Interestingly, many people in Europe are convinced that some significant proportion of the bananas they get come from the US--ie, they think they are actually grown here.

Orienteers in Scandinavia are very picky about the golden fruit, and will only eat the "classic" banana on racing occasions. The fruit is considered most desireable when it is a bright yellow with tiny areas of greening at the ends. Once bananas begin to exhibit brown spotting, they will usually be peeled and carefully secreted into the shoes of later runners for rival clubs, with much merriment ensuing when these same runners try to jam their shoes on quickly.

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), April 23, 2001