In this video, a personal perspective unfolds about misconceptions and surprising truths about America. From cultural differences to everyday experiences, it highlights what was misunderstood and what changed after seeing reality firsthand.
An honest and eye-opening reflection that might challenge your own assumptions.
#America #CulturalDifferences #Perspective #TravelExperience #RealityCheck #LifeLessons #Misconceptions #StoryTime #ViralVideo #Lucile
An honest and eye-opening reflection that might challenge your own assumptions.
#America #CulturalDifferences #Perspective #TravelExperience #RealityCheck #LifeLessons #Misconceptions #StoryTime #ViralVideo #Lucile
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I've just spent two months visiting the US and as a French person I noticed that there are some
00:04things that I totally got wrong. For example one thing I fully misunderstood before visiting the
00:09US was how much cultural difference there is between places. As Europeans we hear so much
00:15about the US either from TV shows or the news so we tend to think that we know the American
00:20culture
00:21but I personally had no idea how things changed so much from place to place and that's something
00:25I noticed right away on my first trip to the US. So I've been coming to the US for over
00:3010 years to
00:30visit friends and family and I swear as Europeans were unaware at how big the cultural differences
00:35are from place to place and that's something I love discovering and learning about. Like for example
00:39during this trip we decided to go to Texas and I had been there before but here I visited some
00:44new
00:44places, discovered some new foods and even went to the Texas state fair which is something I had never
00:50seen before in my life. We also went to Tennessee and to Georgia and I could feel the difference
00:54between all of the states right away. Not only in food but also in people and culture and while
00:59there's a pretty big difference from state to state, where you live as well within the state kind of
01:04matters a lot. Like there's a big difference from city to city and as well as from city to country.
01:09Like first obviously the landscapes are very different. I've been to over 15 states now and
01:14things don't really look the same. Also different regions have different historical backgrounds and I
01:19really love learning about them. Like recently on the channel I did a deep dive on the Cajun culture of
01:24Louisiana and this was so fun and super interesting. Also when we were in Texas we learned about the
01:29history and the heritage of this state which was so interesting to me as someone who's French and
01:34has Spanish origin. But anyway we'll get a bit deeper into the topic of heritage in a bit but now
01:39and every time I come back to the US I feel that any attempt to define all Americans at once
01:44and say
01:44something like all Americans are this or all Americans are that is like a hundred percent wrong.
01:49Like there's 340 million people in the US so when I hear someone say something like that I can't help
01:55but intervene and tell them that the US is a very diverse place with a lot of different types of
02:00people. You know like any country or region I would say. And I say that a lot because one thing
02:05I love
02:05about the US and that I personally benefited from when I was living there a few years ago is that
02:10it's a
02:11place where you can truly create your own lifestyle and unique identity. And this is more than a thing I
02:16just
02:17misunderstood. Like as a French person I truly didn't know you could actually do that. So let me
02:22explain. So even though France is a very diverse country as well there's a strong sense that there's
02:27a right way to do things because we've always done them this certain way. A silly example that everyone
02:32can understand is that there's a right way to make a croissant and there's no reason to change it.
02:37It's just perfect and delicious as it is. But I do feel sometimes that people value tradition
02:42and having a clear understandable identity a bit too much for my taste. Like for example I went to a
02:48very good college in France and people still ask me about it regularly even though I'm a 32 year old
02:54youtuber right now. So it obviously doesn't matter too much. And one thing I'll always remember from my
02:59education is that I always was pushed towards numbers and I ended up studying finance because I
03:04was pretty good at it but I didn't really like it. And when I asked about a different path I
03:08could take
03:08a teacher told me that it was I quote not for people like me. And I'll guess we'll never know
03:13what she meant exactly but I took it as there is one right path you should take. So yeah with
03:18that
03:18French cultural context I kind of thought that your identity was something that was fixed and that I
03:23had to follow a specific life path and that is until I moved to the US and I felt that
03:27people felt
03:28more free to live in their own unique way and you know do things differently pivot if they didn't like
03:33something or just try new things. And luckily for me I noticed this pretty early on not only from living
03:38in
03:38New York City which is a super diverse city with all types of people but also from taking a road
03:43trip to rural Colorado where in one week I got to talk to a rancher family that was passionate about
03:48hunting and that had a lot of taxidermy animals in their living room, a firefighter in a reservation,
03:54an online shaman and a tech guy passionate about electric cars. This was kind of a big revelation to me
04:00because I love how forward people are in the US about their identity and how free people feel to live
04:06their own unique lives. So yeah this may seem silly if you're an American but at the time I was
04:10young
04:11and I didn't know you could follow pretty much any life path you wanted and not what you should be
04:15doing. So at the time I was working an investment banking job in New York City and talking to all
04:20types of people who are doing things a bit differently kind of inspired me to quit without anything lined up
04:25and the reactions were pretty interesting because all my French friends were slightly horrified and a bit
04:30concerned for me whereas my American friends were so happy for me and thought it was the best decision
04:35ever. So yeah I really love how in the US it's socially accepted to try new things and you know
04:40pivot if you don't like them or things don't work out and this mindset has unlocked choices that I
04:45didn't even know were available to me like being a YouTuber. So yeah I clearly wouldn't be here if I
04:49hadn't lived in the US. But surprisingly the thing I struggled the most with when I first moved to the
04:54US is actually a thing I love now that I've fully accepted it. I've talked about it before on the
04:58channel
04:59but making friends as an adult when you're not in college for example is already pretty hard but
05:03making friends as an adult in a fully new place where you don't really understand the culture
05:08is even harder. So when I moved to the US I truly misunderstood how friendly people were because
05:14everyone wanted to talk to me, people told me they wanted to make plans with me, people were inviting
05:19me to their homes but actually no one followed through. And at first this was really hard for me
05:24because I misunderstood friendliness for you know being actually friends with someone. And friends
05:29were a bit more guarded as a culture so you wouldn't just invite a random person to your house just
05:34to
05:34be polite. If you invite someone to your house you're actually making plans with them and they will
05:39come to your house. And when I first moved to the US there kind of was a moment when I
05:43noticed that I
05:44didn't have any friends and that all those friendly people were actually just being nice and polite with
05:50me. And I fully misunderstood them. Obviously this was a very hard revelation but once I understood
05:55this and accepted that you know we just have different social norms around friendliness and
06:00being friends this was amazing because I actually knew how to make friends after that. So yeah lucky
06:05I understood this. I made friends through hobbies and through friends of friends and now I am proud to
06:10say that I do have friends in the US. And that if someone invites me to their home or is
06:15overly friendly to
06:16me I know how to make the difference between being polite and wanting to be friends with me.
06:21But one thing I feel I'll never get used to is eating habits. And I actually forgot about this
06:26point because this is so ingrained in my culture but my boyfriend Bobby who as many of you know is
06:32American told me to specifically at this point. So if you've watched any of my other food videos before
06:37it will come to no surprise to you that in France as a culture we really love food. And we
06:42kind of have
06:43specific eating times. Like growing up for example I shared all of my meals when I was not at school
06:49with my parents. So breakfast, lunch and dinner we would always eat as a family at the dinner table.
06:54And most of the people I know have grown up like this. So this means that a lot of French
06:58people
06:59including me will eat lunch between 12 30 and 1 pm and dinner around 7 30 to 8 pm. Often
07:05a lot of
07:05restaurants close their kitchens if you're not within those eating times. And even at work you kind of have
07:10to share lunch with your colleagues. Like it would be weird if you didn't. And at first in the US
07:15it
07:15would be kind of hard for me because I never understood if we were going to eat or not. Like
07:20it has happened to me so many times that I meet someone at 7 pm and they've already eaten. Like
07:25I
07:25kind of feel that if you meet with me during my regimented eating times you kind of have to feed
07:30me.
07:30Otherwise I'll feel hungry and sad. And also at special events kind of anything goes in the US. So I
07:36don't
07:36always understand whether something is lunch or dinner. And I know this is a social construct that
07:40lives in my head but I cannot get rid of it. Like I remember being invited to something that I
07:45thought was a celebratory lunch at 3 pm. And when I stood up from the table and thanked the host
07:50for
07:50a very nice lunch I noticed everyone was kind of looking at me weird because apparently it was a
07:55dinner. So yeah I don't think I will ever get used to it but I just try to be more
07:59flexible and adapt
08:00to things as they go. And another French thing I love bringing with me to the US is skincare. I
08:05personally feel that French skincare is really good and it's also easier to find products that use only good
08:10ingredients. Like today's sponsor Typology. Typology is a French skincare brand and all their products
08:16are made in France. I've been using their products every day for over a year and they are perfect if
08:20like me you enjoy a no makeup natural look that still gives you a little bit of an extra boost.
08:26My favorite at the moment is their glow drops. They contain vitamin c and aloe vera and I like to
08:31use
08:31them with my moisturizer when I don't want to spend too much time getting ready. I also love their
08:36concealer because I was born with dark circles under my eyes and this is really a lifesaver
08:41because it both hides them but also reduces them because of the active ingredients. And their tinted
08:47lip oil is really nice too. It's always a nice finishing touch if I want to look extra nice. At
08:52the
08:52moment they are offering a free full-size hair repair mask with every purchase of $40 or more so it's
08:59the perfect time to try high quality French skincare. But one deeper thing I actually only understood
09:04recently when I moved from my 20s to my 30s is how important individual responsibility is in the US.
09:11Let me explain. So when I was working in New York this was in my 20s and a lot of
09:16my colleagues were
09:17a bit older than me were kind of making those dark humor jokes about not getting fired when they found
09:22out they were gonna be parents. And you know since I was a European in my 20s I just didn't
09:27get it
09:27because in France health children are seen more as collective responsibilities. So when people find out
09:33they're gonna be parents people talk more about how much parental leave they're gonna take. So from an
09:37outsider point of view it seems that having children or health care are more seen as personal
09:42responsibilities and personal decisions in the west than in France where we have more of a sense of
09:47collective responsibility for that. But now that I'm at the age where people are having babies and I
09:52know how much things cost I fully get it. Like there's a big pressure to not get fired when you
09:59know how
09:59much having a child costs without insurance. So overall as an outsider it feels that in the US
10:04some things that as a European I would see as a collective responsibility like having children
10:10or health care are more put on the individual and are seen as personal decisions. And I've kind of
10:16talked a bit about that in the past and a lot of you have told me something along the lines
10:20of
10:20our health care is not really much more expensive if we account for taxes you pay higher taxes in Europe
10:25and you know I get it I haven't done the math but my personal feeling is that I'm happy that
10:30my taxes go to health care because I like that no one I know has crazy medical debt for example.
10:35But
10:35I also get that in the US people who prefer that is often because they trust themselves more than
10:40they trust the system and it's kind of this idea of self-reliance that I've seen expressed by a lot
10:45of people I've talked to and I would probably think the same way if I had grown up like this
10:49as well.
10:49So another way I see this idea of self-reliance is when we compare the car culture in the US
10:55versus
10:55the public transport culture in Europe. So you've probably heard about it but in Europe our cities
11:00are made around public transport and even in the countryside there's still some kind of public
11:05transport that people use. Like for example my parents spend a lot of time in Ariège which is one
11:09of the least visited and least dense regions of France and even in their tiny village there's still a
11:15minibus and this is mostly made for people who don't have a car or who can't drive because maybe
11:20they're sick or maybe just too old to drive or they just don't want to drive anymore. We also have
11:25a
11:25great network of trains and this is not only in France but in all of western Europe and the result
11:31is that as a 32 year old that has always lived in cities I've never felt the need to own
11:36a car. And when
11:37I first started to visit the US I actually was only researching public transport routes to go from place
11:43to place and I found that these take so much longer than driving and for example this is one of
11:48the
11:48reasons I've never been to LA. Like I'm like okay as a tourist I want to see like Venice Beach
11:53downtown
11:53maybe do a trip to Disneyland I don't know but just doing those like top things to do in LA
12:00takes
12:00hours by public transport and I don't know it seems that there is a lot of big traffic jams and
12:05that's
12:06why I actually passed on that trip every time I had the occasion because as a European it seemed like
12:10an insurmountable hurdle for me. And there is a network of trains in the US which I love. I've
12:16actually crossed the US from New York to San Francisco by train and this was one of the best
12:22experiences of my life it's so beautiful I really recommend you do it but you know let's be honest
12:26this is not a real transportation method you're doing that for the experience for the beautiful
12:31landscapes but not really to go from point A to point B because crossing the US by train takes around
12:37a
12:37week where you can just hop on a six hour flight and be done with it. So yeah that's something
12:41I've
12:42grown to appreciate especially with my Amtrak trips. I love trains in the US I take them for fun
12:47but when I have to go somewhere I usually rent a car and I let Bobby drive because as an
12:52American he has
12:52been driving since he was 16 and I only got my driver's license four years ago which might seem crazy
12:58if you're American. So I have accepted that if you want a sense of freedom you do need a car
13:03but if you
13:03want to take your time you can take the Amtrak. Quick change of pace we're gonna get into a very
13:08deep topic and I still cringe at myself for how bad I misunderstood this one but let me explain how
13:14I used to think back in the day and how I've changed. So some of you might know it but
13:18I love
13:18languages and I try to speak the four languages I know as much as I can and one of these
13:23languages
13:23is Italian I speak it pretty badly but it's you know enough to travel to Italy and I really want
13:29to
13:29improve it and when I moved to the US I actually met a lot of people who told me they
13:33were
13:33Italian and my reaction every time was to tell them that I was trying to learn Italian and that
13:39I wanted to speak Italian with them to practice and of course every time the person would be so
13:43confused probably thinking why is this weird girl trying to speak Italian with me because they were
13:48Italian American and not Italian from Italy so most of the time they didn't speak Italian. This
13:53little cultural misunderstanding is such a good example of how differently we see heritage and
13:59nationality in Europe versus in the US. If you're in Europe and you say I'm Italian it means you have
14:04an Italian passport and you speak the Italian language. If you're in the US a lot of people who
14:09would say I'm Italian they actually mean I have Italian heritage like maybe their grandma came from
14:14Italy or they were raised in the Italian American culture and at first it's something that I found a
14:20bit silly and I misunderstood because I didn't understand why someone would define themselves as Italian when
14:26you know they didn't have an Italian passport and didn't speak Italian like in my head they were
14:30American with Italian origins not Italian Italian and by the way this worked with pretty much every
14:35nationality at the time I couldn't understand how someone would define themselves as Scottish, Irish,
14:41German and yet have never set foot in the country but then something happened and that's why it's so
14:46interesting to live abroad because you see that things you thought were true and were basis of your
14:51culture are thought of differently in different countries but what made things click for me is first I got
14:56interested in Bobby's family history so his family did come from Italy back in the day and then
15:00also US immigration history which is so interesting and I understood that it's just a different way of
15:06talking about your culture and your heritage and you know it's just as valid as the way I grew up
15:11with
15:11so yeah if we go back to the Italian American culture which is the one I've been the most immersed
15:15in
15:15because of Bobby's family but also because I used to live in New York City it feels to me that
15:20it's a distinct
15:21culture from the Italian culture of Italy that kind of evolved on its own so you know a bit like
15:26when
15:26I learned about the Cajun culture of Louisiana I felt that we had some things in common like you
15:31know there's a sense of being distant cousins or something but it's like having two cultures that
15:35have a shared origin but then evolved completely different and this celebration of heritage is
15:40something I really love in the US I find it very cool I love that it's a country built on
15:45immigration
15:45this makes me a foreign person in the US feel more welcome and in terms of food it is awesome
15:51because
15:52you can eat food from all over the world thanks to this immigrant history this is just an example
15:56of how living abroad in the US and coming back to visit truly changed the way I think and honestly
16:02kind of opened my mind to new ideas I never thought of before there are so many things that I
16:07love and
16:07that are now part of my personality and I was able to do that because of my commitment to trying
16:12not to
16:12judge things but keeping an open mind and always trying to understand and accept the US more as a
16:17culture so if you're watching this I really encourage you to do that as well learning about
16:22other cultures not only the US has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life
16:27and if you want to learn about the French culture I've made some videos for you and you can watch
16:31them
16:31see you here next
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