Rebecca Brazzolotto expects to miss several things about the United States when she returns home to France next week.

Dr Pepper.

Macaroni and cheese.

Jack’s biscuits.

The 21-year-old law student said she’s come to love American food since arriving in Pell City in December for an internship with her aunt, local attorney Sarah Brazzolotto.  But that isn’t what she expects to miss most of all.

“I love American people, and I will miss America.  It is an amazing country.  Alabama people are very friendly.  Everybody welcomed me.  Thank you for being so nice to French people.  Maybe I could live here one day.”

This has been Rebecca’s first visit to the United States, and she was happy to talk about her family, identify differences between the U.S. and France, and discuss her favorite American foods.

Home:  She was born in Saint Martin d’Heres and resides in the small town of Vif, near the larger city of Grenoble in southeastern France, near the Alps.  “Everybody tells me Grenoble is bigger than Birmingham.  In the summer it’s very hot, and in the winter it’s cold, and we have a lot of snow.”

College:  Rebecca is a second-year student at Universite Pierre Mendes France.  She is studying for a legal career, hoping to specialize in criminal and family law. “Before, I wanted to be a doctor.  Next, I wanted to be one of the people who make glasses – I don’t know how to say it in English.  Then when I studied science in high school, I decided that was not for me.”  The youngest of three children, Pierre is also a law student, and her sister Deborah is a chemist.

Seeing the sights:  She visited New York last month (“It was amazing, a gorgeous city”) and traveled to Mobile and New Orleans last week.  “I think, yes, I will enjoy it very much,” she said shortly before departing for the coast.

Cultural differences:  “There is not as much public transportation here as there is in France.  Here for dinner, we eat earlier than in France.  When I go out with my cousins and friends here, we eat at 6 p.m.  We eat at 8 in France.  I was also surprised by free refills for drinks.  There are many fast food restaurants here.  In France, we have just McDonald’s and Burger King, and just in Paris.”  Rebecca also learned that while certain words may be pronounced the same in English and French, their meanings could be quite different.

An example:  “It’s funny, but in France, not many people wear sports caps.  Our word for that is ‘casquette.’  So when I speak about casquettes here, people thought I meant ‘casket,’ which I did not know until I asked my family here is the box for dead people.”

How she describes herself:  “I am very shy.  My family told me it is very quiet at home since I am gone.  When I am at home, I speak, I speak, I speak.  I think I’m friendly.  I love to meet people.”

For leisure:  “I like watching TV.  We have the same shows, and I watch a lot of American series.  Glee, Revenge, Once Upon a Time.  We have the shows in France one year after, so what I see on TV here now, we will see in France next year.  So I’m lucky.”

American food:  “It’s good.  I love it.  I love macaroni and cheese, and I ate a lot of cheeseburgers.  I try cheeseburgers in all the restaurants.  (Last week) for the first time, I had a hamburger and milk shake together.  It was very good.  In France, we see a lot of American movies, and what I see in the movies I want to eat.”

Some of her new favorites:  “I love biscuits in Jack’s.  We have no American biscuits in France.  A biscuit is a cookie there.  And I like Dr Pepper.  I drink a lot of it.”

Is there Dr Pepper in France?  “No.  That’s too bad.”

A Southern delicacy she’ll take a pass on:  “I tried turnip greens.  I do not like them.”

Looking back over the past few weeks:  “I have tried to live like an American girl and forget about France for two months.  I don’t miss France, but I miss my family a lot.”

Parting words as she leaves Pell City:  “Roll Tide.”