Our first experience, in real life, with a visitor loving the U.S.A. was in the late 1980’s.
Our son was young, i got to know another mother with a young boy, we all grew to be friends.
Her husband was doing post-doctorate work in physics at the nearby university, he was from Switzerland, i didn’t know what to expect from him - i expected not to have much in common. [Physics. yikes. Trilingual, at least.] She was bilingual, French and English, she was a U.S. student, French major. They met in a donut shop in Paris, she was studying in Paris. Sweet memory.
Well. he made it super-easy.
He was quite tall and easy-going, French-Swiss, French accent, fluent in German and English .. quick and enthusiastic.
He LOVED the U.S.!
He was like a kid in a candy shop, everyday was Christmas.
He got on the floor and played with the boys, colored with crayons, like he just discovered childhood.
i remember him trying to relay to us how he loved the way everyone SHARES everything in the U.S.!
Like, ideas. Skills. Work. He felt freedom as not before.
i think he was active in a community pottery-making shop. he wanted to try everything!
Wrt food.
They LOVED McDonalds. Their guilty pleasure. Big Macs.
Aside from that, she/they ate very well, she made their bread, only home made mayo, etc. Everything fresh.
We enjoyed that, we also ate mostly at home, had a small garden, etc. i used to bake all our bread.
We had a lot in common. They made a few Swiss dishes for us, Fondue and Raclette ..
A lot of fun.
i did not expect a post-doctorate in physics to be so down to earth and spontaneous, actually child-like in openness.
nice memories. very nice memories.
i’m getting a kick out of watching visitors enjoy the U.S. in similar ways. Having light-hearted fun.
