dead cows in Oregon forests?

Happy birthday, Bonnie  (yesterday).

Bonnie is doing really well in Japan...she seems so very happy there.  We spoke to her via Skype this morning for about an hour and she was tired (it was between 11 pm and midnight her time, and between 7 am and 8 am our time) but full of good stories with not a single BAD story. 

Here's HER blog post about her birthday, seems she met a Japanese gentleman with some ODD ideas about Oregon:

Our conversation was a mix of broken English and broken Japanese (he knew more English than I knew Japanese, though). For the most part we were able to communicate pretty well, except when we started to talk about Oregon. Now, one of the nice things is that in Japan everyone I've talked to knows Oregon--a pleasant change from Europe. But, apparently one of this guy's friends had been to Oregon back in high school, and either something got lost in translation or his friend made up a lot of BS.

First of all, the guy was under the impression that buffalo lived in the Oregon forest. NO, no buffalo live in Oregon. No buffalo live in forests. Then he thought that, oh, wild cows live in Oregon forests. NO, no wild cows. We have NO wild cows. Cows do NOT live in forests. And then, he apparently also thought that in the summer the forests must smell because of all the dead animals. What?!? I asked if it was maybe dead fish (the salmon spawn and then die on the river banks, and yes that DOES smell). But nope, not fish. Then we were both a bit confused and I said maybe his friend had lied.

To which, one of her friends replied: 

Okay, Bonnie, obviously you are not much of a biologist. Not only are there many wild cows wandering through Oregon's forests, but the forests of Oregon are frequently referred to as "Dead Cow Canopies." Cows climb to the tops of trees to die. Hence the stench every summer.

 

Comments

[tinker]

How funny! Something seems to have gotten lost in translation, there. Happy Birthday to your Bonnie!

p.s. another blog friend, Kamsin, who sometimes comments on my blog, is also teaching English in Tokyo.

[Margaret]

That's hilarious! I remember explaining to Europeans that NO, I was not from Washington D.C. which is what they assumed when I told them WA. Then I explained that we were north of California, which everyone had heard of. I didn't even mention Oregon since that wouldn't have helped get my point across!