At this Polish party Per talked to a lady and had to suffer a case of “militant dumbness” (as Clemens called it). When reading this summary keep in mind that she is not some hillbilly but a teacher of history at this university and furthermore has a Ukrainian background. (How she managed to pass her studies I do not know.)

They started talking about their field of interests and Per explained he’s writing his PhD on history of Belarus.
“Belarus – is this a real country?”
“Yes it is a real country.”
“So where is it?”
“In Europe, next to Ukraine.”
“No it isn’t.”
Then they argued whether Belarus is next to Ukraine or not. Finally they agreed to disagree because neither of them wanted to give in as they both knew the geography of the area very well. Well, one of them obviously not so well..

Next topic: Scandinavia.
“So where is this country Scandinavia?”
“Actually that’s not a country it’s the region of northern Europe.”
“And which languages do you speak there?”
“The three main are Swedish, Norwegian and Danish.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say that earlier – of course I’ve heard about Switzerland!”
Ehm. Yeah.

And then she asked something like how come he was hanging out with us (i.e. Clemens and me) and Per answered something such as:
“You know there weren’t any Swedes around so Austrians are the next closest relatives.” (A little “Pangermanismus”-joke.)
“Oh, yeah, there are so many Europeans who can trace their roots back to Australia.”
What!?

Oh my! I have no idea what area of history that lady has studied. A master on ancient Myanmar? A PhD on pre-colonial Swasiland? Unlikely. I doubt she even knows that those are real countries. So, I’d rather assume it was a degree in advanced Canadian Hicksism...

PS: Ach ja, und nur um Anfällen von allzu militanter europäischer Arroganz vorzubeugen, hier zwei kleine Beispiele von unserem Kontinent:

Nummer 1: Eine Folge von Stefan Raab’s Erstwählercheck, inklusive einer vollständigen Definition des Kommunismus. Jene Folge, in der das Basiswissen in Europäischer Geografie getestet wurde hab ich leider nicht gefunden – das war die Genialste überhaupt. Also falls irgendwer weiß, wo man sich das online ansehen kann - her mit dem Link!


Nummer 2 (thanks to zitali): Warum die Zweite Staffel vom Irakkrieg besser ist als die erste und wie das so ist, mit Bush und Saddam und so.



@Domink, wie ging noch mal das zweite Beispiel Deiner Klassenleuchte? Die Geschichte der Kartoffoliken und der Brotestanten weiß ich noch, aber was war das andere...?

On Friday I had dinner in the Faculty Club. Seafood Buffet: Lobster Soup. Oysters. Crabs. Salmon. Cod. ... ... ... Those 22 bucks were definitely well invested! Yuuummmmyyy!!!

Less so the 24 for entrance and drinks at a party of the U of A Polish Club. Uh, terrible 80s and 90s disco music. However, one thing was very interesting: I talked to a polish guy and when I introduced myself he laughed and said he has to tell his brother - who has chosen my name as his confirmation name thinking that no one else would have that name here. (I met that brother later on: He studies history and has a Canadian flatmate whose favourite beer is Stiegl. Funny.) Anyway, so that evening I learned that when Polish Catholics have their confirmation, they can chose an additional name, and wear a piece of cloth with this confirmation name during the ceremony. I’ve never heard of that. Do we have or did we have that in Austria as well? I like the idea. It fit’s well that you can chose a name for yourself at this second baptism which makes you fully Catholic. (And it may be especially useful if your real name sucks and you can persuade your friends to use your confirmation name instead.) I should enquire whether anyone uses their name at all. Anya told me today that – because confirmation is so late – it is never added to official paper, so it’s a purely religious symbol.