Where in the World?

Chers Amis,

Without pulling out the dusty atlas or googling - where is Bhutan? Surinam? What is the capital of Montana? Find the Marianna Trench. Ha! Be honest, you got at least one wrong! Americans are, as a group, terrible at geography. My college roommate thought Hawaii was east of Florida. The gravity of this sin of geographic omission is compounded by the fact we lived IN Florida at the time and thus, she should have had some concept of where she was. Last spring my kids all watched the National Geographic Bee and were entranced by the competition. Between rounds, the producers cut away to "man on the street" segments where reporters walked on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and asked tourists - all American - basic geography questions. Questions like, "China is located on what continent?" and "In what state is Yellowstone National Park located?" flummoxed the passerbys as we shouted the correct answers at the screen. It was painful. Now, in all honesty (and mixed metaphors), I am not the sharpest geo crayon in the box. I was stymied by Surinam. Here is a great website to test and increase your geographic knowledge with interactive quizzes and maps. Try it, but be prepared to be humbled!
-- Marjorie