Why do Americans just group all of Europe together

@ChipmunkErnie Oh yes - it works both ways! :-)

It happens at a slightly smaller scale too. I've had people respond to me having holidays in Norway, with "Isn't it a beautiful country?"

Yes it is but it tranpsires they've only seen the fjords on cruises with the odd foray to some particular point of interest, or have been on skiing trips; so have seen little of the interior.

Or they think it is always cold. It certainly is in Winter, but not in Summer (when I went).

So anyone from any European country going on holiday in America will only see a fraction of the nation in any one trip, and vice-versa.

@ArishMell Your Norway example brought back fond memories. I had a Eurailpass and one of my destinations was a rail journey up a remote part of the interior of Norway where the train actually goes under waterfalls; supposed to be one of the most scenic rail trips on the planet. I decided to go all the way from Oslo to Bergen to see the fjords, before backtracking Myrfeld (or something like that) to catch the spur that goes up under the waterfalls. I'm on the way back, I hear the conductor call what sounds like my stop, I get off, the train rolls on, I look around, and no spur tracks. Not much of anything. Fortunately this guy walks up to me and asks in perfect American English, "Can I help you?" Turns out this is a whistle stop primarily for mail, with a very similar name. The guy turns out to be Norwegian but spent some 20 years in New York City earning enough money to buy a lodge out in the middle of nowhere which is used for fishing in summer and skiing in winter. He says, "next train isn't until tonight; come on out to the lodge with me and I'll bring you back then." Lovely remote portion of the country.

As for weather, my other fond memory is of being in downtown Oslo in late spring, early summer, when all the lovely ladies who worked downtown came out to the park to eat their lunches and thought nothing of taking off their blouses to soak in the sun while they ate.

@ArishMell Re European nations versus US states, we also have to remember that many US states are larger than European nations.

@ChipmunkErnie They are larger than some countries at least (I think France, Spain and Germany are the three biggest by area), but I do't really see how that should affect the idea of seeing "Europe" as if it is one country.

@ArishMell Europe is a combination of various cultures in one mass, America can be the said to be the same, only it's states not nations. Plus it's Europe that is currently trying to become a single entity in many ways via the European Union.

Alaska and Texas are bigger than any European country.

@ChipmunkErnie True although the various cultures extend to languages as well. There are people running the EU who'd like to see it become even more federal but there is considerable resistance in many countries to that. They don't mind being part of a trading bloc but not of a single, artificial "nation".

That Alasaka and Texas are larger in area than any European country does not really count. It's what states or countries and their people want, need and do that matter.

@ArishMell Which is why there is a secessionist movement in California -- the fourth largest economy in the world if it were a separate country, that supports much of the red states by paying more in Federal taxes than it gets back and is belittled continually by the MAGA crowd.

@dancingtongue I don’t think it’s gotten very big yet (if it ever will). We seem to keep going back and forth, depending on who’s president. During the Obama and later, Biden administrations, we were perfectly happy to be part of the U.S. It’s the GOP and Trump in particular pretty much declaring war on California that may’ve made people revisit secession.

@bijouxbroussard And in alternate cycles, the red portions of Northern California want to secede and set up a separate state of Jefferson, or be annexed by Oregon. Contrary to our image nationally as a flaming liberal leftist socialist state, we are quite schizoid, aren't we?

@dancingtongue Yes. Just like there are liberals living in red states (my relatives, for example), we have enclaves of Trump supporters. Ironically, many of them lived in some of the hardest hit fire areas up North. So when Trump tried to play hardball with Gavin about AID, he didn’t realize the governor was asking on behalf of some of the few MAGAs here. 😳

@bijouxbroussard Another reminder that being divisive may work to get elected, but to govern -- and stay elected -- you have to govern for all, not just your own supporters.