U.S. vs America

So when you are out traveling and staying in hostels you tend to get to meet new people. Some are normal, some are unique, some are creepy, and some just flat out scare you. But whether they scare you or have the possibility of becoming your new best friend you get to notice things that maybe you never gave much thought to.

One thing I have noticed in my traveling is that when you are asked where you are from if you say, "United States" most people reply with, "Oh you're from America!" I really noticed this in Berlin when I was 'rooming' with an older lady from Tazmania. I asked her if she always says America and she said yes. We kind of discussed this a little bit more but overall it was interesting that other nationalities say America instead of United States.

Now why is this so captivating to me? Well on maps, in atlas', it is listed "United States of America." I guess they could just be abbreviating it to "America" but in my conversation with my 'roomy' she said it comes from the history of our country, the free country of America. This made me think that in the books it may be United States of America but to the world we are the land of the free, America. This just makes me smile :)