Americans tended to notice that Europe was more fancy and more into food than the French were. Americans talked about beauty and culture of Europe. Both talked about  Europe and the EU but the French talked about these two items a lot more. Only the French talk about the power and strength of the EU.

As noted, the French used the word "Union" quite a lot. I am curios if the French do really believe that the EU is a strong Union, and do they feel that they are being dragged down by poorer countries? 

As others have noted, nearly all the French students had "union" or "euro" in their answers, while many of the common words on the American side were about culture, travel, history, beauty, etc. Perhaps the word "Europe" makes Americans think of travel and exploration, but makes Europeans think of politics and economics.

Il est en effet vrai que les français ne parlent pas de la culture et ce, je pense, est du au fait que nous la voyons tout les jours autour de nous. C'est pourquoi quand on dit Europe, nous pensons beaucoup plus à la monnaie et à l'Union Européenne, qu'à notre culture.

Comme vous avez pu le noter, les étudiants du MIT ont davantage parlé de la culture et de l'histoire du continent.

Pour répondre à la question posée par Victor demandant si les français croient que l'UE est une grande puissance. Je dirais que pour ma part, qu'elle doit encore évoluer car elle est constituée de beaucoup de cultures différentes ce qui rend la compréhension entre les pays et la collaboration difficile. Mais je pense que c'est aussi ce qui pourrait faire la force de cette union dans les années à venir.

J'aurais quant à moi une question aussi à poser: qu'est ce qui vous attire ou vous déplait dans la culture européenne?

I agree with Romain in that it makes sense that the "culture" of what we speak is more in the forefront of our minds because we are not surrounded by it. But what do we mean exactly by "culture"? When I think of European "culture", I think of history, architecture, old neighborhoods. What do you think of?

In European culture, what attracted me was the sense of connectivity with other people in the world. In America, you can travel for hours but still be within the country. It may be very different culturally, but the language at least is still the same, and people's identification is to the same homeland. In Europe, as countries are smaller, the awareness of others is more apparent. 

Good question, Frances. What do we mean by "culture"? As you noted, we talked about history, architecture, etc, which are perhaps cultural artifacts or destinations. But "culture" means to me something different and less tangible -- less easy to describe. One example I've noted that might be a "cultural difference" between the US and Europe is the way we drink coffee. Americans mainly get their coffee "to go" in a paper cup and it's very normal to walk around with your coffee or drink it while working. In Europe, in my (limited) experience, it is strange to take your coffee and walk around with it. It is more common to drink it together with others as a break from the day. To me, this is an example of "culture". What do you think?

In fact, this is one of the things that attracts me to European culture: the value placed on spending time eating and drinking with friends and family. On the other hand, when I travel in Europe, I do miss buying my iced coffee and wandering the old neighborhoods with it!

@Romain: What attracts me about European Culture is that it is very diverse, and it is very easy to sample them once I'm on the continent. With a train ticket, within hours from Paris I could be in England, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, etc.; and even more countries with a plane ticket. For me culture is whatever that defines people: history, architecture, certainly... but there's also music, foods, customs, art, literature, and language. 

It's hard to find that in the US. I can drive for a week heading west and still be in the country. True, there may be small differences in local culture, but not as varied and striking.

I think the main reason it may not seem like there are major differences in culture when travelling through the U.S. is because of the common language throughout. In actuality, I have found many cultural diffferences between people in different parts of the U.S. just by attending college with them. I definitely have different viewpoints on things because of where I grew up. The differences may not be as vast as betweent the countries in the E.U. but they are there. 

Je pense que l'europe posséde beaucoup de différence dans ces cultures grâce à son histoire très vaste, par rapport au etat-unis qui posséde pour ma part une histoire assez récente.

I agree with Karen. It may seem that the States are not as diverse as Europe, and indeed they aren't, but they are quite non-uniform. You certainly cannot compare the culture and the habits of people in Arizona and Massachusetts (for instance), not to mention the different ethnicities.

As to get back to my original question, I am pleased with the answer for the first part. The second part, and namely: do the French feel that they are being dragged down by poorer EU countries ? has remained unanswered. This is quite a big issue in more developed european countries per say. For example in a latest survey, almost %50 of the Germans want their Deutsche Mark back and are ready to give up the Euro anytime. Now this strikes me like a bad foundation for the strong power that EU wants to be. Is this being felt in France as well?

Or may the students that are not French by nationality that come from other EU countries could answer if the feel in their country is that they are being looked down upon and treated differently than the "founders" of the EU ?

Il me semble que l'Europe soit avant tous un continent. Plus qu'un continent, on peu parler de l'Union Européenne, qui a des interêts surtout économiques. L'Europe n'entre pas trop en considération dans notre manière de voir les choses. Par ailleurs, le modèle de l'UE touche de plus en plus ses limites, à cause des différences trop importantes entre les différents pays qui la compose. Différences entre les gouvernements, différences de culture, de niveau de vie, etc.
L'Europe, vu de loin, ou de l'extérieur, permet d'être mieux représenter dans le monde. Mais de l'interieur (c'est-à-dire du point de vue d'une personne quelconque), l'UE ne change pas grand chose.

Je trouve difficile ce sujet car en tant qu'étudiant, je trouve que ma vision de l'économie est limité.

Mais selon le dernier économiste que j'ai écouté, il disait que l'Europe ira mieux selon les différences de salaire au sein du contient seront réduites.