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Apr-23-2004 19:49
(sticky post)

So, looking at the web logs, I know that we have players here from about 30 different countries. I just thought it would be interesting to put somes names with places.

My wife and I live in Boulder, COlorado in the U.S. Where the winter has returned for the weekend. We actually moved here pretty recently from Seattle, which is my home town.

May-8-2005 06:57

My name is Mark, I'm living in Bristol, London where I'm studying chemistry. Really I'm from London though, and I'm 21.

May-8-2005 06:57

oops, I meant England instead of the first London - bit of an idiot *roll's eyes*

May-8-2005 06:59

ral315, technically England and Wales are part of the same country (the United Kingdom) and Holland and the Netherlands are actually the same place! (Sorry for being picky)

May-8-2005 07:21

Well....yes and no, in terms of Holland and The Netherlands. See Holland are actually two provinces of the kingdom of the Netherlands. In the old days, those two provinces were the richest, the most populated, most international trade, and armies and protecten were. Those are the two out of three provinces that are next to the ocean (some people even swim to England, though I do not recommend it. hahah.) So for the international word, when people thought of the kingdom of the Netherlands, they actually always thought about those two Holland provinces (called North Holland and South Holland.) So pretty soon Holland and The Netherlands became inter-exchangeable, or however you say that.
Those two provinces are still around. Amsterdam, is in the province of North Holland. And Rotterdam, with one of the biggest harbours in the world is in the province of South Holland.

I hope no one fell asleep on me.

And.....welcome Marcus!!!!!

May-8-2005 07:29

And for those Americans that get hassled by Europeans, about some Americans not knowing where all the European countries are.

Ask them this....
1. Point out the state of Wisconsin on a map?
2. Point out the European country Lithuania on a map?

Considering that Holland fits 7 times in the state of Texas. A European should be more then able to point to the state of Texas on a map, over the country of Holland.

And as for languages. Sure, 5 different languages were drilled in to me at a VERY young age. The reason why is, we are a itty bitty country dependend on the outside world and trade.
Americans in my opinion are better off studying other subjects then languages. To them it is as useful as knitting is to us. Pure entertainment and fun.

May-8-2005 08:08

i apologise for my ignorance jstkdn *blushes*. It seems my education was not as complete as i thought it was!

May-8-2005 08:40

And even though my facts weren't entirely correct, it seems that my point was valid nonetheless. Holland is not a country in its own right, so cannot be counted!

May-8-2005 09:29

Exactly. It is not legally our name.

May-8-2005 16:20

Marcus: Aside from being just a tad pedantic, I think you'll find most people, at least from Britain, would disagree about Wales not being a country.

Ultimately it all comes down to the definition of what a country is, but one definition is "an area distinguished by its people, culture, language or government." It's a little hazy, but it's better than a lot of definitions I've heard. For example, it's been said that if it's a country, it would have it's own seat in the UN, which to me is just about the worst argument possible. If that were the defining matter, then at a stroke England, Scotland and Northern Ireland would all be stripped of their status as being countries.

Wales has a seperate boundary, culture, language and people to England. It has its own National Assembly and heritage. Welsh is a distinct nationality to English and any other. Yes, we might all be British and Wales might not be an independant state, but it's a country in its own right.

As a last challenge (and it really would be the last) to any Englishman that emphatically states that Wales is not a country, I would suggest making your opinion vociferously known in a pub in Cardiff on a Friday night. On seconds thoughts, it would probably better if you didn't ...

May-9-2005 01:05

Hehe! I feel that I must apologise for being a little (perhaps more than that) pedantic. While Sorry for getting off topic - I never intended to be so controversial! *grins* Thanks for your comments though, Blaise and jstkdn! :D