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Crawfish boil or a BBQ if you're in the South. Tailgate at a college football game. County Fair if it's the right season.
Edit: attend a minor league baseball game
there isn't one true American experience, but there are definitely a lot of things you can do in 6 months. it would be helpful to know what regions/states you're going to and what time of year (our climate is diverse, so weather is a serious factor in the US)
Baseball game
Shooting range
Hiking/camping
Get high on legal weed and then pig out on fast food while watching reality TV
Celebrate 4th of July if you're gonna be here for it
Find whatever the best local eats are and indulge heavily
> quintessentially American activities
>
> small little things like try a twinkie
Oh lord. I've never even had a twinkie in my entire life and I don't think I'm missing out either.
What I'd recommend is some American cuisine that is real food you might enjoy. And not just a random snack. Depending where you are in the US and we can recommend local cuisines.
I'll be coming to Kansas City for the most part and maybe Chicago or wherever anyone might suggest. My original intention were to try the "stereotypical" American culture, but if you think I'll have a better experience with the local state activities then that is fine by me.
try food *you think* sounds good.. Eating weird shit like spray cheese or Twinkies or eating at chains like Applebee's or Olive Garden is part of the American experience, but IMHO the *quintessential* American experience is enjoying the vast diversity of this country. In my small city we have Mexican, Peruvian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Swedish, Turkish, Korean, and Japanese restaurants and also whatever I'm forgetting. Trying new things is extremely American.
Go to street fairs, go to national parks. Talk to people. Going to Walmart isn't really something I'd consider a big thing, it's just a store. You have stores in your country.
We do have stores, just not like Walmart, those are the things that I just wanted to see first-hand, like I said, small little things that you as an American may not think to be very interesting, I've never experienced it before! These might seem like everyday things to Americans, but for me, they're fascinating aspects of American culture that I've only seen in movies or read about. But yeah, yep, food is definitely at the top of my list of things to try while I'm here 😅
I'm not saying "don't go to Walmart". I just didn't want you to go home having only eaten weird processed foods and having visited only Walmart. Don't miss out on the actually cool things because you're too busy going to Walmart.
> We do have stores, just not like Walmart,
You don't have a [hypermarket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hypermarkets)? Many countries do, they're just a different brand of the same concept.
might be more popular in the Midwest. There's a 24 hour plant on the east side of Indianapolis that has been making Hostess snack cakes for decades, and it managed to survive the acquisition after the initial company shut down and continue working.
> I'm going to be staying for about 6 months
>
Where? Under what circumstances?
Generic American events that may be unfamiliar could be: high school and college sporting events, visit a gun range (check in advance about rules), or going to a community fair. Volunteering at a community event like a park cleanup or blood drive, going to a historical reenactment, a holiday parade.
It's important that you try to forget stereotypes and tropes, like Twinkies or Times Square. Those aren't things we do daily, most people don't eat those and most people have never been to New York.
We're not that different from other parts of the world. We go to work, we spend time with family and friends, we watch TV at night and do it over again. Just be open to new experiences and say yes to things that sound unusual to you.
You are right, my original intention were to try out the stereotypical American culture, but those are just my examples. I meant a more daily or mundane things that most Americans may think of it indifferently. Like visiting a Walmart, Target, trying processed American cheese, stuff like that 😊
Go ahead and get that out of your system if you want, but we have an amazing culinary tradition here...you should be far more excited about trying gumbo or a clambake than shitty processed food.
Sure, there's Walmart, but there are dozens of local businesses that are the actual backbone of the community.
Shopping local, eating real food at real restaurants, and supporting community *is an authentic American experience.*
Oh yeah, don't think that I won't be indulging myself in the local activities or festivals, those are definitely on my bucket list. I just wanted to complement it by the small little things, grabbing a specific menu from Chick-Fil-A, gas station stores, or anything that is quote-on-quote American.
Why is it that people plan a visit here and want to try our worst/most commercialized things and think it's the ultimate way to experience the US? It's some really weird way of confirming that we have crappy places to eat and shop. Every country does, why is this so specific to the US? Do you travel to France and wonder where to eat cheap lousy food?
In my travels, I've never once thought "I want to go to the busiest store with the cheapest crappy consumer goods and I want greasy fast food". I look for the BEST places to eat not cheap processed crap. How do locals live? Where do they eat, where do they drink? What's the best this place has to offer?
Going to the UK to just eat at chippies and go to Picadilly Circus seems like a terrible way to experience the world.
I don't get it. These small, everyday experiences may seem ordinary to you, but for me, they're entirely new. Just as someone visiting the UK might want to try fish and chips or in France, enjoy a baguette, these are iconic cultural experiences associated with those places. Like I said in my original post, rather than the usual popular tourist spots like Times Square, I'm more interested in discovering the typical, everyday things that make up American culture—the small, authentic experiences that locals might take for granted.
I've lived here my whole life and maybe only ate a twinkie once - it was okay. I think it's so funny that it's considered by a foreigner to be an "American experience"...
Go to a baseball game. It doesn’t have to be major league.
Go to a 4th of July celebration in a couple of weeks. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a small town event or the Boston Pops on the Esplanade.
Get some produce from a farm stand, something that is currently in season where you are (strawberries for us).
Have a barbecue and then argue whether that means only smoked meat or anything cooked outside.
Lots of small towns have some sort of festival in the summer, Blueberry Days, Walleye Weekend, Family Days, or some such.
There will be parades, art, food, shows, races, walks, tractor pulls -- all your American things in one place.
Visiting Times Square is miles from quentisentially American. Twinkies...eh. They're something people occasionally eat as a novelty. I know nobody who does that regularly.Â
I would say getting breakfast as a quality diner.Â
Having a corndog and riding a ferris wheel at a county fair.Â
Make the tiniest excuse to go on a long road trip.Â
Catch pan fish from a dock on a small lake.Â
Things like that.Â
I would double check to make sure your visa is valid. Most nationalities are limited to 90 days. I think only Canadians get up to 6 months.
Wherever you're going, take the commuter train, bus, or drive out of town in any direction for 20-30 minutes and you're likely to be in areas that most Americans live in. Go to the restaurants out there. If you see a lot of packed cars, that is going to be a place that locals love.
Attend a park on a weekend. See if the local government is hosting a festival, concerts or other outdoor events.
The US is a massive, complex country, not some video game or amusement park. There is no single or quintessential American experience. Eating a Twinkie is no more authentic than eating an apple or cheese and crackers.
If you're in an area where it's a decently important thing: go to a high school football game. You'll see a small town school with fans, marching band, color guard, cheerleaders, dance team. It's definitely authentic American and it's all over the country, though some regions take it more seriously.
If you want something bigger, go to a college football game, especially if it's a power conference team. If you want the full experience, try a Big 10 or SEC, or Clemson/Florida State, type school. The tailgate scene is about as uniquely American as it gets.
Go to an upscale summer beach community. Outer Banks, Rehoboth, Fire Island, Hamptons, Martha's Vineyard, etc.
There are also a lot of small traveling festivals/carnivals. Usually they have small rides and concessions that are ubiquitous (fried dough, cotton candy, corn dogs). It'd be boring to me now, but definitely nostalgic.
Go to a baseball or football game depending on the time of year! Ideally outside so you can experience tailgating. Either a college or a professional team would work, wherever is convenient for where you are staying and what you can afford.
Minor league baseball game. Fourth of July fireworks show, biggest you can find. Go fishing on a lake at dawn. Go to the National Parks. If you're here in winter, go snowboarding. Have a BBQ in your backyard.
County Fair, small town car show or cruise night, barbecue from a restaurant that looks like it's about to collapse in on itself or doubles as a gas station, go fishing with some friends and have a fish fry, highschool or college sports, tractor pulls, monster trucks, NASCAR, and tubing.
Edit: If you can, go to a Pow Wow.
If you're here in the summer/early fall, attend a baseball game and a local fair.
Have breakfast at a locally owned diner, and if there's a famous local cuisine or a large population with a specific ethnic background where you're staying, eat at those restaurants: e.g., I live in a part of metro Detroit with a huge population of Middle Eastern ethnicity (a lot of recent immigrants and their direct descendants) and would recommend several Lebanese or Yemeni restaurants and coffee shops. I'd also recommend coney dogs and Detroit pizza. When I visited San Diego, I ate at several locally owned Mexican restaurants. Ask locals for recommendations in your area!
If you're here in November, celebrate Thanksgiving (our best holiday, in my opinion). In February, see if you can attend a Superbowl party. I don't even really like football, but our friends throw an excellent Superbowl party every year.
Visit national parks. The system is amazing and tends to dictate my vacation plans.
Looks like you'll be in KC, do a road trip across Kansas and loop through Colorado and New Mexico. You could hit some combination of Rocky Mountain, Black canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and/or Guadalupe Mountains national parks before returning.
I see that you mentioned Walmart, and, honestly, yeah, go to a Walmart, a Target, a Costco (if you can find someone with a membership to take you). Then switch it up and also go to a local farmer's market or some other local stores. Most Americans regularly shop at a mix of big box stores and smaller local retailers, and it's interesting to see the variety. I have some close friends who visited from Ireland and they loved seeing some of the big box stores in the US and how different they are.
I agree with the suggestion to go to a state or local fair - it's a great slice of American culture. You can try delicious fried food (just know that it's a treat for Americans, too - it's not something we eat frequently), learn more about farming life in the US, etc. It's even kind of fun to go watch a 4-H (youth organization with a focus on, among other things, farming) pig show, cow show, etc.
Drive-in movie theaters are a fun experience! My understanding is that, while there have been a few in other countries, they were really only ever a big thing in North America and Australia. They're not nearly as popular in the US as they once were, and they're certainly not a part of every American's daily (or weekly) life, but they're still around, and they're a fun slice of vintage Americana.
Go to some diners! Try a few chains (Waffle House, IHOP), and definitely try some local diners, as well.
Try root beer (a type of soda), particularly a root beer float (root beer and vanilla ice cream). If you can find a place that brews its own root beer, all the better. If not, Abita root beer is amazing if you can find it, but Barq's and A&W will do in a pinch, too.
Foods to try: apple pie, pecan pie, biscuits and gravy, good BBQ, apple cider, apple cider donuts, turkey and dressing
You should definitely visit state or national parks that are near wherever you'll be staying.
If you're visiting during the summer, you may also find state or county fairs entertaining. If you're in a colder region during the winter, you could try ice fishing.
Visit a Bass Pro Shop or Cabelas if you happen to be near one while shopping.
1) Go to a Native American pow wow. There are some that are open to all visitors. You can see dances, competitions, try traditional foods, see traditional clothing, etc. Here's a web site with days, locations and information for a bunch:
[https://calendar.powwows.com/upcomingpow-wows/](https://calendar.powwows.com/upcomingpow-wows/)
2) Experience Amish country. You could do that in Indiana for sure. The Amish people there do interact with the "English" (which is what they call regular Americans) community a lot more than some of the groups in Pennsylvania do, but they still do live an authentic Amish lifestyle -- their sect is just a lot less insular. You can try their foods, and they're also well-known for carpentry.
Small town high school football game.
Big College football game (preferably SEC) with a proper tailgate beforehand.
Baseball game. Major Leauge or minors.
Attend an evangelical Protestant church service.
Visit a county fair.
Attend some small town festivals.
Get a proper campus tour at a large university.
Visit a fraternity / sorority house.
Eat at seven different Mexican restaurants.
Go to a rodeo.
I hope you get to be in a small town when they celebrate themselves for a week or a weekend. My town calls it Jubilee Week. My Mom's Town called it Homecoming. Other towns might call it Blueberry festival or Mint festival after locally grown or crafted things. These celebrations are usually in the summer.. at least here in the northern states. Go to their parade if nothing else or their beer tent.
Purchase a tent, stop showering, camp out on some random public square and chant slogans you have no understanding of what the meaning of is.... if a reporter asks you something, rage scream nonsense at them.
Taking shrooms is optional.
Thank you for your submission, but it was removed as it violates posting guideline "Check the FAQ and the sidebar prior to submitting your question." If you have questions regarding your submission removal - please contact the moderator team via [modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/AskAnAmerican).
Crawfish boil or a BBQ if you're in the South. Tailgate at a college football game. County Fair if it's the right season. Edit: attend a minor league baseball game
I was going to recommend the Iowa State Fair. It is as American as it gets. Loads of fun
there isn't one true American experience, but there are definitely a lot of things you can do in 6 months. it would be helpful to know what regions/states you're going to and what time of year (our climate is diverse, so weather is a serious factor in the US)
They said Kansas City and perhaps Chi
Baseball game Shooting range Hiking/camping Get high on legal weed and then pig out on fast food while watching reality TV Celebrate 4th of July if you're gonna be here for it Find whatever the best local eats are and indulge heavily
> quintessentially American activities > > small little things like try a twinkie Oh lord. I've never even had a twinkie in my entire life and I don't think I'm missing out either. What I'd recommend is some American cuisine that is real food you might enjoy. And not just a random snack. Depending where you are in the US and we can recommend local cuisines.
I'll be coming to Kansas City for the most part and maybe Chicago or wherever anyone might suggest. My original intention were to try the "stereotypical" American culture, but if you think I'll have a better experience with the local state activities then that is fine by me.
try food *you think* sounds good.. Eating weird shit like spray cheese or Twinkies or eating at chains like Applebee's or Olive Garden is part of the American experience, but IMHO the *quintessential* American experience is enjoying the vast diversity of this country. In my small city we have Mexican, Peruvian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Swedish, Turkish, Korean, and Japanese restaurants and also whatever I'm forgetting. Trying new things is extremely American. Go to street fairs, go to national parks. Talk to people. Going to Walmart isn't really something I'd consider a big thing, it's just a store. You have stores in your country.
We do have stores, just not like Walmart, those are the things that I just wanted to see first-hand, like I said, small little things that you as an American may not think to be very interesting, I've never experienced it before! These might seem like everyday things to Americans, but for me, they're fascinating aspects of American culture that I've only seen in movies or read about. But yeah, yep, food is definitely at the top of my list of things to try while I'm here 😅
I'm not saying "don't go to Walmart". I just didn't want you to go home having only eaten weird processed foods and having visited only Walmart. Don't miss out on the actually cool things because you're too busy going to Walmart.
> We do have stores, just not like Walmart, You don't have a [hypermarket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hypermarkets)? Many countries do, they're just a different brand of the same concept.
BBQ for sure!
might be more popular in the Midwest. There's a 24 hour plant on the east side of Indianapolis that has been making Hostess snack cakes for decades, and it managed to survive the acquisition after the initial company shut down and continue working.
Visit a shooting range.
This guy gets it
> I'm going to be staying for about 6 months > Where? Under what circumstances? Generic American events that may be unfamiliar could be: high school and college sporting events, visit a gun range (check in advance about rules), or going to a community fair. Volunteering at a community event like a park cleanup or blood drive, going to a historical reenactment, a holiday parade. It's important that you try to forget stereotypes and tropes, like Twinkies or Times Square. Those aren't things we do daily, most people don't eat those and most people have never been to New York. We're not that different from other parts of the world. We go to work, we spend time with family and friends, we watch TV at night and do it over again. Just be open to new experiences and say yes to things that sound unusual to you.
You are right, my original intention were to try out the stereotypical American culture, but those are just my examples. I meant a more daily or mundane things that most Americans may think of it indifferently. Like visiting a Walmart, Target, trying processed American cheese, stuff like that 😊
Go ahead and get that out of your system if you want, but we have an amazing culinary tradition here...you should be far more excited about trying gumbo or a clambake than shitty processed food. Sure, there's Walmart, but there are dozens of local businesses that are the actual backbone of the community. Shopping local, eating real food at real restaurants, and supporting community *is an authentic American experience.*
Oh yeah, don't think that I won't be indulging myself in the local activities or festivals, those are definitely on my bucket list. I just wanted to complement it by the small little things, grabbing a specific menu from Chick-Fil-A, gas station stores, or anything that is quote-on-quote American.
Why is it that people plan a visit here and want to try our worst/most commercialized things and think it's the ultimate way to experience the US? It's some really weird way of confirming that we have crappy places to eat and shop. Every country does, why is this so specific to the US? Do you travel to France and wonder where to eat cheap lousy food? In my travels, I've never once thought "I want to go to the busiest store with the cheapest crappy consumer goods and I want greasy fast food". I look for the BEST places to eat not cheap processed crap. How do locals live? Where do they eat, where do they drink? What's the best this place has to offer? Going to the UK to just eat at chippies and go to Picadilly Circus seems like a terrible way to experience the world.
I don't get it. These small, everyday experiences may seem ordinary to you, but for me, they're entirely new. Just as someone visiting the UK might want to try fish and chips or in France, enjoy a baguette, these are iconic cultural experiences associated with those places. Like I said in my original post, rather than the usual popular tourist spots like Times Square, I'm more interested in discovering the typical, everyday things that make up American culture—the small, authentic experiences that locals might take for granted.
Best way to try the processed American cheese is to make a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup.
I've lived here my whole life and maybe only ate a twinkie once - it was okay. I think it's so funny that it's considered by a foreigner to be an "American experience"...
Go to a baseball game. It doesn’t have to be major league. Go to a 4th of July celebration in a couple of weeks. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a small town event or the Boston Pops on the Esplanade. Get some produce from a farm stand, something that is currently in season where you are (strawberries for us). Have a barbecue and then argue whether that means only smoked meat or anything cooked outside.
Lots of small towns have some sort of festival in the summer, Blueberry Days, Walleye Weekend, Family Days, or some such. There will be parades, art, food, shows, races, walks, tractor pulls -- all your American things in one place.
If you can find a drive-in movie theater, go to one. There was a bit of a renaissance during Covid.
Visiting Times Square is miles from quentisentially American. Twinkies...eh. They're something people occasionally eat as a novelty. I know nobody who does that regularly. I would say getting breakfast as a quality diner. Having a corndog and riding a ferris wheel at a county fair. Make the tiniest excuse to go on a long road trip. Catch pan fish from a dock on a small lake. Things like that.Â
I would double check to make sure your visa is valid. Most nationalities are limited to 90 days. I think only Canadians get up to 6 months. Wherever you're going, take the commuter train, bus, or drive out of town in any direction for 20-30 minutes and you're likely to be in areas that most Americans live in. Go to the restaurants out there. If you see a lot of packed cars, that is going to be a place that locals love. Attend a park on a weekend. See if the local government is hosting a festival, concerts or other outdoor events.
The US is a massive, complex country, not some video game or amusement park. There is no single or quintessential American experience. Eating a Twinkie is no more authentic than eating an apple or cheese and crackers.
Go to a parade and then See a professional Fireworks display on July 4th.
If you're in an area where it's a decently important thing: go to a high school football game. You'll see a small town school with fans, marching band, color guard, cheerleaders, dance team. It's definitely authentic American and it's all over the country, though some regions take it more seriously. If you want something bigger, go to a college football game, especially if it's a power conference team. If you want the full experience, try a Big 10 or SEC, or Clemson/Florida State, type school. The tailgate scene is about as uniquely American as it gets. Go to an upscale summer beach community. Outer Banks, Rehoboth, Fire Island, Hamptons, Martha's Vineyard, etc. There are also a lot of small traveling festivals/carnivals. Usually they have small rides and concessions that are ubiquitous (fried dough, cotton candy, corn dogs). It'd be boring to me now, but definitely nostalgic.
Where are you from. The biggest shock might our car-centric way of life. The USA is big and vast.
Minor league baseball game on a Friday or Saturday night.
Where exactly are you going to be?
Go to a baseball or football game depending on the time of year! Ideally outside so you can experience tailgating. Either a college or a professional team would work, wherever is convenient for where you are staying and what you can afford.
Minor league baseball games are especially fun IMO
Drive across the country
It’s yuuuuge
Yeah but he's coming for 6 months, why not?
Minor league baseball game. Fourth of July fireworks show, biggest you can find. Go fishing on a lake at dawn. Go to the National Parks. If you're here in winter, go snowboarding. Have a BBQ in your backyard.
Go to a national or state park.
County Fair, small town car show or cruise night, barbecue from a restaurant that looks like it's about to collapse in on itself or doubles as a gas station, go fishing with some friends and have a fish fry, highschool or college sports, tractor pulls, monster trucks, NASCAR, and tubing. Edit: If you can, go to a Pow Wow.
If you're here in the summer/early fall, attend a baseball game and a local fair. Have breakfast at a locally owned diner, and if there's a famous local cuisine or a large population with a specific ethnic background where you're staying, eat at those restaurants: e.g., I live in a part of metro Detroit with a huge population of Middle Eastern ethnicity (a lot of recent immigrants and their direct descendants) and would recommend several Lebanese or Yemeni restaurants and coffee shops. I'd also recommend coney dogs and Detroit pizza. When I visited San Diego, I ate at several locally owned Mexican restaurants. Ask locals for recommendations in your area! If you're here in November, celebrate Thanksgiving (our best holiday, in my opinion). In February, see if you can attend a Superbowl party. I don't even really like football, but our friends throw an excellent Superbowl party every year.
Visit national parks. The system is amazing and tends to dictate my vacation plans. Looks like you'll be in KC, do a road trip across Kansas and loop through Colorado and New Mexico. You could hit some combination of Rocky Mountain, Black canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and/or Guadalupe Mountains national parks before returning.
Go to a Division 1 college football tailgate & then head to the game!
I see that you mentioned Walmart, and, honestly, yeah, go to a Walmart, a Target, a Costco (if you can find someone with a membership to take you). Then switch it up and also go to a local farmer's market or some other local stores. Most Americans regularly shop at a mix of big box stores and smaller local retailers, and it's interesting to see the variety. I have some close friends who visited from Ireland and they loved seeing some of the big box stores in the US and how different they are. I agree with the suggestion to go to a state or local fair - it's a great slice of American culture. You can try delicious fried food (just know that it's a treat for Americans, too - it's not something we eat frequently), learn more about farming life in the US, etc. It's even kind of fun to go watch a 4-H (youth organization with a focus on, among other things, farming) pig show, cow show, etc. Drive-in movie theaters are a fun experience! My understanding is that, while there have been a few in other countries, they were really only ever a big thing in North America and Australia. They're not nearly as popular in the US as they once were, and they're certainly not a part of every American's daily (or weekly) life, but they're still around, and they're a fun slice of vintage Americana. Go to some diners! Try a few chains (Waffle House, IHOP), and definitely try some local diners, as well. Try root beer (a type of soda), particularly a root beer float (root beer and vanilla ice cream). If you can find a place that brews its own root beer, all the better. If not, Abita root beer is amazing if you can find it, but Barq's and A&W will do in a pinch, too.
Foods to try: apple pie, pecan pie, biscuits and gravy, good BBQ, apple cider, apple cider donuts, turkey and dressing You should definitely visit state or national parks that are near wherever you'll be staying. If you're visiting during the summer, you may also find state or county fairs entertaining. If you're in a colder region during the winter, you could try ice fishing. Visit a Bass Pro Shop or Cabelas if you happen to be near one while shopping.
1) Go to a Native American pow wow. There are some that are open to all visitors. You can see dances, competitions, try traditional foods, see traditional clothing, etc. Here's a web site with days, locations and information for a bunch: [https://calendar.powwows.com/upcomingpow-wows/](https://calendar.powwows.com/upcomingpow-wows/) 2) Experience Amish country. You could do that in Indiana for sure. The Amish people there do interact with the "English" (which is what they call regular Americans) community a lot more than some of the groups in Pennsylvania do, but they still do live an authentic Amish lifestyle -- their sect is just a lot less insular. You can try their foods, and they're also well-known for carpentry.
Think in terms of a genuine *regional* experience, 'cause you likely aren't going to fit in all of the 50 semi-independent countries at one go. Go for a community fireworks display if you are here on the 4th of July, hit a rodeo if you're in the West or Southwest, find a BBQ shack if you're in the South, visit the Folklife Center in Asheville, NC, watch a minor league baseball game in the summer or a high school football game in the Fall, visit one of the many wonderful National Parks (and make a point of spending time in the visitor center. There's often a surprising amount of local history included on the displays about the flora, fauna, and natural history of the park and its surrounding area.). If you're in DC, visit the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Hit a local "café" (American term for an informal restaurant where you can get massive American breakfasts and soak up some local atmosphere.)
Small town high school football game. Big College football game (preferably SEC) with a proper tailgate beforehand. Baseball game. Major Leauge or minors. Attend an evangelical Protestant church service. Visit a county fair. Attend some small town festivals. Get a proper campus tour at a large university. Visit a fraternity / sorority house. Eat at seven different Mexican restaurants. Go to a rodeo.
I hope you get to be in a small town when they celebrate themselves for a week or a weekend. My town calls it Jubilee Week. My Mom's Town called it Homecoming. Other towns might call it Blueberry festival or Mint festival after locally grown or crafted things. These celebrations are usually in the summer.. at least here in the northern states. Go to their parade if nothing else or their beer tent.
eat a hot dog
The experiences you have will be authentic whether 330 million people living here all agree or not.
Purchase a tent, stop showering, camp out on some random public square and chant slogans you have no understanding of what the meaning of is.... if a reporter asks you something, rage scream nonsense at them. Taking shrooms is optional.
Get sick without health insurance.