For Americans, there are real differences among these relations; a friendship may be superficial, casual, situational or deep and enduring.
But a foreign visitor who comes to an American home can scarcely find any variations. For an outsider, who sees only behavior visible on the surface, the differences seem arbitrary if they find any. The mood is relaxed, and there is little ceremony. Most people, old and young, are called by first names and family and friends alike interact freely and speak in a relaxed, casual way. Comparatively, friendship in other countries seems more complicated. In France, as in many other European countries, friends generally are of the same sex. Many French people doubt the possibility of cross-gender friendships.