Patricia, a fourteen-year-old-girl from Birmingham, England, is spending a term with her aunt and uncle in Los Angeles. She is finding life for teenagers very diffrent there from what she is used to. She simply has to tell her friend Susan back home in England all about her first date.

Los Angeles
Dear Susan,

The heat is sweltering but I�m having a great time. Beth, my cousin, took me to meet some of her friends including a gorgeous hunk called Don, who is a couple of years older than us. Guess if I nearly had a heart attack when Don asked me for a date. ?Wonna go to the Mall with me on Satur day?? was what he really said. The Mall is like a big indoor shopping centre with lots of hamburger places and a movie theatre. Did I want to go? I couldn�t wait. On Saturday Aunt Betty drove me to the Mall at seven o�clock. You can�t walk anywhere here and nobody ever goes by bus. So your parents have to run you everywhere. Anyway, there was Don waiting. Do you know what he said when my aunt dropped me off? ?Good evening, Mrs Williamson. Don�t worry, I�ll take good care of Patty.? Can you belive it? I felt as if I was a little kid and he was about fifty. This should have warned me that going out with boys is not quite the same here as at home. All the men from the age of about ten upwards treat women as if they are fragile creatures that can�t be let out on their own. Just listen to this! Don decided what we were going to do and he paid for it. When I tried to pay for my own hamburger he got really embarrassed and looked round to see if if anybody he knew was watching. It was a great insult to his manly pride. I really thought I�d blowed it, as the say here. However, he recovered and suggested we went to the movies. Once we got settled in the dark he actually asked me if he could hold my hand. Unbelievable! Just as I was wondering if we were ever going to get a bit more romantic, the movie was over and we were standing at the entrance to the Mall waiting for Don�s dad to come and drive us home. But I haven�t given up hope. He did manage to give my hand a squeeze in the car and asked me to be his date for the Valentine Ball at school. That should give us a bit more scope. Don�t get me wrong. Compared to the scruffy British male, Americans are great. I could get used to being looked after.
Bye for now your ever optimistic friend Patricia