Geography Gaps

I was flipping the channels today and I happened across the "National Geographic Geography Bee". I watched for a while but then I felt lame because I didn't know the answers to most of the questions. They weren't easy questions like name the states in alphabetical order (I said that because I can actually do that) or name all the countries in the world and identify them on a map (I'm not there yet).  It would have been really easy to just move on, but I felt really strongly that I wanted to learn more.

I love geography and I think I have a geography coloring book around here somewhere. I figured I would start with learning all the countries and their placements (and also which countries have changed their names since I studied that particular continent).  I looked them up online and found a game where I can learn the countries shapes and then another place where you just try to name all the countries in 12 minutes or less. I started out with around 125 and have made it up to 160.  I have been moving between memorizing the maps and getting familiar with the regions. I keep looking for countries that no longer exist - that's confusing.

Anyway, I will conquer basic geography and then I will (may) start working on capitals and landscapes, etc. Feels good to be learning something - even if I should already know it.  I'm sure everyone has gaps in their knowledge - I'm not sure I ever had a geography class - we studied different countries, but it was a long time ago.

I used to have a set of encyclopedia type books on each continent. They were different colors and I LOVED them. I would copy information out of them just to learn it. I don't think I made it through all the books based on my gappy knowledge.