Top Ten Stupid Questions People Ask Me

Moving across the world has its advantages, and disadvantages. You can start everything from scratch, but depending on where you go, you may encounter some of the most ridiculous questions. In the four years I have been in the United States, I have been both shocked and amazed by some of the questions people come up with. Don't believe me? Keep reading:

1) Where are you from? 
To be honest, this has just become an expected question when meeting people. For a while it kinda bugged me because people would just focus on where I was from instead of getting to know me, for me. Now, I'm over it / don't even care anymore... but that might be because I'm over caring what people think of me.

2) So... New Zealand is in Europe, right? 

I kid you not, this is potentially the second most common questions I received from about 2008 to 2010. If I am asked again, I will pretend it is... I feel sorry for the next poor soul who asks. My most common response has always been: "uhhh... no, it's south..." When asked how south, "like Antarctica south." The best part of my final comment is seeing the look of shame on the other person's face. It's a beautiful thing!

3) Are you from Greenland? 
I was unaware that I looked Danish or Inuit. Perhaps I'm missing something, and I do look like one of about 57,000 who live in Greenland. The native language is not English... my accent should give away the fact that I'm not from Greenland...

4) Do you have kangaroos in New Zealand? 
Where is the only place in the world that actually has kangaroos? If you answered anything other than Australia, you are an absolute moron. The ONLY place in the world that kangaroos naturally occur is Australia. Guess what? New Zealand is not Australia... SHOCKING!!!!!

5) Do your toilets really flush the other way? 
I'm sorry, but when I'm going to the toilet, I'm kinda not focusing on what way the water flows. To be perfectly honest, I have never really looked, and I really don't care. Apparently it does, but I'm the last person to ask... if you have a fascination with toilets, google it.

6) New Zealand actually exists? I thought it was just made up for Lord of the Rings. 
Yes, we are a real country! If New Zealand wasn't real I either 1) have an incredibly active imagination or 2) came directly from J. R. R. Tolkien's imagination. There is a thing called a map... perhaps you should try looking at it occasionally ;)

7) Were you in the Lord of the Rings movies?
When asked this I am so incredibly tempted to just mess with people and say yes, but no, I was not in any of the Lord of the Rings movies.

8) Does your whole family have an accent? Ummm... yeah! Seriously people... 

9) Do you have McDonald's in New Zealand? 

There are McDonald's in most countries. New Zealand is not a developing country. Comparatively we are small, but if Thailand, Yemen, and Samoa have a McDonald locations.... it can't really be that difficult to believe.

10) You speak English really well, was it hard to learn?Yes, it was really difficult when I was a baby... There is a reason I speak English pretty well, I grew up speaking it! New Zealand is an English speaking country. The only thing I really had to adjust to was the dialect, and learned a few new words / dropped some.

Okay, so some of the questions are not completely ridiculous, but there are a few in there that make me wonder "are you on crack?" Seriously, if you have asked me the ridiculous ones, are you on crack???? Before you open your mouth, think long and hard before letting the words spill out! Who knows, perhaps your comment will become the subject of my next blog?