Where are you from?

"The States."
"Yes, I hear your accent. Where in the States?"

At this point, I have a choice: Boston or Pittsburgh. My friend's husband, an architect, was one of the few who got "Pittsburgh" as an answer. To my delight, he not only knew of Pittsburgh, but actually said, "have you been to Fallingwater yet?" More typical is my interaction with a street vendor, who was wearing a Steelers parka:

"Oh! I'm from Pittsburgh!"
"I'm from Harare."

And so I've said "Pittsburgh" to enough blank stares that I usually just say that I'm from Boston.

It has yielded a few good responses:

"Is it snowing there now?"
"No, it's actually summer now."
"So it snows less?"

"Do you hate the Yankees?" I'm glad to see that globalization applies to the Red Sox -- including the Coco Crisp jersey I spied the other day at the grocery.