Shocking Questions

Questions I’ve gotten from my classmates over the past few weeks that have made me laugh, made me sad, or just made me think -

Why do you and Colleen have different colored eyes? Is it like everyone from Pennsylvania has green eyes and everyone from Washington, DC has blue eyes? Is your eye color based on the region where you were born? (Colleen is the other American, from Pennsylvania, who goes to my school)

Do they beat the children at your school in America too? (I tried to imagine the reaction if Mr. Trogisch or a teacher at Walls caned someone or made them kneel in the gravel for a few hours hahahaha)

But aren’t you scared that God will see you associating with a gay person and damn you? (I got this after I told them that many people in America support gay marriage and don’t think that it is impossible to be a gay Christian, unlike here. And that I actually know several.)

What is the difference between the UK and the US?

Is America in Africa? (Both of these questions are just sad. But then again many Americans know hardly anything about Ghana or African geography so I shouldn’t have that double standard I guess.)

Do you have to go to the hospital if you want to remove your nose ring?

But what if you had a boyfriend who broke up with you right before an exam at school? What would you do then? (Ummm just go ahead and take the exam? Colleen and I were trying to explain that dating in high school isn’t taboo in America like it is here and they were having trouble wrapping their heads around the concept.)

Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito?

Does it rain in the US?

Do you believe in science?

Did you know that Queen Elizabeth, Barack Obama, Obama, Jay-Z, and others are all part of a secret society and that they helped execute 9/11? (There is a popular conspiracy theory here about the free masons. A really incredible number of people believe it and they were shocked that most people in America haven’t heard about it. Scary!)

This isn’t a question, but it made me laugh: You’re not white, you’re red! (after I had just finished playing soccer)