Questions

The other day during one of my breaks at school, another teacher started asking me some questions.

1. Do you like Georgia?
2. Do you like Georgians?
3. Are you married?
4. Do you like Georgian food?
5. How much money do you make?

After about the fourth or fifth one, another teacher chimed in that Americans don't like questions and he should stop. I laughed and decided to explain this cultural misunderstanding to them. It's not that I mind answering questions, it's more that I get tired of the same questions, each and every time, because I do not kid when I say that these are the standard questions I get on a nearly everyday basis, and it can get really tiring. Especially the ones about money, which is not taboo here, but leaves me struggling to explain that while Americans make more money, everything there costs a lot more money too.

Over the past year or so, I've been compiling a list of my favorite questions. There are some that highlight the stereotypes about Americans, and others that highlight my cultural differences. Then there are the ones that strike me for being as simple and straightforward as you can imagine, but which leave me with the realization that my reality is so different from theirs.


The more common questions:

Where are you from?
No, I know you are American, I asked where you are from. ( they know America is all immigrants)
Why do say you are American if your family is from Norway, doesn't that make you Norwegian? (a good example of the stress on ethnicity as opposed to nationality in this region)
What is the weather like in America?
How much is a phone call in the United States?
Do you know Georgian? (Me: Haven't I been talking to you for the past five minutes in Georgian?!?)
Do you have (insert fruit/vegetable/animal name here) in America?
How often does electricity go out in America?
How much does a kilo of __ cost in America?
Why doesn't English spell words correctly? (as in phonetically like almost every other language)

And my least favorite/semi frequently asked question: Is it better here or in America?
I really hate this one, especially when asked by a complete stranger. I tend to liken it to Does this dress make me look fat? Because really, they are expecting one answer and I feel like its a really unfair thing to ask of me, especially when they sometimes get offended with my answer "I like America better but I'm American, but I also like it here." But ususally Georgians are just happy to talk to me about anything, as you can see from some of the random questions I've gotten below:

Do you need a visa to get from state to state?
How do you get food if your mother doesn't work in the garden all day?
Why don't you have children yet? You're getting old.
Have you ever seen a rabbit before?
What is an Arizona, I haven't heard of that fruit before. (no joke)
Have you ever cooked before in your life? (this was as I was trying to cook something on a wood stove...which of course I had no idea how to do)
Your dad lives alone? Who cooks?
Why don't your mom and your aunts live with your grandparents still?
If you speak American, how can you understand British?
Are you a vegetarian? (a common American stereotype in one of the villages I was in)
Do you know how to drive?
Excuse me, but are you Latvians? (this one left me and a friend completely confused)
Are all the blonde Americans from the south and all the dark haired ones in the north?
How big is your village in America?
Have you met Michael Jackson? (or any other popstar....the Georgian population is only 4 million, and some of my students don't realize that in America I really don't mingle with celebrities on a daily basis, despite how awesomely cool I am)