There are many things in America that can be shocking, so I was definitely shocked.
We are always amazed by the sheer scale of America.
When I landed in Los Angeles, I was struck by the sheer size of the city. Houses stretched as far as the eye could see, winding through the mountains and spreading out across the plains. The plane left the vast desert, and a city appeared at the edge of the continent. It was surreal to watch this happen. There had been something solitary and powerful in that vast desert, but it was gradually being replaced by the surging crowds of the metropolis.
This was not the Los Angeles I had imagined. I had pictured a beautiful city surrounded by palm trees, with coastlines and the ocean. The desert with its low-roofed buildings and seemingly endless concrete structures was something I hadn't expected at all.
However, the legendary coast, especially Santa Monica, is beautiful. Reaching these beaches after crossing the desert truly feels like arriving in the promised land.
On a more mundane note, my second surprise about America came when I left LAX after landing. In the scorching heat, I jumped onto a public bus, and quickly realized that the public transport attracted a completely different demographic than what I'd seen in Europe.
There was a high proportion of unstable people on public buses. I later learned that this is normal, and that it's unusual for them to use public transport. I actually traveled around the West Coast on Greyhound buses and saw quite a few more oddballs.
America feels very familiar to us. At least, that's how we perceive America. We all have some image of America based on movies and television. When you actually land in America, it's clearly different from carefully controlled television programs. In reality, American culture is clearly similar, but there are many subtle differences that we don't anticipate.
One of the biggest differences is the lack of widespread public transportation and America's car culture. Except for some major cities on the East Coast, it's almost impossible to get anywhere without a car. This country places a strong emphasis on car travel. I even saw drive-through ATMs. One of the biggest shocks was the sheer size of urban space occupied by roads.
This is quite different from the generally narrow roads found in European cities.
America is a wonderfully diverse country that has always captivated the European imagination, and for good reason. It is vast, beautiful, and friendly. In many ways, it resembles Europe, which was created by Europe, but in other ways it is unique. American religiosity is one of the differences when compared to Europe.
Perhaps the biggest divide between the hearts of Americans and Europeans is the optimism that still persists in America.
America remains a society that believes in itself. This self-belief continues to thrive in many parts of the United States.