whip out the trusty Peanuts atlas and regal them with tales of Aunt Nina in "Long Island, United States S.R."

When I was 9 we went to New York to visit her and I finally realized that Long Island and the U.S.S.R. were not one and the same. But only because we took a bus to get there and didn't go over the ocean.

Lisa in New England, United States S.R.

I used to think that Ohio(the state I was born and still live in)Was the only place on Earth, then I got a puzzle of the United States, and thought the U.S. was the only place on Earth.

Amanda

I had a very unrealistic sense of distance when I was about 4 or 5. Our house was overlooking a small field, and at the other side you could see the roof of a white house. I was absolutely convinced that this was my grandfathers house, which was actually a five hour drive away... Hey, they were both big and white! I refused to believe the boy next door (seven years older, always knew best...) when he claimed this was impossible.

Gudrun

When I was a kid, I thougt Moscwa was the big building behind the shopping center were i lived. Becuase everytime my dad went to Moscwa, he drove that way. When i told him what i belived, he coudn't stop laughing and told me that Moscwa was in a other country. I was so diasppointed!!

tina

I used to believe when I was young that Poland was made entirely of candy.

Jenn

Whenever there would be a car sale and there would be showlights in the sky, I thought that that was where Hollywood was. I would get so mad at my dad for not taking me to Hollywood when it was so close that I could see the lights!

JO

This isn't my own childhood belief, but a good friend of mine's. For some strange reason he developped this belief that if you flew to Australia then the plane turned upside-down, and this would somehow mean that when you got there that gravity would be inverted. He firmly believes that all Australians have to wear magnetic shoes so that they don't fall off the earth, and that some sort of special cling film keeps the sea in place. This friend is now 25 and still firmly believes this, and no matter how much we try and find holes in his theory, he manages to invent a way aorund it.

Jani

I used to believe that other coutries were other planets and you had to travel in a spaceship to go to Africa.

Sarah Jane

For about 16 years of my life I thought Alaska was an island near Canada. In the textbooks they always showed it separate from everything!

Maureen

When i was around 6 years old i was leaving my place of birth- the Philippines- to move to America....i thought that the whole USA was just Disney World. School, jobs, work -didn't exsist in my mind for all i knew and believed was that i was on my way to live a happy life in Disney World ;)

Joshalin Evans

i used to believe that africa only had wild animals and tribes absolutley no civilization until college when i met about 10 people from there and when i told them what i thought they all laughed at me! i guess i looked at too many national geographics!

amanda

I used to believe that "South America" was referring to the southern US states. Once, in class, we were asked to name some countries in South America. I raised my hand and said "That's easy! There's Florida, Georgia, Texas..."
I was mortified when the teacher corrected me.

A Canadian

My parents are from China, but my sister and I were born in the United States. Whenever my parents talked about wanting to take us to China for vacation, I'd be TERRIFIED because I had heard about their one child policy (to reduce the population growth rate), and I thought they would kill me for being the younger daughter!

Samantha from California

When I was a kid, I used to think, to get on the George Washington Bridge, you had to drive up the support cables that span the top of the bridge instead of driving on the flat pavement.

Joanne

There are a couple of islands off the coast by the beach where my family vacationed in Maine. I assumed they were England for many years.
My brother came to the same conclusion independently, and at one point informed us that Lake Michigan was bigger than the Atlantic Ocean, since you could see the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!

Wisconsin girl

I used to belive that Mississippi was a person. Mrs. Sippi.

Dunno