Each class that I have with my students I seem to learn something new — The other day I learned that Russia has Volcanoes — in South Korea they have a different birthday counting system — so they are 1 year older than what a Canadian would say – and that in Hong Kong – the rent is about 80% of your monthly expenses.. food is quite cheap.  Call it ignorance or learning — I find it all quite fascinating.  I sat down for a second (a LONG second) and started thinking of all the countries that I’ve worked with since starting working online — and was surprised at how many there actually were!! I’ve virtually visited almost everywhere! Check it out… and some interesting facts that I’ve learned from my students, and from some of my own observations…

Brazil (This year (2010) it rained for over 40 days straight in Sao Paulo)
China (Sea Cucumbers are very expensive to eat)
Hong Kong (is VERY overcrowded)
Argentina (is nothing like Uruguay – “vistes”)
Taiwan (is actually a really popular tourist destination)
South Korea (is really traditional or they’d like to be)
Japan (the cherry blossoms only last for 1 week — and it changes each year)
Peru (not everyone knows about the Mayan 2012 prophecies)
India (in the rural parts – they have a deity celebration almost everyday
Saudi Arabia (instead of horse races they have camel races and robot jockeys)
United Arab Emirates (is nothing like Saudi Arabia and is a multicultural hub)
Iraq (has safe zones – that are war free)
Russia (everyone is a fan of borsht)
Spain (is really really hot – like desert hot in the summer)
Italy (has a bazillion different types of pizza.. and pepperoni pizza is not one of them)
Switzerland (has 4 official languages – English is not one of them)
Germany (Oktoberfest is not always in October)
Slovenia (has LESS people than Uruguay – Yeh! I didn’t think that was possible either!)
Togo (most people are bilingual – English and French)
USA (has sooo many opportunities for foreigners to study or work)
Columbia (really knows how to market their coffee well – which is why coffee is now synonymous with Columbia)
Canada (is one of the top countries that foreigners what to study in or immigrate to)
Venezuela (for their 15^th birthday – many girls ask for plastic surgery – what happened to cars??)
Mexico (has fireworks going off at all hours of the day – everyday)
France (Not a single student of mine from France was fifi–I wonder where they got that label from?)
Portugal (Do not speak the same language as Brazilians)
Luxembourg (is a really small country – some people commute to work every day to another country!)
Egypt (has beautiful beaches and is a popular vacation destination for Russians)
Turkey (although it snows – 99% of the population do not use snow tires – not even those who sell them)
Hungary (has 100% tax)
Greece (the water is actually really really blue – I saw via webcam)
Armenia (is in the middle of an active earthquake zone — but hasn’t had an earthquake for 40 years…)
UK (English teachers don’t like to work past 6pm — better for us! ;))

So I am missing quite a few — but having only done this for 2 years I’d say it’s pretty impressive. Some common observations:
Australia is the trendy country of choice for immigration for people from Russia, and Brazil.
Canada comes in close behind — and is the #1 place to study post grad or grad programs.
Many countries experience corruption — in varying degrees — but not a single country is free of it –
Every student is different – however – many students from the same country exhibit similar problems with the English language.
Countries in the same region — are OH so different

I hope to virtually globtrot to all countries one day — and perhaps even real life trot as well!