Léo’s New Thoughts on the U.S.A

Before leaving for the U.S. for two months I wrote an article regarding Leo’s opinions on the states before actually having visited called Léo’s thoughts on the U.S.A As promised here is the article explaining his opinion after the fact.

What did you think of the food in America? What was your favorite food? “The food is so good. There are a lot of choices and a variety of different cultures. My favorite food was the double-double cheeseburger from In-N-Out. Best thing EVER.” I think Léo had more In-N-Out in two months than I have had in my whole life. One day Léo ate In-N-Out three times in one day…

Now what do you think of LA? “I want to move to LA, everything is different than in France. I like the culture and the people are very nice and welcoming. There are so many things to see and do in LA. It’s just amazing.”

What are American’s like? “American’s are very open-minded and don’t care or judge people as much. You can do whatever you want (assuming it’s legal) and no one cares, it’s perfect.”

What’s the weirdest thing about America to you? “I still think that the weirdest thing in America are the drinking age and driving age. Is so weird that American’s can drive at 16 but not drink until 21… It’s confusing to me.”L

What was the best think you visited in America? “The best thing I visited in America was Hollywood Boulevard with all of stars on the floor. It’s like in the movies, really and it’s beautiful to see.”

How long do you think it would do a road trip stopping in all 50 states? “A road-trip in all 50 states would take like a month or more.”

What was the best thing you bought in the US? “The best thing I bought in the U.S. was my dickies pants in one of the T-Shirt warehouses. The pants were so cheap but such good quality.” My sister and I made it our goal to give Léo a more American look by the end of the two months, and dickies were definitely a must.

In general, are the girls hotter in the U.S. or in France? “The girls are hotter in the U.S., sorry French girls…”

What’s the worst part about America? “I love America so for me everything was pretty perfect but if I had to choose I’d say that that having to give tip all the time is strange for me and taxes being added after the fact is also annoying.”

What was your favorite car that you saw in the US? And what cars did you see the most? “My favorite car that I saw was a classic mustang in downtown LA. The mustang was also the car that I noticed the most.”

What’s the biggest difference between France and the US for you? “The biggest difference between France and America is the culture for me. People are very different and nicer in America. It was the best experience with a perfect family.”

As you can tell, Léo had a pretty great time in LA. This is not to say that LA is perfect, we all know it’s not. But he really appreciated the time he got to spend with my family and I. In the two months we were able to visit a lot of the places he wanted to see such as; Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice, Santa Monica, Downtown LA and most of the touristy things in those places. He was in awe. My favorite part was when Léo saw a yellow school bus. He was just like “woowww oh my gosh it’s a school bus!” Everything that he was really astonished by were things that he had previously only seen in the movies. Also, as you saw above, he took pictures with cops on Hollywood Blvd because “American cops are so stylish”. It was pretty funny. The question we were asked most over there was, “Are you guys dating?” To answer that, No we are not dating and never were… But we did spend a lot of time together and got a lot closer as more like brother and sister.

It was a great learning experience for me as well. I learned that I’ve seen the touristy things in LA too much already and that I personally don’t love it though I was happy to show Léo what he wanted to see. I learned what it’s like having a brother, which is a lot harder than I thought but also a ton of fun. And I learned a lot about how grateful I am to have gotten to grow up in Torrance. Seeing Léo experience everything I experienced everyday growing up and being so grateful and happy to experience them, I realized I’m really lucky.