Thursday, March 24, 2011

Ruby slippers: check. Now we can return to Kansas

Of course when people hear Kansas, they think of The Wizard of Oz. So now that it's time for us to return to Kansas, I was quite pleasantly surprised that my workmates gave me my very own ruby slippers.

Aren't they beautiful? They added the glitter themselves. I was wondering why I saw red glitter all over the office in the last couple of weeks.

To be clear, I should say that I'm not really from Kansas. I grew up mostly in Missouri and lived on the Kansas side of Kansas City for a few years before moving here. But Jake is from Kansas, and so it's easier for us to offer a quick and simple answer when folks ask us where we come from.

Several people in the office signed the card, including my closest colleagues and some folks I don't know that well. I loved reading all the comments, but my favourite comes from someone in the latter category: "It was great to meet you, even for a short time. Take care and don't forget NZ when you're back in Wisconsin."

I don't mean to make fun because I certainly no expert with NZ geography, but it made me smile and think about how big our world feels sometimes.
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3 comments:

Katherine said...

Kansas, Missouri, it's all the same, right? Enjoy your travels and we're looking forward to seeing you back in the land of blue skies and BBQ!

Yer Mum said...

Aw, those ruby-red flip-flops are priceless! How sweet your NZ friends are to mark your departure in this way.

Phil said...

Hahaheee Wisconsin! (Wasn't Liberace born there?) Well...it's got two "s" in it like Kansas, so what's your problem? Close enough I reckon.

It really is appalling, isn't it, people's general geographical knowledge. I've resisted the temptation to ask of you why is Kansas City so named if it's mainly in Missouri? I'm sure there's a very simple explanation. And also why is the "Kansas" in Arkansas pronounced differently?

Funny...but so dominant is American popular culture, that many of the place names in the USA are only known to me through songs. Kansas City of course, but also Amarillo, Wichita, Galveston, Tulsa, Phoenix, Chattanooga, . Ah yes, this land is your land, this land is my land...