Hi VGC!  I have a lot of fun talking to people from other countries trying to learn about their culture, history, and current events.  My knowledge is still very limited in regards to all the countries of this world.  I thought it would be fun for us to discuss current events or share interesting facts about each others country.  I also found it interesting that the official number of countries is up to debate.  I was just glancing at a few pages that came up on Google and it shows how tricky of situation it is to count all the countries (such as territories and colonies that are called countries but don't really count as one due to be governed by another country).

Also, you can state where you are from/born and where you currently live now.  What you enjoy the most about your country and what has you troubled with it.  Let us try to keep this a more positive thread consider we all know that each country has its own problems.  Although, if you have a serious issue then please mention it.  Let us respect all races/nations/people though considering we have all been through a lot.

I'll start this off.

I grew up near Columbus, Ohio and now currently live in Austin, Texas.  I've been on a few cruises to the Caribbean and Central America so I been outside the US a few times.  I've also stayed a night in Vancouver, Canada (last stop on an Alaskan cruise) which made me want to move to Canada even more.  One thing though that I realize after returning from trips to poorer nations is that I take too much for granted.

What I enjoy most about USA....  That we are decently well off compared to other nations (we better balance our budget soon though), easy to travel to most places being a US citizen,

What I enjoy least about USA...  Political system, some laws (I believe all drugs should be legalized so we can stop the black market and collect taxes), pollution and the way we treat nature

Hey Seth, it's actually a good thing to see a thread like this..
well i'm from Morocco, Casablanca situated in the north of Africa, and is very known for its worldwide food "Couscous, Tagine, ..." and traditional cloths "Caftans" .. we talk arabic and french , english's like optional in here.. we're also known for the magic and exorcism things if you like to hear about it , Boooooh !! (:

Morocco you say!  I actually received a butane lighter as a gift from one of my sisters that she got when she visited there.  I no longer have it but that might be a good thing consider it had a weed leaf on it that lit up (cops might want to search me more if they ever found that)...  Anyways, your country seems to have a pretty interesting history which I quickly glanced over on wikipedia.  I'm going to have to do some more research but I found it interesting that you are a constitutional monarchy which the King can dissolve parliament.  I was trying to check out Berber language considering I never even heard of it. Looks like I gotta study up.

Good thread, I like that.
I'm from germany, living in the city Potsdam (near Berlin). I grew up in east germany. I think the thing I dislike the most here, is the bureaucracy. Germany has probably the most extreme bureaucracy in the world. The best thing about my country is probably the high standard of living. We are for sure one of the most wealthy countries in the world - but this wealth is also somewhat well distributed around the population. That is the result of a long time policy of west germany, called "Soziale Marktwirtschaft". That means focusing on free market economy, while maintaining good social security systems, that allow the population to participate on the economical growth. This policy was given up after the reunion of east and west germany. The current politics is to reduce the social security systems. But so far we maintain some of them.

I think, the best countries to live in are Iceland, the scandinavic countries, canada and new zealand. But that may a wrong opinion, looking from the outside. I visited some european countries, but I never left europe.

I live in the Country called America. Now, I know not many of you even know what America or USA is but that tis be where I live and where I was born.

I see you have Australia and ANTARCTICA on your poll, but not NZ (which is where I am from). Guess there are more people from Antarctica on this site, than from NZ.

Last time I checked New Zealand isn't a Continent.

But often the isles between pacific and indian ocean are often called Oceania. I think that option should show up on the poll.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania

I'm pretty sure Australia encompasses all of it.

AKA, Australia & Oceania. (1 whole thing.)