Austria vs. Australia vs. Germany

[gery0x]

Hi folks,

 

I'd like to open this topic just to tell you about a funny thing happening to me as an expat again and again and again and.....

If you look to the left hand side of this post right now, below my nickname you will see that I'm an Austrian - a very tiny country somewhere not east not west not north and not south in Europe that nobody really can make out on a map, right? And we speak German there.

 

The standard dialogue when meeting someone in Phils goes 80% like this:

"Hey, where are you from?"

-

"Austria"

-

"Ahhh Australia, nice have Kangaroos there..."

-

"Yeahhh... nope. AUSTRIA, not Australia, LISTEN!!"

OR: "Yes, right, Australia....."

 

Over the years this can get quite annoying really, which is why I actually rather answer that I'm from Germany, because almost everybody here know Germany to some degree.

Not all, but most of the people hear "Austr..." and assume that I'm Australian...

 

But today I had a conversation that was quite uncommon to me! In fact, I never heard this before while living in the Phils (10 or so years)!

It went like this, at the sari-store just next to my house:

 

"Oh hey, where are you from, Russia, right?"

-

"Russia? No? I'm from Austria..."

-

"Ahh Austria... NAZI!!!" (I figure he knows the country!)

-

"What?? Yeah yeah, the nazis..."

-

"Arian Brotherhood! You are Arian Brotherhood?!"

-

"WTF no???"

-

"But you have friends who are Arian Brotherhood, right?"

-

"errrm, nope.....?"

-

"Are you Arian??"

-

"What do you mean?? Do I have blond hair and blue eyes??" (FYI: I have black/grey hair and brown eyes haha)

-

"You are Austrian you must be Arian, no?"

-

"Dude what kind of books are you reading???"

 

The guy didn't want to let go and the conversation really started getting awkward, so I told the sari-lady to please serve him before me so that this idiot goes away...

 

As I said, I've never had a conversation like this before! Not so direct, not so... "fanatic"!

Of course, the uneducated Pinoys associate Germany (and maybe Austria) with Hitler and the regime back then first, and they are also quite the "fans" of that stuff.

 

I don't mind that they do, they just didn't receive proper History classes *imho*...

But asking me about "Arian Brotherhood", really?! That guy must have had some (sloppy) background education... Although Arian Brotherhood only exists in the US as far as I know...

 

Hmmm....

I'd rather have people asking me about Kangaroos and Koala Bears instead!

[Viking]

I am from Sweden, and that is usually mixed up with Switzerland!

It´s not only pinoys that makes that mistake,  I have actually heard that alot from people coming from US. But I suppose it is better being coupled to banks, expensive watches and great chocolate than nazis 

[Gary D]

8 hours ago, Viking said:

I am from Sweden, and that is usually mixed up with Switzerland!

It´s not only pinoys that makes that mistake,  I have actually heard that alot from people coming from US. But I suppose it is better being coupled to banks, expensive watches and great chocolate than nazis 

I thought there is supposed to be tons of Nazi gold in the Swiss banks.

[stevewool]

Hi my name is Joe and apparently I’m from America according to the many here.

[Heeb]

13 hours ago, gery0x said:

"Hey, where are you from?"-

"Austria"

-

"Ahhh Australia, nice have Kangaroos there..."

-

"Yeahhh... nope. AUSTRIA, not Australia, LISTEN!!"

OR: "Yes, right, Australia....."

You might get the same results in the states as well, a lot of people are ignorant of anything outside of their backyard and don't care, I've been to Austria and it's a beautiful country. I have a German last name and without fail when a Filipino tries to pronounce it they say "Webner" my last name is Huebner, It doesn't bother me too much because I'm not even sure how to say it properly.

[Marvin Boggs]

Ahh, Austria.  Probably one of the top two places I've ever visited.  Just breathtaking.  We stayed in Salzburg, but did not get a chance to see Vienna.  

Yes its amazing the ignorance most people have of basic geography.  In the US I originally hail from Virginia, which is a totally distinct state from West Virginia.  But in the western half of the US, no one knows the difference.  

"So you're from West Virginia?"

"No"

"Yeah I visited Norfolk once....."  

*Sigh

 

 

[Gary D]

I guess there is little or no geography taught in the Philippines because there is little or no geography taught in the USA, who initially set up the schooling in the Philippines. We joke that the only countries that are known in the States are countries that they have bombed, mind you they haven't always got that right either..

[Heeb]

1 hour ago, Gary D said:

I guess there is little or no geography taught in the Philippines because there is little or no geography taught in the USA, who initially set up the schooling in the Philippines. We joke that the only countries that are known in the States are countries that they have bombed, mind you they haven't always got that right either..

I think it depends on what state you grew up in or what type of school you attended. I was taught world geography as well as U.S. geography I went to a very strict Lutheran school through the 8th grade. I was also brainwashed to believe that pretty much everyone but us were going to burn in everlasting torment for one reason or another, including Catholics because they prayed to a false god (Mary), baptists if they died before they were baptized because they waited until adulthood, we were baptized shortly after birth and most especially the Jews because they crucified Jesus and don't believe he was the son of god. They also taught us that the earth was only 7k years old, when I asked "what about the dinosaurs?" I was told the devil planted them there to deceive us and was sent off to the paddle room and after getting worked over with the "meat grinder" (wooden paddle with holes in it) I was sent to the 'cloak closet" where one would sit in the dark and contemplate there sin for a time, I actually liked that part because I had a very good imagination. My sister and I used to call it Hitler youth camp, we did get a good education but I would much rather have gone to public school. Years later my dad expressed his regret for sending us there and told us he was actually an atheist, his older sister talked him into it, she was my first grade teacher and her husband was the principle and a mean SOB, and he actually did go to Hitler youth camp before the war and emigrating to the U.S.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Heeb

[gery0x]

33 minutes ago, Heeb said:

and was sent off to the paddle room and after getting worked over with the "meat grinder" (wooden paddle with holes in it) I was sent to the 'cloak closet" where one would sit in the dark and contemplate there sin for a time

Holy s**t!!!

 

33 minutes ago, Heeb said:

Years later my dad expressed his regret for sending us there and told us he was actually an atheist

LOL that's ironic!

 

33 minutes ago, Heeb said:

he actually did go to Hitler youth camp before the war and emigrating to the U.S.

Huh, an HJ ("Hitler-Jugend")-guy teaching creationism in the US?! That's weird

Just out of curiosity, did his past have any effect on what was taught about WW2 and the Nazis?

 

5 hours ago, Heeb said:

my last name is Huebner, It doesn't bother me too much because I'm not even sure how to say it properly.

If I got the story right it makes sense to me why your last name is Hübner! Is it really written with "ü" in your passport, or just with "u" or "ue"?

Must be quite confusing in an English speaking country... I can teach you how to pronounce it though!

 

16 hours ago, Viking said:

I am from Sweden, and that is usually mixed up with Switzerland!

I have a very good friend who is from Sweden too, he tells me the same haha! Welcome to the club

Edited January 23, 2020 by gery0x

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, Gary D said:

I guess there is little or no geography taught in the Philippines because there is little or no geography taught in the USA

Very sad for me since my BA degree is in Geography... I read recently that the subject is being dropped from high school curriculum in USA. So the masses will continue to be ignorant about anything further away than the range of their car? Filipinos I have talked with are mostly ignorant about anything outside of their province, sometimes even their town. Except the OFW's who know the names of the places, but not really where they are and the layout of the world.

Many Americans are equally ignorant because of lack of schooling in this field. Also history... so much was drummed into me (I hated it as a student, but love reading about history now). L knows nothing about WWI, WWII, Korean War and even Vietnam War. These topics just are not taught here or not taught adequately it seems. I think that is sad because there are so many lessons to be learned from history and past mistakes. (Although sometimes I wonder if humans actually do learn from past mistakes?)

Perhaps I should have also included the Spanish/American War, the Civil War, the War of 1812 and on and on... There is so much rich history in our civilization (so-called)... L is mostly ignorant about the Spanish/American War which essentially deeded the Philippines to USA. And some of Duterte's comments about how the Americans turned their backs on the Filipino insurgents and captured, tortured and murdered them are quite true... golly.... does any of this sound familiar in current times? Sorry... that's as political as I think I wish to venture here... sorry Forum...

Edited January 23, 2020 by Tommy T.