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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maribor, Slovenia.
Portoroz, Slovenia.
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John Hodgman, a Slovene? A screenshot from The Daily Show.
It’s always surprising to see Slovenia mentioned anywhere in the U.S., so it was great to see the legendary humorist John Hodgman use it in a satirical bit on The Daily Show last June. His “book” is a stab at the American obsession with genealogy — something that, in my experience, Slovenes seem to care very little about. If you ever have the chance, ask an American where their forefathers come from and you’ll not only get an answer, but a perfect breakdown in percentages. (”Well, I’m 25% Scottish on my mother’s side, as well as 25% Apache…”)
With Slovenes, on the other hand, the conversations usually go like this:
Michael: “So, were you born in Maribor?”
Slovene: “Yeah.”
Michael: “And your parents?”
Slovene: “They’re from Maribor.”
Michael: “Grandparents?”
Slovene: “Also from Maribor.”
Michael: “So, it’s safe to say that you’re 100% Mariborian.”
Slovene: “Well, I studied in Ljubljana for a few years, but yes.”
At any rate, you may remember Hodgman from the famous “I’m a Mac” ads (he’s the PC) but he’s also done some wonderful stuff at McSweeney’s, especially his Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent series. It’s highly recommended.
(Big bear hugs of thanks to A. Medved!)
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It’s such a nice feeling seeing Slovenia mentioned somewhere in a non explicitly offensive way
I guess we’re really obsessed with our own smallness. 
The funny thing is that Swedes are no better and we all know what’s the size of Sweden and they have 6 million inhabitants. But when I was there people keep telling me: “Oh, we’re so small and unimportant. Nobody knows us!”
the best thing ever said about swedish people goes like this:
Americans think they come from the best country in the world, swedish people know they do it.
Hope the irony is clear to everyone..
The funny thing is that Swedes are no better
That’s nothing — I once spoke to a Korean who was also saying things along the lines of “oh, Korea is such a small country, we are such a small nation” etc. It turns out that there are 23 million North Koreans and 50 million South Koreans. But he felt they were small because his frame of reference consisted mostly of Japan, China and Russia
‘Maybe Slovenia?’
or maybe he really meant Slovakia
The above doesn’t really apply in Ljubljana. I think the green dragon acts as a magnet for the rest of the country’s population? (evil grin) The question of where everyone comes from (including the occasional foreign ancestors) can be a topic of conversation. Perhaps in trying to figure out the accents or at least some of the colourful expressions. But hey, when it comes down to it, everyone is simply a 100% him/her self
Bit of an overstatement — what you said about Americans.
i agree with the good doctor. My lady has roots in germany and hungary that are two generations away.. me, myself I never thought much about being half danish. Sweden, denmark: Potejto, potato..
I thought we all knew Sweden had about 9 million inhabitants! It’s certainly true that geneology is an important part of American identity. And at first it’s odd when an American says I’m Italian, or I’m Irish, but you see what they mean.
Gandalf,
You don’t have a girlfriend, you have a “lady”? Special lady or lady friend?
Anyway, Sweden is a scary, scary place: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FANQBrCg8vw
Well, she is both girlfriend, special lady and lady friend. And yes, I saw that clip already and it’s true.
There was some travelshow from stockholm and the host was a bit nervous because nothing went wrong. She kinda thought that when it finally goes wrong it’ll kill her..
Damn, you’ve got me with this “Maribor” talk. Except for the “studied in Ljubljana” part. I studied in Maribor.