I read a post today that reminded me of a discussion I had with my Italian friends when I was living in Bologna. I don’t remember exactly how we came to talk about the specific subject but the conversation was regarding the differences between an Italian education and an American education. We somehow came to talking about the continents… more specifically the number of continents. Growing up in an American school system, my classmates and I were taught that there are 7 continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Antarctica.) According to my Italian friends, there are only 6 and the Frenchman among us claimed 5! So what’s the deal!? I named the 7 that I was taught to the laughs of the Italians and Frenchman. According to them Antarctica is NOT a continent and North and South America only make up 1. The evidents ranged from the number of rings in the Olympic logo (apparently each one represents a continent) to the number of permanent residents living in Antarctica. I was pretty certain that I was correct with 7, so I googled it when I got home and low and behold, there are several schools of thought….. we were all right. So if you are looking for a good/heated conversation at dinner with your Italian friends, bring up the continents but remember, the correct answer is 7!