34
Where it is impossible to find a sandwich cheaper than $5. But the good thing is that the garnish usually represents more than half of the sandwich (not like in France where this is mostly bread). Well, sometimes it is rather a bad thing.

33
Where there is the word "empower". A beautiful word that cannot be translated in French and basically means "to give power back to people". They for example speak about "women empowerment" or "minority empowerment".

32
Where there is no secretary of culture.

31

Where a pretty old woman hosts every sunday live jazz music in her appartment - a small living room and kitchen in Harlem whose the walls are covered by awards and postcards. A joyful mixture of musicians, other friendly old women and tourists that usually finished to sing all together. Between the two hours of music and improvisations, regulars bring you some fried chicken and apple juice. At the end of the concert, Marjorie Eliot stands up from the piano: "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you all here". She is not the only one.

30
Where you can go to the Creation Museum to learn how God has created the world in six days. And as the "museum" warns you on his website, "be prepared to believe". The "museum" is actually cleverly done and quite entertaining. First they expose the two explanations "possible": human reason and God's words. Then they show the result of the first option: a dark room with graffity and TV extracts showing kids who play videogames. And after that, you arrive in the beautiful garden of Eden where you see Adam and Eve among dinosaurs and other animals. During this journey, you have a lot of audio and visual aids that tell you all the scientific evidences for creationism (the Great Canyon, fossils of fish in the mountains and so on). So when you leave the "museum", you at last realize that human reason is just bullshit. Only God's words are true!

29
Where they put sugar in their main dishes and salt in the deserts.

28
Where there is a fire alarm almost every week. And each time the firemen come with several huge trucks and their sirens wailing. After the third one, it is so annoying that I just stay in my room, hoping that this time will not be a real one...

27
Where the candidate who wins the elections becomes President more than two months after. This time allows him to be more prepared, but it also creates a weird atmosphere where there are two presidents at a time. Or rather not at all : one without legitimacy, onother without power.

26
Where when you see a military, you shake his hand saying: "thank for what you do for our country". The US Army is indeed much more popular than the French one, although it was not the case during the Vietnam war. The Americans, even the most liberals, make the difference between the choice made by politicians, and the job made by the Army.
I do not really know how to explain this popularity: the level of patriotism in the US probably plays a role. Maybe also the existence of a compulsory military service in France until the 1990s (whereas the US army has been professional since a long time).

24
Where the next president is (half) black.

23
Where thousands of people have been involved in the campaign for Obama in each states. They go door to door trying to convince other voters, they do phone banking to remind to go to vote, they put the Obama sign in their lawn or in their face and they finally celebrate the victory after more than one year of campaigning.

22
Where political rallies are in stadium and gather hundreds thousands of people.

21
Where campaigning takes place only on a few places of the country. It is indeed not the popular vote that determines the elections but the number of electoral votes. When a candidate wins in one state, he gets all the electoral votes of this state. The two parties thus do not campaign in the states where they are sure to win -or to lose- and put all their money and energy in the swinging states. To have a map of the swinging states, it is here.

21
Where elections take place on a tuesday -while people are working- and where you sometimes have to wait several hours for voting. Difficult to understand why the most developed democracy still has so many problems to organize elections. According to some democrats, the Republican party tries to keep this situation to make it harder for urban people -usually more liberal- to express their vote.

20
Where the houses all look the same, where there is no crosswalk and where every house has at least three cars. The American Dream dans toute sa splendeur: every one can get its own lawn but there is no social relations in this world of private property.

19

Where a presidential candidate can buy a 30 minutes-long-advertisement on the national channels one week before the elections. It is of course debateable, because it advantages the one who gets the most money. But on other hand it allows Obama to take the time to explain and to illustrate his platform -without even speaking of McCain. To watch 30 minutes of politics and storytelling from a very gifted speaker, it is here.

18
Where Keynesian policies are still implemented. It is amazing to see the number of people working in not-very-useful-jobs: people standing all the day in the street to hold an advertisement or to show the entrance of a car-park, people watching the entrance of each building, and many others. I understand now why the level of unemployment is -at least was- so low but also why the concept of working poors appeared in the US.

17
Where Halloween is the most important holiday of the year. Early in October people already start talking about that and brainstorm for costume ideas (absolutely compulsory!). Pumpkins progressively appear in streets and houses and competitions of pumpkin carving are organized. I do not know who is the man who instituted this new tradition, but what a clever pumpkin producer!

16
Where there is still a private park in the center of Manhattan. It looks like a public square with a beautiful lawn; the only difference is that you need a key to go in (and you need to live in this expansive neighborhood to get the key). But what a pleasure to show off when you are jogging inside in the empty path!

15
Where you cannot drink alcohol or even go in a bar when you are not 21 years old (most of the young students actually have fake IDs). I missed La Caution and Wax Tailor in live because of That.

14
Where there are manicures at every crossroads.
I would have prefered boulangeries, boucheries, and traiteurs instead!

13
Where the New York Times (the equivalent of Le Monde) spends one page on the wardrobe of Sarah Palin (the Vice-president candidate of McCain, who presents herself as an average American) and its exuberant price: $150 000. Interesting, isn't it?

12
Where the theatre is located in the basement of a church! (et pourtant la pièce -de Brecht- était pas très catholique).

11
Where you "buy" an argument and where the coverpages of academic books look like advertisements.

10
Where people have the debate's culture. While the two candidates already had three debates (without Nader), the students also confront their point of view! In front of a public more or less attentive and with strict rules, the young democrats and republicans each tried to defend their candidate on the different issues. The democrats won, of course!

9
Where the students pay $50 000 a YEAR for their university (while the US median income is around $40 000)! Many of them have grants and loans, but still, when the economy is in crisis, it becomes very hard to finance their studies.
As a result, most of the students start working after their graduation instead of doing a master degree (they sometimes do it later). "When you graduate, the only thing you have in mind is to pay off your loans."

8
Where the equivalent to the French 20H from TF1 seems to be The Daily Show on Comedy Channel. Kind of mix between les Guignols and le Zapping (with an interview in addition). But it is actually not so dumb... like a symbol of the US: more informal but not always more stupid!

To watch the Daily Show online, it is here.

7
Where it is not allowed to drink alcohol or even to enter in a bar when you are under 21 and where it is prohibited to drink in the street. The result? Students get fake IDs and people use small bags to hide their bottle when they drink outside. It is not so different from Togo, where the third people on the motor bike walks when they are in front of the police station.

6

Where the word "socialist" is the worst insult you can say in a presidential debate (kind of legace of the cold war) and the word "bureaucracy" directly deligitimate every action of the state. However, there is not only horrible capitalists in the US, as the photos below of Nader's meeting show it!







To know more about this mysterious third candidate, it is here or here.

5
Where political campaign is more about telling lies about the other candidate rather than explaining your own ideas (especially when you are Republican). If you want to see how McCain try to avoid losing this election while polls are more and more favorable for Obama, click here (it really worths it!). If politics in the US is what it will be in France in 10 years, I hope I will have found a better job.

Where people still have flip-flops in October, while it becomes to be freezing. I just learned that it could be under 20° in Winter (under 0 of course).

Where professors come in class wearing T-shirt and ugly Nikes. American are definitely not the king of the classe.

Where shops and libraries are open 24/7 and full even at 3 in the morning. The best is to come around 8am, when every body has fall asleep on their books.

Where people are talking to each other in the subway. I would almost spend my days in the subway to make new friends. What's more they are air conditionned!