True fact : In Paris, all toilets are made of solid gold.
——-
Every time she sees some kid’s balloon floating up high, up above the rooftops, up up into the sky, she thinks “Shit! My balloon!”
——-
Do this with me quick. I am going to write 10 countries and you write down the first person from that country that comes to mind. Try not to think about it too much. Example: Italy – Dante. Got it? Okay, go!
1. USA 6. Mexico
2. Spain 7. Russia
3. France 8. China
4. Canada 9. Japan
5. Germany 10. India
Check out the comments for my answers and conclusion.
1. USA – George Washington. Obvious.
2. Spain – Frederica Garcia Lorca. Surprised myself there.
3. France – Charles Baudelaire. I think this gives insight into why I learned the language.
4. Canada – Alanis Morisette. Is she from Canada? I think so.
5. Germany – Adolf Hitler. I feel so sorry for Marx, Beethoven, Hegel, Heidegger, Kant, Bach, Brahms, Nietzsche, Handel, Pachelbel, Rilke, Mann, Guthe or fuck it, even Anne Frank. And Hitler’s not even German, he’s Austrian. Did you get Hitler too?
6. Mexico- Frida. Lucky she’s got a movie, huh?
7. Russia – Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Typical. Idiot.
8. China – Mao. You know his books outsell the Bible?
9. Haruki Murakami – barely beat out Kazkuzo Okakura…
10. India – Gandhi
Conclusion : Poor Germany. I’d say poor China too, but we all know they are anything but. And India, way to be.
1. USA- madison- i dig me some federalist papers
2. Spain- Rafa Nadal- really?
3. France- Camus- because he’s sultry
4. Canada- the mounties- because that’s not at all stereotypical
5. Germany- marx- as per last week
6. Mexico- gabriel garcia marquez
7. Russia- stalin- he was actually the tied with lenin and trotsky, but i gave it to joe because he clearly wanted it more
8. China- wong kar wai
9. Japan- kurosawa
10. India- EM Forester, which is unfortunate. colonialism’s a drag
jer.
Nadal! ha. There are posters of him in the house here.
Wong Kar Wai you would. (and you’ll have to… show me all the movies that is. PROJECTOR.)
Marx. I still like how people call Obama a Marxist and Communist in the same breath.
EM Forester? wtf? he wouldn’t even been in my top 5 from India. and how do you not get Gandhi?
one. USA: Marlboro Man
two. Spain: Vasquez
three. France: Napoleon
four. Canada: John Candy – is he even Canadian?
five. Germany- Schlink
six. Mexico- Speedy Gonzales
seven. Russia- Vladimir Nabokov
eight. China- Lao Tzu
nine. Japan- Katsuhiro Otomo
ten. India- Salman Rushdie
Man; I suck.
miss j.
how do you suck? my whole hypothesis of everyone automatically thinking Hitler is quickly being debunked.
But I’m also glad we aren’t sure who is Canadian and who isn’t.
and for Japan, I was tempted to put “Totoro” just cause.
You know Nabokov was a renowned butterfly watcher? i love that.
1. USA – George W. Bush. Now why couldn’t Lincoln or even Obama have popped into my head first?
2. Spain – Don Juan. And he isn’t even real.
3. France – Mitterand
4. Canada – Bryan Adams
5. Germany – Hitler. I didn’t know he was Austrian.
6. Mexico- Frida Kahlo
7. Russia – Lenin
8. China – Mao
9. Japan – Hayao Miyazaki
10. India – Gandhi
I came from Garance btw…
Suiling,
That was my fear with the USA. How long is the Bush thing going to last. I don’t know if I’d be able to admit it he were first.
I met a German girl here in Paris who apologized for the whole Hitler thing the first time we met.
I wonder if I’ll be doing the same 70 years later with Bush.
Between Bush, Hitler, Lenin and Mao, I think India is definitely taking the cake…. Or at least, the self-made salt.
1. USA – Bill Murray- A primed response as I think about him…like a lot.
2. Spain – Hemingway
3. France – Duras (cause she leaves him in the end)
4. Canada – I have no automatic response for Canada.
5. Germany – My friend, Phil
6. Mexico – Kerouac (made Mexico my escape plan)
7. Russia – Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov (albeit, fictional)
8. China – Lao Tzu
9. Japan – Takashi Murakami
10. India – Gurumayi (Mom practiced Siddha Yoga)
Sorry about Canada. I could have said Mike Meyers or something, but it would have been forced.
1. USA – Bush, though I hate to admit it.
2. Spain – The restaurant El Bulli popped into my head first, so I suppose the chef who owns it… Ferran Adrià (thanks, Wikipedia).
3. France – Malraux
4. Canada – my dad
5. Germany – Angela Merkel. Why her?
6. Mexico – Vicente Fox. Again, no clue.
7. Russia – Tolstoy
8. China – Mao
9. Japan – a girl I lived with in France, named Yu.
10. India – Gandhi
I’m another Garance-r, but you’ve got an equally great blog.
jackie. thanks for not forcing it. i like how american writers mean other countries for you. hemingway is from chicago… kerouac is french canadian american for goodness sake. wouldda made more sense for him to be canada. but yeah. you can’t force it.
PHIL!
and as for gurumayi, i swear krischnamacharya was such a close second i just barely gave it to gandhi.
and yep on murakami.
and Taylor,
oh man. awesome list. who wouldda picked MALRAUX!?
and angela merkel… what a hottie…
bush though so too. and no no no. there’s gotta be someone else. he can’t at all be a representation of america… much less in the heads of americans. how easily can we mentally purge someone?
1. USA – Lincoln (I first thought Washington, but when he was born, the USA didn’t exist so…)
2. Spain – Picasso
3. France – You Tim, well sort of… and of course that blows the whole reason I didn’t go with Washington out of the water.
4. Canada – Me
5. Germany – Detlef, a friend who lives in Montreal
6. Mexico – Santa Anna
7. Russia – My friend Eric’s wife
8. China – Mao
9. Japan – Kunio, a guy I met at a hostel in California
10. India – Ghandi