The last two days, I have gone to some sites for Caterpillar corporation in Wuxi to do some English placement tests. I ask a list of questions and grade them on their answers. One of the questions asks the students where in the world they want to travel to for a holiday. One of the students said he would go to America. When I asked where in America, he told me North Dakota. I was surprised by his answer. North Dakota always polls as the last place anyone in America wants to go to. ND's reputation compares to that of Winnipeg and Brandon as places you don't want to live or visit. The student said he would go to ND because it had few people. An answer that does make some sense.
I suspect also that Caterpillar provided this student with information about a state that I am sure most Chinese have never heard of.
If he wants to go somewhere where nobody lives, tell him to go to a place like St. Louis. It'll seem like nobody lives there compared to the crowded Chinese cities, but he won't be stuck in the middle of nowhere. One of my old students is in Pittsburgh, KS, and she really isn't enjoying America at all for that reason.
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