Dans le détroit du Lac Érié (In the strait of Lake Erie) - part 1

America through the eyes of a European

Somewhere in Great Lakes area a river travels south from Lake Saint Clair to Lake Erie. It is there that Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac with fifty-one French Canadians founded a settlement called Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit, back in 1701. In our days the city that got its name from the Detroit River (French: le détroit du Lac Érié, meaning the strait of Lake Erie) stretches over an area of 143.0 square miles (370 km2) and it is known to the entire world as a traditional automotive center.

Today, there is still something reminding of the old days, when the city was no more than a French fort and a missionary outpost. The second oldest American automobile manufacturer bears the name of the French officer who founded the city of Detroit - Cadillac. Well, this was the destination for my first trip to America. A trip I’ve been waiting for a long time … too long if you ask me. And it happened right when I expected it the least.

So, there I was, at the airport, still thinking it was too good to be true, holding my passport with the visa on it, trying to anticipate what I was going to find on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I must admit, I did feel a little bit like Columbus when he discovered the New World while still being aware that millions of Europeans had made the same trip over the last 500 years or so.

Funny thing - I was planning to say to my American friends (while looking at the surroundings), I love what you did with the place, just as if America was a new house and I was visiting from the old house.

I thought I was prepared for America. I had been injected with American culture for years: English classes, movies, music, Internet, documentaries, history, geography…Those things helped to a certain degree, but when I actually got there, I realized I didn’t even know how to buy a bus ticket. And it’s not like this was my first trip abroad… oh, no! It was, however, my first outside Europe.

Everything seemed so different: roads, people, cars, buildings. It was like I was in a parallel universe or something - everything makes sense but it’s different. I guess it proves once again there are multiple ways to do things in this world. I am that kind of a person that pays attention to details, so I tried to memorize every little thing I saw there. After all, it's not like I go to America every month, so I wanted to keep those memories and feelings of what it was like being there fresh for as long as possible.

To be continued...