I think that the teaching of geography may be part of the problem. I remember (vaguely) 7th grade geography class, the last time geography was taught as a separate class in school. It was DULL. Memorizing countries (and US states), their capitols, and the main products produced by these countries/states - YAWN. Any rote memorization of this sort tends to stick with me (and many others, I'd imagine) long enough to pass the test, then it's gone. Hey, and I was one of those annoying honor-student types...

Anyway, I took a cultural geography class in college to fulfill a requirement, and I was amazed at how interesting and memorable it could be with a good teacher!