Thread by @SlavaMalamud

So, since today we had extremely low attendance numbers, I didn't teach my classes any math and instead had them play Survivor Jeopardy, a trivia game cobbled together from two TV shows I have never, ever watched.
Either way, I came up with the questions and... oh boy...

First of all, disclaimers:
1) lots of fun was had and everyone enjoyed it,
2) I love my students to death.
Now, the conclusion:
Every single stereotype about Americans and general knowledge that doesn't involve pop culture and like, I don't know, peanut butter flavors, is correct

To get things started off on the right foot, I chose the easiest question imaginable: "What is the capital of Hungary."
Among answers:
* ?
* What is Hungary?
* Czesh
* Italy
One person did identify Budapest, but probably thanks to his phone.

I tried to switch gears and went for history.
"What century did Louis XIV die in?"
Here, I had near-universal agreement: the 19th.
🤦
Fuck! I had to come up with something hip, young and current.
"What is Beyonce's last name"
* She doesn't have one
* Carter
* Who?

OK, then. Who was the 39th president?
* JFK
* Reagan
* Obama
* Trump
Not a good tactic.
What city are the next Olympics in?
* Tokyo
* Baltimore
* ?
* ?
And
* ?

"What is the sine of this angle (drew a triangle)?" was not a great hit either. "Name one country that borders Italy" produced a worrying abundance of Germanies. And not a single soul could identify Canada as the world's second largest country.
Sorry, Canada.

This proves to me that what was considered absolutely essential and common knowledge to 1980s Soviet children, who grew up with 2 TV channels and newspapers named "Labor", "Labor Woman" and "Proletarian Health" is utterly beyond XXI century American children.
I feel old. So old.

PS. "What continent is Azerbaijan in?" (I would've accepted either Europe or Asia) produced hearty laughter and universal agreement that Azerbaijan is not a thing.
Which, I guess, fair enough.