I was wrong about the USA. Here is what I misunderstood as a French person after two months in the USA.
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Every year for the past 10 years, I spend a few months visiting our friends and family in the USA and these are my deep cultural observations I had this time. I hope you enjoy them! If you’re reading this, please tell me your observations 🙂
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Watch my other language reaction videos:
– French Girl Reacts to Louisiana Cajun French: https://youtu.be/6eEQqQJw_jA?si=Die91YmH6rJwLxd_
– French Girl Reacts to Celebrities Speaking French: https://youtu.be/V8GYvuxXrdE?si=v8_l8ki48OJFPk5J
– French Girl Reacts to Quebecois Canadian French: https://youtu.be/ZFc3-CdK1vg?si=JpkjsP_CVonq6us-
Watch my other cultural commentary videos:
– Why is it so Easy to be Thin in France? https://youtu.be/sHKXlAnVgo8?si=KOZxQ3ClzcytMq1E
– Why Are French People So Rude? My Thoughts as Local! https://youtu.be/GkxzKuL5gP4?si=p5fXjIv9oCrx8wrz
– Why Parisians are Forced to Live in Tiny Apartments: https://youtu.be/oWwyZUe6MjY?si=udcnnZf59I569gi2
– Why France Has Better Food Than The USA: https://youtu.be/C7fIHeVypdI?si=18f2MiAC8TEeLNrk
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#france #usa #europeantravel #paris
20 Comments
It depends. What part of the country you are in the US. People don't generally invite you over in my area just to be nice and aren't falsely polite.
Honestly, I think the title is wrong. In my experience, the average European knows a great deal about the US and the world at large. I think it is the result of the media landscape in the US. Let's be honest, you can't really find proper news outlets. High-quality content is super scarce. You cant follow w/o choking with BS. All they do is push totally polarizing agendas down your throat.
Yeah, it's a worldwide issue, I know. The thing is you realize how extreme it has gotten the moment you check the news euros get. Half, if not more, cover stories from way outside their borders. Moreover esp in live tv Ive noticed a reporter's coverage can slip and get you lost cos they literally assume you already know a lot about some random country, event or topic. TBF sometimes I wonder if it is intentional, like to make viewers feel a bit dumb, and do some research to educated themselves…
It's the reason they won't be able to fight fascism. They're too fragmented and at the same time too individualistic.
The main difference between countries, like France, with universal healthcare is that in the U.S. companies subsidize the costs and employees can choose the plans work for them. The government does not control healthcare costs, therefore, medical device companies and medical research is generally on the cutting edge. A certain level of the costs are covered by insurance, but many must be subsidized privately. So, the U.S. has the best resources available that eventually find their way across the globe. Without U.S. medical research (very costly), many lifesaving procedures and devices would never be discovered or developed. Cancer treatments are a perfect example. Cancer research in the U.S. is cutting edge, but it is expensive. Insurance covers a certain amount of the cost, limiting how much providers can charge. Our system provides the best coverage, but fails in the distribution of it. The result is that Canadians (as well as other countries)who cannot access procedures in their countries will come to the U.S. for procedures unavailable to them. The critical services like cancer treatments are highly valuable to recipients from other countries whom are stuck on waiting lists.
Michelin Guide state that Philadelphia is the Frenchest city in America. Did you visit? If not shame!
Sorry to said , American style of friendliness feels manufactured to my taste , I try hard not to describe all Americans are fake nice but that that friendliness or niceness style feels artificial and can be bit insincere , i don't like to waste my time to give a validation to someone that not my family or friends with exaggerated "Insert" Oh Hi How Are You , even as i get older i don't like to do that , feels gimmicky for my taste
Been only to about 35 states And sure there are lots of differences i would say americanes are much more simulair then Europeans are. But they are still people and the diversity is as wide spread but just a bit toned down compaired to Europe.
You came at a bad time.
Really good video. As an American who lived in Ukraine often over the courze of 15 years, I thought your analysis of American culture(s) was very good. Thought provoking.
Los Angeles, check out the size. Not only are there 88 cities in the county but the city of Los Angeles itself is really big. If you can do the overlays of Mabs so you can see how big it is. It’s comparable to Berlin. It’s also incredibly interesting. The highest spot in the city is close to 2000 m. The highest spot in the county is close to 3000 m. The lowest spot is some sinkhole slightly below sea level. There are six separate coastal mountain ranges, distinct with different environments in the greater Los Angeles area going from just over the Ventura county line east all the way to the pass just west of Palm Springs. In the city itself three distinct mountain ranges not counting hills. There are ski resorts in Los Angeles County what is right on the border with San Bernardino County. And there were two closer but given warming and difficulties one was torn down, and one is basically rarely open.
But remember, it’s also the second most populous city in the United States. Given our location, lots of contribution, inhabitants and cultural influences from east Asia and Latin America, as well as from Europe, other parts of the United States. even weirdly France. The first vineyard of the city was built in the 1840s I think by Frenchman. And there was a relatively important French community in the early American years with a mutual aid society and one of the older hospitals which only recently changed its name when it was acquired by a larger corporation but was always known as the French Hospital of Los Angeles Google it, it has an interesting history
But it’s a very different kind of city from Chicago or New York. It’s very good at segregating tourists and letting them enjoy the touristic areas with a little bit of intersection with what locals will be doing. If someone moves here, even from other parts of the United States, it usually takes at least a year to fully adjust. So if you wanted adventure, go right ahead. If you want to comment with me, or DM, happy to give you suggestions based on what you’re actually interested in. I enjoy your videos very much. I look forward to more
I (and others) have done the math, and we in the US spend a collective 18% of our healthcare dollars JUST on private insurance company advertisements. It's really disgusting, actually. Even worse when people pretend or don't know that "it's the same" in countries with universal healthcare. It's one thing I really don't like about my country. Lots of great stuff here, lots of great health care if you can afford it or afford insurance to cover it, but overall it's a horrible way to fund an inelastic need.
I loved how you discussed your misconceptions and then presented a kind of cultural translation for people who are not American. There are so many misconceptions everyone carries around about people unlike themselves in some way, I truly appreciate hearing from someone who can try to understand people on their own terms, while still holding onto their own identity as they grow through the experience.
By the way, you're spot on about heritage in the US, and it's such a misunderstood aspect of American culture. I'll admit some people take it too far, telling people "I'm more Irish than the Irish har har" and similar, but almost all of us are extremely clear about the fact that we are American, and all of us, including the indigenous peoples here, have a relatively recent history predating the existence of the US, and their family's transition to becoming American. Also, I have never felt more American than when I traveled abroad. I very much tried not to be the stereotypical "ugly American" tourist, but visiting other countries has a way of highlighting cultural pieces about ourselves that we never even noticed before.
The same goes for Europe, which consists of about 45 countries (depending on how you count). Americans rarely realize that there are almost as many cultures as there are countries. For example, the difference between the Nordic countries and the countries around the Mediterranean is considerable. 🇸🇪
Why not just record what you say without editing every breathing pause out? Hard to listen to, so I quit.
Very nice video Lucille. You seem like a lovely young person. We Americans love people like you. J’aime la France aussi. J’ai passé un semestre à Angers, et le nom de ma mère avant son mariage était Boutillier, de Normandie, puis au Canada, et, éventuellement à New Jersey. Bon courage et à plus.
Thank you for the video! I have very much the same experience even though I am an old man that first visited the US back in 1974. As a young boy I thought of New York and the US from the TV shows I had seen, when imagining the United States. Since my first trip I have visited about 15 times, staying from three weeks to two months at a time and have seen about 14-15 different states. Never visited the deep south except for Florida and that does not count. But for example the big difference between New York city and rural Massachusetts or Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest is staggering! It is like different worlds. Very interesting as a European to see all that diversity and very exciting. I am from Sweden and now live part of the year in Nice, France since 2019. Also here there are many differences in culture and habits. I love the habit of greeting people with a friendly "Bonjour" when walking in my neighborhood or greeting the bus driver and saying "Merci, au revoir" , when leaving the bus. In Sweden that would be considered very strange. People do not greet eachother except when you are out in the wilderness cross country skiing. Then you suddenly say "hello" and can even strike up a short conversation without seeming weird. I love to explore cultures and it is a richness that we should value! Many of my Swedish friends express almost a hatred towards the USA, and I always ask them: "Have you ever visited?" They almost always answer: "No, why should I?" It is so easy to know a lot about things you have not really seen. I have lifelong friends in the US that have visited me in Sweden, even visited in France! I see them every time I go to the US and they are as close to me as my own family. I have very few friends like that in Sweden….
Very brave of you to visit a tyrany I hope you stay safely in Europe for the next 12 years untill they sort out their civil war. Getting caught in the cross fire would be an avoidable disaster
So, you're saying that certain places, are different from other places?
Appreciate the insight. I wish I had thought of that. I really thought all the places were exactly like the other places. But you changed me. I now know that some places, have different food. That was entirely impactful, because my brain couldn't figure out a map. Or food. Holy shit – I should start making Youtube videos. This: is a place. It's different, from another place. REVELATION! ALL the places have different food! There is no main assembly line for the entire country, so food kinda has to be different. Weird.
What a waste of time. Just be sure to buy overpriced hair products folks! That'll help YOU. Not her. YOU. You can feel good, and she gets the money. Right?
😆🤣the country is great, landscapes etc.. americans aren't friendly, they luv greatings, but are often as dumb as the british, with obesity, its hard to make real good friends there, i got some, just because don't think as the regular american! which spends the whole life to get money
Risk versus reward is the most valuable asset as a young person. Use your time to make life interesting and not always searching for the easy way. If you love being productive in any field, you will never feel like you are working. Do not get suck needing a job just to get by. Keep your spending in check and save or invest for when you are older, because there is no guarantee that there will be a safety net when your body falls apart.