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French-American Center Newsletter

What do American's do in the summer?

With summer on it's way, the warm weather and more free time from school and work give Americans good reason to get out and enjoy their communities. We have many customs that may understandably be rather foreign to the French, so allow me to explain some of these traditions.

Summer, for me, equalled family vacations in the station wagon, driving from home in Illinois sometimes 18 hours over 2 days to get to, say, Colorado, three states away! Yes, I know, the US is enormous....I'll admit i love being able to cover so much of France so quickly and easily by train! At least, though, the highways are interesting in the States, as we have billboards with interesting advertisements, and stupid tourist attractions like "America's Biggest Ball of String!" that you can stare in awe and wonder at for a few seconds off a highway exit, then continue on your journey.

When not vacationing, my childhood summers consisted of going to block parties, garage sale hunting, and setting up lemonade stands. What are these bizarre events, you may question....

A block party is a true sign that summer in America has arrived. During this, the city hall will close off a street of a certain neighborhood area (block) to passing traffic. It is organized and held by the neighbors who are all good friends so that they can all come together and celebrate in their street and front yards. Each family brings a food dish , usually potato salads, fruit salads, corn on the cob, brownies, pies, and of course there is barbeque grilling!

Want to try?

• Click here for a great brownie recipe.....
• All-American potato salad!
• One of many versions of barbeque sauce....
• "As American as Apple Pie!"

There are games organized for the children, like water balloon tossing and 3 legged races. Sometimes the city's fire department will even come with their fire truck to allow children to be able to explore the truck and talk with real firemen. The event is simply a chance for all the neighborhood to be able to enjoy the summer day together when normally busy with their separate lives.

Another symbol of summer in the States is the garage sale. No, the crazy Americans don't go selling their garages to their friends. A garage sale is held IN the garage and driveway of a family home, and the family has gathered all the clothes, toys, furniture, books, etc that they no longer want and sell it on their own to whomever stops by. It's a smaller and more personalized marché au puces! They may put a small ad in the newspaper so the rest of the town knows to come and shop for 'odds and ends'. You never know, you could find that singing plastic flowerpot you were looking for!

A very fond memory for me as a child was having lemonade stands. Children like to do this in front of their homes as a way to make a few precious dollars. We would make several liters of lemonade or Kool-Aid (a sugary fruity drink that every American child grows up with), and sell little plastic cups of the drink for maybe 10 cents. We would set this all up on a table in my front yard, and try and practice our 'business' skills to advertise our product to passing neighbors. All in all , we would end up with maybe 2 dollars total, but for a young child, this is a fortune!

Another typical summer pastime for Americans is going to baseball games. I know a lot of the French are curious about this sport, so stay tuned for the rules of the game if you want to know!

So now, if you happen to be traveling this summer in the 'good old U S of A', keep an eye out (be aware!) for some of these events....you'll know you're in the right place!

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