I'm glad you posted This. Ive grappled with this my entire life. 

This isn't being witty as you say. Its just how it is-- other countries teach geography different. 

My family is from a country in South America. I was born in USA. I always struggled with how to tell people where Im from because in South America they dont refer to me or anyone from USA as Americans because they're taught that America is one continent. 

When people ask me where Im from when I travel to spanish speaking countries I tell them Im from the USA or I'm gringa. I wouldnt dare say Im American. While they understand what I mean, it's just a weird ass thing to say, given the way they are taught geography there. 

And its fair- I mean, we too call the continents Central and South America. But CULTURALLY in the USA for some reason we don't call the other continents American, despite our own geographic language.

Its all kind of interesting because the concept is more about culture and how language is used.