III.9 Writing journal (American customs you like/dislike)

18/10/2019 - 9:52 pm to 10:20 pm - Writing diary number 9.

American customs you like/dislike

       On this subject, I wanted to talk as much about customs that I liked, as these that I didn't like too much. So I'm going to talk about two customs that I like very much in the United States, and then two customs that I don't really like. 

To begin with, I think it's great that in the United States there are days of celebrations or traditions on a large scale. We all know that they are all overdoing it, but on this point I think it's positive. For example, for Halloween, everybody in the country disguises itself, collects candies on the street and gets involved in celebrating this day. While in my country in France, it is not that popular and there are just a few children knocking on the door between six and eight in the evening, whereas this celebration can be very entertaining. They have many celebrations, they do Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, and all of them on a large scale and across all the country. In addition, they commemorate many important dates in their history, such as Independence Day or Lincoln's birthday. According to me, it’s very important to do celebrations whether it’s for the memory of the country or for have fun. The second custom I like will seem cliché, but I really like American food. Even if it’s not very healthy, I find that it’s really a part of their culture and it’s quite appetizing. We associate them with hamburgers, fast food, pancakes, hot dog, brownies or cookies, and when I eat this king of food, I fin dit really tasty and I’m always thinking about USA.

However, there are some of their customs that I don't really appreciate. The first one is not very serious but as soon as you order or buy something, it is not the actual price that is indicated, but you must add the tips. When I went there, I always forgot or did important calculations to find out just how much I had to add as a tip. I would still find it easier if they added the tip in advance and we paid the final price directly. There is another point I don't like. It's the fact that they put the air conditioning very strong indoors all the time. For example, in summer, it can be very hot outside (during my trip, I had 53°C in the Death Valley in July), and inside the buildings there is a huge difference and it is almost cold. I think that the use of air conditioning as much as in the USA pollutes a lot and can make us sick.