Throwing myself into memorizing geography

[kevyn]

Determined not to be a stereotypical average American (who can't locate Iraq on a map, much less the United States), I have been taking advantage of the time I have on my hands right now by learning all I can about world geography.

I got bit by this bug when detailbear posted this meme on his lj. I was primed for this one, because when the trouble started in Myanmar a couple of weeks ago, I made a point of going to Google Earth to see exactly where it was, so I could point to it on a map. I ended up learning the geography of Southeast Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam... so when this Asia meme came along, I was ready for it. I can now identify ALL of the countries in Asia now in 2 minutes flat!

But I decided to not stop there. I went looking for similar quizzes on the net, and found this AWESOME site: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm. There are some REALLY cool games in here. So far, I've learned all of the countries of Africa, Central and South America, and studied all of the states of the United States of México (though I confess some of those Spanish names escape me).

I may not be in school right now, but you can't say I am not learning!

Comments

[bluebear2.livejournal.com]

I once thought I knew a lot about geography but realized that I didn't until I went to San Francisco a few years ago and discovered that it's north of Los Angeles and not south of it. I guess when you beleive that you will never get to visit these places you don't bother finding out about them. What a different life I have now than fifteen years ago.

How are things going? I really must visit you. It's not that far away.

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

I was totally surprised by a few things I've learned in African geography... like, Kenya is on the East Coast of Africa, not deep in the heart of it like I always pictured it. Or that Rwanda is such a tiny county, considering how much news it has generated. Or that there are no less than THREE countries in Africa named "Guinea" (Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea). And TWO Congos (Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo). And Zaire no longer exists - it's Democratic Republic of the Congo now. And Gambia is completely surrounded by Senegal... and and and... ;-)

I'm holding together, mostly. My mental health worker just visted, and I should be back on the antidepressants soon.

Love to see you!

-hagrid

[bluebear2.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Africa has some trippy stuff going on. It's hard to keep track of it all. It's good that you're working on your life. It can be a depressing time of year now in general for all of us. I used to get so down in the winters but I don't anymore.

Do you go to the Radical Faerie coffees that they have there? Maybe I could go down for one of those.

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

> I used to get so down in the winters but I don't anymore.
Really? Why is that?

> Do you go to the Radical Faerie coffees that they have there? Maybe I could go down for one of those.
Ooo! Ooo! What a splendid idea! I go all the time. Do you go to RF coffee in Vancouver? There are a number of people there who want to come down for a visit. You could get a ride that way...

[detailbear.livejournal.com]

Ghana vs. Gambia. Errrrggg.

[gmjambear]

Considering what has been going on with me lately, namely, more failed job interviews, I need to keep my mind busy. Thanks for the link.