Yeah, that's ironic.
I remember my mom teaching me European geography, and it was so easy because there's this huge "USSR" in the middle of things. And then when it broke up, I couldn't keep track of all the countries. I still have only the sketchiest outlines of eastern Europe.
Heh... for extra credit in my high school geography class, I hand-drew a map of the U.S.S.R., detailing each of the 15 or so "Republics" and their capitals. So, when the U.S.S.R. began breaking up in the late 80's - early 90's, I knew where places like Kazakhstan and Moldova were located. ;P