Being a Tourist in the United States … My First Day
                                          
By Matthias Reichle, German Exchange Student
                                         
What is the “Land of Opportunity?”  Does the American Dream still exist?  If yes, am I allowed to dream it, too?  Is everything in the United States like I know it from the movies?  Such general questions are the kinds of questions that German tourists, like myself, might ask when they start planning for their trip to the U.S.
 
My first encounter with the country was, of course, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) at the airport.  There, you can strongly feel the tension resulting from the terrorist attacks of September 11.  Even as a first time visitor to the U.S. I could feel this tension.  A number of my immediate family members visited the U.S. before the tragedy and reported that things went smoothly at the airport.  The way the custom officers were interacting with the tourists who were surrounding me was very, should I say, rough…maybe a little too rough for me.  I was just a tourist who was visiting a great country.  But, I almost got the impression that I was not welcome in the country as a “Non-American.”  Nevertheless, I do understand their new concerns.
 
The ride from the airport to my destination gave me the first impression of how different the streets and traffic in the U.S. are compared with Germany's.  There is enough space to drive 120 mph but you aren’t allowed to go faster than 70.  After a while, I felt comfortable with the slow speed and traffic, which seemed to flow easily, like a river. Sometimes people do not have to stop, even when the traffic lights are red, because you are generally allowed to turn right when traffic is clear.  In Germany I can just remember two or three crossings where people are allowed to turn on red, but it is generally prohibited.  I like the big cars people are driving over here; in Germany, you need to have a lot of money to drive such big cars.  For example, one gallon of gas in Germany costs more than $4.10, which is more than three times more expensive than here.  In addition, car insurance and taxes are higher.  But, when I look at the road conditions, sometimes, I understand what must be one reason why people are driving these big cars: they are much more comfortable for the rough roads.  As a matter of fact, I like the air-conditioning in this car.  In my country, most of the time, only luxury cars have air-conditioning.  Here, nearly every car has one, my driver told me.
 
It was time for lunch. There are a lot of fast food restaurants along the highway. You can even see it on highway signs – unbelievable.  I would like to try McDonald’s so that I can compare it with the ones in my country.  The food is almost the same; there are just some different names, but you can have free drink refills.  But, why are there still different cup sizes?  I think free refills would not work in Germany.  People would take advantage of this system.  I think that everyone would pay for the smallest cup but come back for refills several times.  When I look at it from this perspective, I think Americans are disciplined.  But, when I think about the number of big people that I see here, I am no longer sure that disciplined is still the right word.
 
My driver needed another break.  He stopped in front of a casino.  I told him that they would not let me in because I was only wearing jeans and a T-shirt and that I did not have time to get changed into more decent clothes.  That is the case in Germany and most European countries.  You need to be dressed as if you were attending an opera show.  In Europe, if you don’t have a suit, you can rent one at the front desk.  But you can’t compare American casinos with the European ones.  It’s not that important what you wear but rather how much money you are ready to lose.  While in European casinos most people play table games, such as roulette and black jack, American casino visitors prefer slot machines.  Some casinos here are open 24 hours a day, but in Europe they are just open for a few hours in the evenings.  And, you won’t enter a European casino without being registered at the reception desk.  The reason is to control underage gambling and to have good information about customers’ behavior.  It takes a lot of hassle to prepare to go to a casino to spend money in Europe.  Maybe this hassle makes it very difficult to patronize casinos often.  This may lessen the risk of becoming addicted to gambling.  I don’t know.
 
Still on the road, I was thinking about visiting a club.  You must be 21 to get into a club, my driver told me.  I asked him why.  The reason is that you are not allowed to drink if you are not 21 or older.  In Germany you are allowed to drink beer and wine when you are 16, and liquor when you are 18 years of age.  And so, people aged 21 and older, I think, have already learned to drink responsibly.  But here, most of the people in the club were drunk, even before midnight.  And their behavior was sometimes somehow like that of a teenager in Germany.  But that’s very funny. What’s less funny is that a lot of these people are still driving although they are drunk.  Maybe, the law concerning drinking and driving should be more enforced.
 
Today I saw a lot of things that I would like to have in Germany too, and I saw things that make America famous and things to make the people proud about.  But I also saw problems and things I don’t understand, but I think I don’t have to understand everything in one day…