I am from France, and my culture is really different from the American culture.

During the first months that passed in Santa Barbara, the thing which shocked me most was how people were friendly and helpfully to each other.

Everybody talks to one another and it does not matter if they know each other or not. In France, people do not talk if they do not know each other. If a person is talking to someone that he does not know the unknown will look at the other one strangely. I do not say that French people are mean to each other, it’s just that in our culture we do not talk with strangers. Parents usually teach us that when we are kids.

I really like how people are friendly here. They are always smiling or saying hello even if they do not know you.

One morning, I was on the bus to go to school, and a woman sat next to me. She started to talk to me like we knew each other. This shocked me. In France, something like that is never going to happen on the bus. She was telling me that she liked my shoes. I was so surprised. Nobody cared about my shoes in France, especially on the bus.

Here it is normal when people say nice things about your clothes, but in France people do not care. Also, here when you are going to a shop someone is there to say hi and ask you how you are, in France you will never see that.

In France, usually people do not care to meet new people. They already have friends; a lot of people think they have enough friends. I think that is stupid. I am happy every time I can meet new people.

In French nightclubs people buy a bottle of alcohol and sit at a table. They stay with their friends during the party, guys may talk to girls, but that is it.

Here, people do not sit around a table they stand up, meet people, and drink with them. That is really nice, because every night you can meet new people. I met a good friend of mine in a nightclub a few months ago, and now we are always together.

It is one of the reasons why I love to live here so much. If French people would be as friendly as Americans are that would be so nice. I think it is a really good culture to be nice and sociable with everybody.

Another difference in culture is the tip. In France, a tip is already included in the bill, so when French people come here they usually do not tip. It is not because they are cheap it is just because they do not know about this culture. A while ago after I arrived here, I went to a bar and ordered a drink and did not give a tip to the bartender, and he started to yell at me. The next day at school, I told the story to my teacher. At first she laughed at me because apparently it happens often. She then explained to me how tips work here. A lot of Americans think that French people are cheap, but that is not true.

I’ve been in Santa Barbara for a year and half now, and I am really happy to be here discovering this new culture. It is an exciting experience to live in another country with a different language and culture than mine. It is not easy every day to be so far from all my family and my friends. I am homesick sometimes, but on the other hand I have learned so much about myself here. I grew up and I did it all on my own and that I am really proud of.