The IOC just released this revised winter olympic medal standings through the end of 2/22/10. There have apparently been some revisions to what was previously thought to be the medals awarded to various countries. NNN promises to follow up on this shocking development. It's not clear why Japan appears twice on the list. There may be two countries by that name. NNN is following that one too.
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Comments: 28
Are the Estonians kin to the Elbonians?
I'm really trying to understand this. These references to foreign countries are probably the only thing about American culture I don't get at all. A Hungarian might have quipped something like that about Romanian orphans, but as you can see, I'm drawing a complete comedic blank on Estonia here. The image I have of that country just doesn't work with this joke--it creates cognitive dissonance rather than comic consonance.
(The same thing applies to Tracy's comment about "Elbonia". Reading the description, I'd associate Albania in a second, but Estonia?)
(dont get me started on that one), and they are all, well.... foreign!!
I get really tired of the medal count. I don't really root for the US, although I rooted against the US in 1968 and cheered myself hoarse when Tommy Smith and John Carlos gave the clenched fist salutes on the medal platform. These days I don't have a rooting interest except that my wife, whose mother's family came from Norway, and I like to kid about the evil Finns and Swedes. :)
Nippy, I thought your list was funny, with the mismatched lines and all. :-)
Sheryl, Estonians are as used to this sort of thing as the rest of the proverbial "rest of the world". No apology is necessary--they'll just put another check mark next to their own well-developed stereotypes about Americans and move on.
Of course, I also found out that Europeans (and everyone else), stereotype everybody, especially those closest to them. So, its not a good idea to mistake a Latvian for an Estonian, as an example. Or, for that matter, a Hungarian with anybody else. :)
Again, it was a joke. An obviously poor one, but meant as a joke nonetheless.
My point was what I said: small countries with fairy-tale-like names are less distinct and more fungible for Americans than for Europeans, apparently even for Americans as well-traveled as you are. This is obvious from movies, sitcoms, etc., and when I said I didn't understand it, it wasn't in a cognitive but in an emotional sense.
I have also found that to be the case. Probably due to the fact that we tend to export our culture all over the world, for the worse or better. I have seen "American-type" behavior exhibited by people from other countries, as well (a situation while visiting a mosque in Egypt comes to mind - a group of Germans wanted to enter, yet many were dressed in tank tops and short-shorts; they were extremely indignant and rude when the kind older gentleman at the door insisted they cover themselves with large shawls). I will say that there is very little modern German cultural exportation, or like exportation from other countries, encountered in the US. We even have movements to bar immigrants from speaking their birth language in public here! I really cannot blame other countries from being especially biased about Americans after they get bombarded by McDonalds, American media and all our other cultural icons in their home countries.
I'm also grateful for this article, because I've been trying all week to think of something funny about Canada, the host of these Canadian/Canadien games. After researching it extensively, I've determined that there is nothing funny about Canada. I've heard rumors that there are comedians in Toronto, but it's basically part of Ohio, so it doesn't really count.
The world should lighten up on their attitude about Americans, because face it: they have a lot to learn from us. In my Canadian/Canadien research, consisting mostly of a driving tour of Ontario a few years ago, I noted certain deficiencies in language use. The most important one: there is no such word as "porridge." This word was coined in a fictional work by William Shakespeare, and was actually written into a few fairy tales before the truth was learned, and people stopped saying it. Except in Canada. Nearly as important is the question of the beef patty slapped between two chunks of bread: it is not a "hamburg." Say it with me: "Ham-bur-GER." Also, you do not put vinegar on fries. Or (heaven forbid) gravy, even if it tastes good. And they're called "fries," not "chips." These people do not get out much!
Anyway, cool Olympics (except for the ice dancing). Good job, Canada.
Thank you, you have solved a mystery. Now that I know that Canada is part of Ohio, I understand why Canadians have no sense of humor. Thanks again.
(The last time I said this in public I got lots of abuse. Lets see what happens now. Any mirthless Ohioans around?).
The truth is, I suspect, that this is the behavior of groups of people who are emboldened by their numbers (the more people in the group, the louder and more confident each person gets); by being safely away from their own society and its norms (no chance of running into Father Stefan's chatterbox of a housekeeper around the corner); and by a sense of superiority, often subconscious, toward the country they're visiting. I've been in Hungarian groups that showed the symptoms, and (if I haven't used up my Goofy Law Formulating Allowance on this thread), it always seemed to me that Hungarian tourists got louder and ruder as they moved toward the east, and more soft-spoken and cultured as they moved west.
You're a brave man, Dave. Around here, I dare not bring up the pronunciation of hamburger for fear of triggering hours of Inspector Clouseau imitations.
(The Minnesotans and other Oaters are clearly traitors. The phenomenon is called Canadian Raising, for crying out loud!)
Sy, if you had ended up in the middle of a minor war between Como and Varese, involving stolen bicycles, children with slingshots, and buxom matronas taking charge after their ineffectual husbands bungled everything up, it would have been the perfect Italian movie. :-)
Aniko
It is scheduled for release next month. On blu ray and DVD.
The single domain on my home computer network is named Freedonia.