Uncommon Gounds

Tonight I asked my roommate, "Whats the biggest country in the world?"

She replied, "China! It's 9,600,000 km2 big."

My first impression was shock, not because she was obviously wrong (Russia, duh!) but that she could whip out that number. I asked her why she knew the area of China and she said because when she was in grade school it was on the first page of their book, so they saw it all the time.

So, now, I ask you. What is the area of America?

1. Russia: 17,075,200 km2 (6,591,027 mi2)
2. Canada: 9,984,670 km2 (3,854,082 mi2)
3. United States: 9,631,418 km2 (3,717,727 mi2)
4. China: 9,596,960 km2 (3,704,426 mi2)
5. Brazil: 8,511,965 km2 (3,285,618 mi2)

The other thing I find amazing is that every Chinese person knows the RMB-USD exchange rate... EVERYONE.

For the first time, I feel like we as Americans have some catching up to do.

Oh, PS- Thank you, Alaska