It's not London

I've been going back and forth to England since last year for my LDR. For some reason, people always assumed I'd be traveling to London, but I'd always say, "I'm going to Portsmouth."

STILL after almost a year later, people ask, "When are you going back to London?" and "How long are you going to be in London this time?"

For example, last week, my niece who is 17 asked when I was going back to London and I said, "It's not London." I've been explaining this to her for a year. We always have a good laugh about it after the explanation, but the next time she asks, it starts over again.

It would be like people assuming I live in Washington D.C. just because I live in the United States.

It gets irritating to have to keep repeating that DB isn't from London. Yet, it does make me smile when I explain to people that DB is from Portsmouth. They look completely confused, like, "Omg, there's more to England than London?!?"

Okay, rant done. Has this happened to anyone else?

ETA: modified title

Could be worse.  Half my family doesn't understand where Scotland is.  And when I explain, they just think it's part of England.

Boy, that's going to go over great when they meet my boyfriend. :p

Of course.  All the time.  But I think you'll find it works both ways.  Unless it's New York, Florida, Texas, or California, no one in the UK will have a clue where you're from.

Of course.  All the time.  But I think you'll find it works both ways.  Unless it's New York, Florida, Texas, or California, no one in the UK will have a clue where you're from.

This is true. DB and I went out one night and afterwards went to get food. A couple of girls heard me talking and they came up and asked if I was from California and they started to do a valley girl accent. All I could do was laugh.

Oh I hate when Americans assume you're in London just b/c you live in England. My best friend of 14 years sent me an email which said "send me some postcards from London this xmas"  ....Makes me really mad that I have to explain over and over again.

What gets me riled up when I talk to brits about the US and they say "yeah it's really busy there." I hate generalizations especially from people who haven't been anywhere in the us.  Plus where exactly is there? which of the 50 states. grrrrrrrrrr

It could just be because so many Americans are not particularly well travelled (most of my family members don't even have passports) or just haven't spent much time learning anything about the UK. When I say I'm from San Francisco, most people here assume all of California = LA, so sort of the same thing....

Yup, my cousin who lives in Chicago posted on my FB "post more photos of London!!!!" a couple of weeks ago; then again, we also have a mutual cousin who does live in London. DH and I have put it down to "that's what people see in movies and on telly".

People on both sides of the ocean seem to be so entrenched and busy with their own lives that other places don't seem to matter for some. And when you say that you're moving to a different place, the easiest thing for people to do is just go with what they know, which, for the most part, unfortunately are generalizations. It makes me wince, and I explain yet again, that it's not London that I live in, it's the North Western part of the UK. Ah well. That's just the way things are, I've decided. If I care enough to explain *again* to yet another person, then I do. If I don't, then I don't, and I just say, "No, not London, up in the North!" If they don't get it, oh well. Just another thing to talk about with them, I think.

Could be worse.  Half my family doesn't understand where Scotland is.  And when I explain, they just think it's part of England.

Boy, that's going to go over great when they meet my boyfriend. :p

Yeah, some people seem to think Scotland is its own island.  Like there's England, then Ireland, and then Scotland... three different islands.  I find it safe to assume that these people have never looked at a map. 

I feel your pain. Everytime im visiting and my dad introduces me to people he says 'this is my daughter who lives in London'--'ummm, dad, i live in Lancashire, about 3 hours from london!' 

It works in reverse as well though because im from upstate NY, and when I say im from NY everyone says 'oooo i love manhattan' or 'I'd love to go shopping in NY' 

Or they could just be remarkably perceptive in realising that civilisation stops on the clockwise hard shoulder

It's not just Americans who do stuff like that.  I'm always bemused when English people talk about going to "Scotland".  Never going to Glasgow or Edinburgh or whatever, but "Scotland", like it's just one big homogeneous place. 

I have lived in Manchester for over 10 years, my late grandfather always used to ask me about how things were in London.

I miss it now...

Oh, but chances are that if somebody from England is going to Scotland, it's to Glasgow or Edinburgh.  Because that's all that exists.  Occasionally Inverness makes an appearance, but other wise the whole country is invisible to tourists.  Like Brigadoon. :p  So I suppose their destination can be taken as read when they say Scotland.

No, It's not London.  But regardless of how many million times you tell people that you're in Manchester, or Porstmouth, or Lancaster, or Norwich, or Bristol....in a not-very-well-traveled person's mind, it will always be London.  No matter how many times you explain that it's between 2 and 4 hours away from London...it will still be London to them.

Even after 3 years being back in the US post-study abroad, people will still ask "How was London when you lived there." To this day, I have to refrain from shouting "I LIVED IN MANCHESTER!---The complete opposite side of the country!"  I just grin and bear it.

My father-in-law always asks me how Manchester United are doing, just because we usually fly from Manchester and said it's about 30 miles away - so he thinks i follow them!