English is hard (difficult?)

Question from class today about a story that takes place in a rural setting: True/False - this story takes place in the country. All of the ELL students selected true. Other students' answers fluctuated.

According to the ELL students' definition, this question was a no-brainer. Of course the story took place in a country.

But, trying to describe country as the opposite of a dense, urban area was a little more difficult. In Thailand, if you don't live in a city, you live in a village.

After explaining country's other definition, including unpaved roads and hillsides, a student said, "Oh, so is that where they got country music from?"

"Yes," I said. "Very good. You made a great comparison! That is why in country song singers always sing about pick-up trucks. They need them to navigate the roads." 

Tomorrow maybe we'll learn about why certain drivers of pick-up trucks feel it ok to sing about marrying inanimate objects, but two same-sex humans can't have the same right.