Stupid Questions TOURISTS ask!

195

Tourist questions
Tourists' questions of Alaska:
What time do they turn the northern lights on?
Do you live in an igloo?
Do you ride a dog sled?
Why is Alaska so cold if its next to Mexico? (because of maps that have Alaska near Mexico, some people have thought Alaska was actually next to Mexico)
So you have exactly six months of light and six months of dark?
There are plenty more, but my brain is fried right now.

196

stupid? foreign?
Why do tourists ask stupid questions?

I have two very naive friends, who will believe almost anything you tell them. I have told them stories of dust-explosions being caused by overheated hoovers and pineapples growing in our back-yard in Germany. Anything goes in.

It so happens that one of these friends is also the most fanatic traveller, I know. She cycled on her own from Australia to England, taking her own route and all the time. And every country, she arrived in, she encountered with never-ending curiosity. Intelligent questions, stupid questions, any questions. I, as her part time, non-naive travel companion just asked what I thought were the intelligent questions. Guess, who got the hang of a country quicker, guess, who made quicker contact with the people, guess, who knew the language first (and people tell me, that I got the hang of foreign languages).

I guess, I had the greater factual knowledge. My naive friend definitely had the better social knowledge and the better brains for the long haul. Asking stupid questions is vital for a traveller.

But, many of the questions termed as stupid, are not so stupid after all. For example, several postings concern the weight of this or that Mountain. The most brilliant answer was: with or without the snow. Well, if you travel OZ, one of the main attractions is Ayers Rock, supposedly the world's largest rock (though there are larger ones, I heard). And a vital bit of information, they give you on your tour, is how much it weighs. Scientists try to determine the weight of the earth, why not figure out the weight of a mountain?

And a special one for #158 (where is the German embassy in Berlin?): There is no German embassy in Berlin, but there is a Bavarian embassy in Berlin, which is just as weird. It's like having a Californian embassy in Washington DC. If you don't ask stupid questions, you'll never find out.

About animals: I think it is a perfect question to ask about any animal, endangered or not, whether you can eat them. If they are endangered, you are much more likely to find out why, if you consider the use of the beast.

Another thing, that really strikes me as odd, is the language bit. Many of the so-called stupid questions are simple errors in translation (the bloody steak is the prime example). These people try to speak English, they practice it. As a result they are confronted with hostile humor, that they can not possibly understand. By the way, to add to the diversity of this thread: When I just spoke a few sentences Dutch, I entered a clothing store in Arnhem. The shop-assistant asked me, if she could help. My reply was: nee, ik kom wel alleen klaar. Her shocked stare met a friendly smile in my face as I was convinced that I just told her, that I did not need any assistance. Well, I had told her that and a little more. Another example is the engineer asking before the Zambezi rafting trip, whether they would finish where they started. He was probably just concerned on how to get back afterwards. So just tell him, we'll bring you back here with busses and he'll know all he wants to. When I cycled in Poland, I started one of those dictionary-conversations with a polish guy. I told him, that I was on my way to a friend of mine, who lived in Frankfurt/Oder (Germany). He replied that he preferred girls. Language is a tricky thing... (What's the Finnish word for sunset? ........... Helsinki)

By the way, I would like to challenge a few of the non-American posters for a little quiz on a few other countries? Do they have electricity in Kazakhstan, do they have TV in Bhutan? Who is Petra? Do they have ATMs in Azerbaidjan? Things the like. We Europeans tend to have a Euro-centric world-view as well. And even about the 15 EU countries we know preciously little. So keep on asking those stupid questions, it'll only make you wiser.

Not to be able to distinguish Austria and Australia is a common one, same with Sweden and Switzerland. I always mix up the different Guineas and it took me a while to figure out where Mauritius is. Before last summer, I was not able to tell you the countries, that share a border with Georgia (the Caucasian republic). These countries are just as important as any other country in the world and we are all bloody ignorant about them (well, I know about two people, who are not, and I am not one of them).

Having said this, I do see the fun in a lot of those stories and I am convinced that most of the victims would see the fun, too, if you take the time to explain to them, what they just asked. So keep those stories coming for the fun of it. But bear in mind that they are in no way proof of stupidity. The real stupidity goes hidden in the brains of those people who do not ask.

I just remeber, how many times I made a fool of myself while travelling, how many stupid questions I must have asked. I bet, some of my encounters still tell the stories to their grandchildren. That reminds me of another one. We used to go to Greece quite frequently and I loved to eat Calamary every night (friend octopus). I strongly associated Calamary with holidays. So when we took a skiing holiday in Switzerland, I told my parents to get Calamary for me. I just tell this story to be ahead of my Mum.

Oh, and the money thing still gets me terribly confused. If you live all your life in the US and you are used to paying everything on US Dollars, going to another country with a different currency will give you the shivers. And whenever you travel a larger distance, you will once again encounter the suspense, whether you will have to change your money or not. It's like those, who are used to borders, might wonder about Visas: Do I need to get a Visa for Turkey (for the people of Turkey the answer is easy: they can not travel to as single country in the world without a visa, if I am not mistaken. I wonder how many countries there are like this.). What will really confuse me, is the Euro. I have used it as a billing currency in all my bank-accounts for quite a while, yet I keep on being surprised at the reality of it. It will be a very weird experience indeed, when I will own my first Euro-coins this coming friday (by the way, I love the looks of the Greek 1 Euro coin and the Italian 2 Euro coin. The way they have Euros from different countries will confuse tourists like nothing ever has. I don not envy those working in banks these coming months).

Sorry for the lack of structure in this posting, but if you have made it this far, it can't have been that bad.

Cheerful greetings to those who asked the stupid question, friendly greetings to those who answered them and a friendly nod to those who laugh about the these people...

Lukanga

197

stupid questions
great one, Lukanga, but the fun continues. there was this German practising his English in Bombay. with a very straight face he once told me, "i was not well. the whole of yest i was LAYING.......!!!!". the extra A there made all the difference.

and then, i once forced a vegetable vendor in Bombay to use his elementary English on me. no direct force, just my Hindi was sufficient to convince him that an English conversation is better. all i asked him was how many Kilos (Kilograms) make up one Paav (250 grams)?!!!!!!!

keep them coming......

198

Dummie
When I worked out at Ayers Rock, an American tourist asked me where I came from. 'Brisbane' I said. He goes 'Wow, you travel from Brisbane to here everyday?'

199

Wow
that was a stupid question. I have no comment. I just wanted the milestone.

See you at 300!

200

poor Americans
Why do they get picked on all the time? I wonder how many questions were tongue-in-cheek. The fact is that Americans tend to speak rather loudly, so their stupid questions are more likely to be heard than other more discreet voices. So Americans perhaps you want to learn to control the volume a little.

201

Stupid Questions Folks ask!
I asked this question of a blackwater(potholing)guide in N.Z.His reply 'How many undiscovered caves are down here'

202

not a yank citizen yet
Luakanga.

So, Calamary = octopus?
mmmmmmmmm..... never knew that.

I was told by my american host family calamary = squid!

203

this one's scary
I was arguing with an American over the pros (?) and cons of nuclear weapons - she said "yeah, but noone's every actually dropped a nuclear bomb have they". Whan I informed her that in fact America had dropped a couple, her excuse for not knowing was that she hadn't "taken history in school, only american history"!

204

205
Walking past the Blue Mosque together with a Philipina I point at the building and ask her if she has already been there. Her reply : 'No I haven't, is it a hotel ?'

Too many birthdays are bad for your health.

205

Stupid Answer
I was in Ottawa (the capital of Canada) this summer, and was walking past the parliment buildings when I heard a boy (about 10 years old) ask his mom what the buidling was. She answered "It's kind of like Canada's Disneyland".

206

Here's two:
At a public transit terminal in Vancouver B.C a guy was trying to buy train tickets from a vending machine "what's wrong with this thing?" he says to me. "Your using U.S currency" I said. "But it's worth more than Canadian" he responded. "The British Pound is worth more too and it doesn't take that either" I told him. He looked at me and his eyes glazed over. Another time I was in a small town in Costa Rica and I noticed an American trying to ask something from one of the locals, "What's the matter with you, don't you speak English?!" That still bothers me years later.

207

more
"Are these prices in our money?" (American tourist oveheard in Canada), what other colours does your flag come in, what is that white stuff on the trees up onthat mountains (snow, yes even in summer), B.C. is that near Hawaii.
So you live an hour east of Vancouver, I guess you live in the Rockies then (from a Montrealer), the Rockies are at least another 8 hours.

And my personal favourite, many tourists many ages and nationalities when going up the Peace Tower in Canada's Parliament, "Is this where they filmed the Hunchback of Notre Dame" (just after the Disney animated feature had come out) try answering that one without making someone feel stupid!

208

In Texas ...
...I was asked by a dear old lady where I am from. Saying "Munich, Germany" she was amazed "Oooh, and did you come all that way to here by car???"

209

Another funny story
A friend of mine (me being from Bavaria) once was in Indiana for a school exchange. Telling that we grow bushes close to our toilets for the purpose of using it as toilet paper kids at highschool just believed it without wondering! Can you imagine?