Cultural Surprises: What Shocked Me the Most About Moving to the U.S.

Las Vegas, city of extravagance

Before moving from France to the U.S., I thought I was fully prepared. I had even done research about California while writing my thesis for my English class back home. Learning about the state's culture and history gave me a good foundation, and reading resources like California - Cultural, Institutions, Diversity | Britannica really helped me understand the diversity and richness of life here. Still, even with all that preparation, living in California brought unexpected surprises!

One of the biggest surprises for me was how friendly and open people seem at first. In France, we’re often a little more reserved with strangers, but in the U.S., casual conversations happen everywhere — at coffee shops, grocery stores, or even on the street. However, I quickly realized that while it's easy to start small talk, building deep friendships is much harder. Relationships here often feel more superficial, and as an international student, it can be difficult to create strong bonds. Sometimes, it feels like Americans are polite but not always very open to truly including internationals in their close circles, which can make the first months a bit lonely.

Another shock was how big everything is: from the cars to the food portions, and even the streets everything felt oversized compared to Europe. Based on stereotypes, I already knew things would be bigger, but as a French girl, my friends and I still thought that using public transportation and walking would be doable, just like in Europe. For our first semester, we really tried, taking tramways, buses and walking everywhere. But over time, we realized that public transportation is much more limited here and walking is not as common or always as safe as it is in Europe. It made us understand why everyone drives, and how different daily life feels when you don't have the same easy access to public spaces and transportation.

For anyone coming from Europe, I also recommend reading Cultural Differences between Europe and the United States. Even though every European country has its own unique culture, this article captures some important contrasts that are helpful to know before arriving. It’s interesting not only from a personal point of view to better understand daily life but also from a professional perspective, especially for those of us studying business or planning to work internationally.

Looking back, doing research beforehand definitely made a difference, but real-life experiences were way different than what I expected. Living abroad pushed me to stay flexible, curious, and open-minded. It’s one thing to study a place but it’s another to experience it day by day, and that’s where the real adventure begins.