USA, the final test.

Thanks to the French administration, I spent the 8 weeks before my trip to the USA worrying about whether I would get my passport on time or would be prevented from going on my first trip to this country I'm amazed by.
The relief came in the form of a phone call from my embassy 8 days before I left, confirming that my passport had arrived in Edinburgh minutes before!

And after many years of waiting on an opportunity to go the USA not as a tourist but with a native who could share her vision of the country, I was on my way to Sarasota, Florida. Middle-sized town (at least from the European point of view) on the West coast of the state, Sarasota is a nice and quiet place for wealthy retired Americans. Nice white beaches, turquoise water, 30 degrees centigrade in early October, this city is a dream!

But even though I really enjoyed this part of the holidays, I was a woman on a mission! See, I have this crazy idea that the USA is the country I want to live in after Scotland... a tad weird since I had never set foot on Sam's ground!
So I had 7 days to decide whether I really wanted to go live there.

First impression: American people are the nicest guys I've ever met, I have yet to figure out whether it is genuine or part of their culture. I know French people are not overly nice but are genuine, so having so many nice people around me, plain simple and easy-going persons, was a big and welcomed change, that is if it is genuine.

Then, the food! Being French, I do have high expectations, I'm not one to try and eat French food wherever I go and I'm not overly fan of the French cuisine anyway, but I'm used to a high standard of quality and large variety of food.
In that regard, the USA once again score big points! I avoided going to fast food because I dare believe this is a by-product of a modern society choosing money over time, but isn't the true American food.
I had pancakes, omelets, roasted potatoes for breakfast; all you can eat salad buffet or BBQ traditional meals with corn on the rod for lunch and fresh grilled fish for diner.
USA have it all, from the cheap fat hamburger to the refined cuisine, there is something for everyone, which is just as amazing as it is pleasurable.
So food... ok for me!

Culture... the European culture is very different from the US one, but at the same time, we all have been raised with the US one through TV series and movies. What really struck me as odd is that as soon as I had set foot on the US soil, I had this feeling of coming home compared to my life in the UK. To this day I still hate this Victorian style, all these sparkling clothes, their TV soaps and tons of little details like the lack of shutters... on the other hand, the US style is so familiar (I guess I have Extreme Makover: Home Edition to thank for that!), I love the US TV series, the clothes are definitely closer to my personal taste than the UK ones and yes, they do have shutters!
So even though I have now lived in the UK for almost 4 years, I felt more at home in the US than I will ever in the UK!

Knowledge... I like to talk politics, I have pretty strong opinions on a lot of topics and I went to the USA with the idea that US people were ignorant when it came to the outside world (meaning what's not US basically), this is the part I was disappointed the less in and at the same time, the more.
I must admit that during the course of this week, I've met curious people but I can't say I have met people who really impressed me with their knowledge of the World. But then again I was on vacation so I can't say I really got the chance to go into a debate with anyone on the war in Iraq as an example.
But on the other hand, all the people I've talked to were curious of where I was from and could more or less remember that their grand parents had landed on the Beaches of my region, Normandy.
So nope, not really impressed by the knowledge but this is something I can't do anything about, I just have to see whether I can live with that.

To talk about their president, I have met Republicans but I must admit I haven't met anyone who publicly said he liked Bush!

A few things that I remember most... their tea bags have strings; they do have apple sauce; it's cheaper to go to the restaurant than to cook; not all American people are fat but when they are, they really are; everything's cheaper than in the UK; they love Peanut Butter!

My conclusion of this week... I now know for sure that I want to go live there for a year or two, get to know them more and get to experience this crazy American life where everything's bigger than in Europe!

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