I never know how to answer this and get uncomfortable if someone asks, lol. I've lived all over the country and don't have a hometown. I have been in southern California for the past 5 and a half years and have no plans on leaving though. Yay stability!

Glasgow , Scotland

minties82 wrote: »

I like how lots of the people from USA/Canada don't state what country they are from, is that common? To presume the rest of the world is familiar with your towns and states?

Its a mix of completely unintended arrogance(I guess that's the word?) and the fact that most places I interact online are 95%+ folks from North America so I don't think about it. Whoops!

So I said I'm from Raleigh, NC, in the US. NC = North Carolina, on the eastern coast of the US, 250ish miles south of Washington, DC. Raleigh is the capital of the state, its in the dead center of the state.

No pun intended, but Small World!

I have been a homeschooling mother since 1998. I still have one in high school, the other two have graduated and are in college. And I have always made the girls take geography!

Apologies for ever seeming arrogant, at all! That would be Extreme southeast Mississippi, USA. I'm not used to this forum etiquette.

Born and raised in WA, USA, living near Los Angeles, CA. I assume people know LA is USA.

PatsyFitzpatrick wrote: »

Lutz,Fl a bit North of Tampa. My profile is Honeymoon Island a beautiful beach if you are in the area. Very old Florida. Can easily walk or run 7 or 8 miles around trails and the island. Watch for rattlesnakes this is truly old Florida. So very pretty.

Sarasota FL, hate it!

I'm from Illinois, US. Currently living in Aurora, a suburb of Chicago.

radiii wrote: »

minties82 wrote: »

I like how lots of the people from USA/Canada don't state what country they are from, is that common? To presume the rest of the world is familiar with your towns and states?

Its a mix of completely unintended arrogance(I guess that's the word?) and the fact that most places I interact online are 95%+ folks from North America so I don't think about it. Whoops!

Yes, I was just being flippant and absurd about the arrogance comment. I think the latter is exactly what it is. Many of us interact daily (online or in real life) with folks who either are from our own country or are currently living in our own country. And so without thinking about it, we make the error. We get into patterns that form our knee-jerk, subconscious reactions. The only place I interact with people who live outside the U.S. is on forums like this one. I homeschool in a rural, small Tennessee town at the foot of the Appalachian Mtns. 99.9% of the people I ever encounter face-to-face live here in the U.S. My husband works with people from other countries, but they all currently live in the U.S. Our frame of reference is truncated. Our daily world is often small. I think those who interact more with people living in other countries at work or their daily lives wouldn't make that unintentional mistake as often.

If someone came up to you on the street and asked where you were from, you'd have a myriad of visual or auditory cues from that person to help you correctly frame your answer. Like accent, or race or dress even in some cases. You'd also answer differently depending on whether or not the street you are standing on is in your home town or if you were travelling inside your own country or a different country altogether. It's a little harder to judge people online, when they may not even have pictures of themselves up. I have a picture of John Cleese from the Holy Grail on mine, for bacon's sake. You can't hear an accent, and if you could, the user could live anywhere in the world or in your own country. There are no boundaries here, unless you are on a site specific to nationality. People really have no idea from whence you hail unless you come out and say it.

I have no idea where Middlesex or South Staffordshire are located in the UK. Nor exactly where Rotterdam falls in the Netherlands or Brisbane or Glasgow. But I do know where the countries to which those areas belong are located in the world and a fair bit of general information about the countries. I'm going to go look up the precise locations, but that isn't in my daily frame of reference right off, so I may or may not remember down to longitude or latitude. But I'll form a better idea of the shape of the world. And there's nothing wrong with that.

It's a big wide world, full of cities, counties, and provinces. It's a big, wide, varied world out here in the interweb frontier as well. It's natural that we won't always grasp exactly how wide the expanse is.

And I also think that since English is spoken on this forum, that some American users may not realize right off that this site is used by more than just Americans. Especially newer folk. A bit naive an assumption, yeah. Thoughtless error, but harmless. Now we get it, though.

California but live in Melbourne Florida now. Humid and sticky

auntstephie321 wrote: »

I think it's very common not to list US when saying where your from. It's not done intentionally to offend anyone. I know for myself the majority of the people I speak with or meet are also from the states so it does without saying and just becomes habit. It is confusing for me sometimes, people will sometimes leave out the state as if we know their city or a lot of times they'll mention land marks to give an idea of what area. Like I assume everyone knows where Niagara falls is, though I'm sure many don't so that doesn't always help.

Online I think it polite to mention the country, after all, the interwebs are pretty international hehe.

I grew up mostly in East TX and now thankfully live in Austin TX. Texas being in the USA. Famous for George W Bush, Dallas Cowboys, insane patriotism, meat, & lots of other stuff probably. It also sets standards for the rest of the U.S. with a lot of things since it's so huge with so many resources.

A small town south of Topeka, Kansas.

Southern Alabama