One thing tourists often don't know about the USA is that it's a really big country. When I lived in Japan, my Japanese friends were surprised when I would say a city was "only" four hours away by car. But if you drove from New York to Los Angeles, it would take 41 hours! So if you wanted to take a road trip, you would probably plan on taking about five days. Comparatively, the 4 1/2 hours from St. Louis to Chicago for a weekend trip is nothing.

Because the US is so big, the regions are all very different from each other. The climate will change a lot. Today it is 21

°

 (70

°

 F) and sunny in Orlando, where Disney World is, but it's only 2

°

 (36

°

 F) in Chicago. Las Vegas is very hot and dry most of the time, but Seattle is about as cold and rainy as Akita, Japan.

And the cities change, too. Different cities were influenced by different cultures. In the southwest and Florida, there's a lot of Mexican and Spanish influence. New Orleans, Louisiana is famous for its French Quarter. The architecture, the food, and even people's accents will change depending on where you are.

So if you come to the US, please try to visit a few different regions. But you might have to fly to get to them.