Quote:
Originally Posted by ZenGum
... Did you know, for instance, that Japan is unique in the world for having four distinct seasons? I've heard this several times and most teachers have - I guess it must be in some school book or something....
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National or geographical stereotypes from schools' language textbooks are very hard to shift. All Russians taught in the Soviet era and those taught on leftover textbooks believe that it is permanently foggy in Britain. The "pea-souper" fogs to which the textbooks refer ceased in Britain in the mid-1960s after the introduction of the Clean Air Act (banning the use of all but smokeless fuels in dometic fireplaces in cities and towns) - I think this view was compounded by Sherlock Holmes movies in which London is always shown shrouded in mist and fog.