22 “Culture Shocks” This Brit Experienced After Moving To The USA
Interview With Author
Meet Brenden Guy, a British man living in Pennsylvania who’s been gaining popularity on social media for his fun and light-hearted culture shock videos. On his TikTok channel @brendenandellie, where he’s followed by 121.9k followers and counting, Brenden shares videos of himself in various American scenarios that surprised him the most.
From free refills to tipping, and being asked how he’d like to get his eggs done while ordering at a restaurant, these are some of the things that felt very different compared with how things go back home in England. So let’s see Brenden’s funny culture shocks right below, and if there are any British expats living in America reading this post right now, be sure to share your own experience in the comment section below!
After you’re done, I highly recommend checking out our previous post with more entertaining cultural shocks from another viral TikTok creator Kacie Burns, who has created a similar series about things she found unusual when moving to live in Italy from the US.
This post may include affiliate links.
Oh gods, please don't! If I walk into a store and immediately some staff member comes up to me being all pushy, in my face, wanting to make a sale, I would be out of there in about 2 seconds and would never ever return. I'm not a degenerate, I can read signs avout a sale, I know what I need better than you do, leave me the f**k alone unless I ask you something Nasty, nasty habit. I'm so glad that's a US only thing and normal people in the rest of the world don't do this
This is one of the things that I hated about the US and Canada. I once stayed at a hotel that didn't want to tell me how much the total for the room was after tax, even though I explained to them that my debit card has a safety limit and therefore I needed to know how much it cost in total, to make sure that it's below the limit. Surprise surprise, the card was rejected because there was 26% more tax and they thought that I as a foreigner should know how much the tax was and calculate it in my head...
Bored Panda reached out to Brenden Guy, a British TikToker living in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA with his wife and daughter. Brenden’s fun and light-hearted videos of culture shocks he found after moving here from England have been going viral and he has now amassed a solid audience of 122k followers on his channel, @brendenandellie.
“I got into TikTok at the start of the pandemic initially to learn more about how the platform works and how it might relate to my career as a marketing and public relations consultant,” he recounted. “The more I made content, the more I realized how much fun it was and it soon became what my wife refers to as my pandemic passion project.”
Brenden believes that “It's a wonderful creative outlet and I'm having fun creating all sorts of content, from life as a dad and husband to these culture shock videos.”
Honestly, Americans need to know how little Brits care about this. Any reference to throwing tea into water, even those who understand the joke, really, really don't care.
When asked about the biggest culture shock as a Brit living in the US, Brenden said it’s probably the entire restaurant dining-out experience. “You would not think it, but there are actually a lot of differences here including rather large portions, free refills, tipping requirements, leaving cash payment on the table and simply leaving. It goes on!”
“Thankfully, I've dined out enough over the last 13 years to get used to them, but not a day goes by that I don't think about how different the experience is,” he said and added that “Overall, the American dining-out experience is superior.”
After seeing The Gruffalo movie, my kid thought I was saying the wrong words when I read him the book. The movie’s narrator has a British accent and I’m American. My kid was young enough that he thought I was just saying different words, since he didn’t yet know what an accent is.
This is the real question! It actually varies from place to place, you won't get any friendly hellos in New York City but you will get some in smaller towns. Contrary to this joke, this also happens in the UK! A lot of people tend to say hello in small towns or villages and I've even received a few from people walking their dogs 😁
Load More Replies...
When I moved from Florida to Chicago, my city friends were horrified that I spoke to everyone we met, unless in a crowd, of course. In the southern US, it's considered rude to not at least nod at people you pass, unless they are studiously avoiding eye contact. Even further south, a lot of the island cultures will speak to everyone in a doctor's office, or any waiting room, and consider it an insult if you don't say good morning to EVERYONE in the office.
Because we are friendly. I've had people in GB say the same to me. So what is your beef?
It depends where you are. I'm going to echo John Ericsson though. No one is actually asking how you are. It's essentially an unnecessarily long version of "Hi". Honest answers are not appreciated for the most part. The correct response is "fine, how are you?"
Same as anyone in England vs London - London people are arrogant shits
If you make eye contact with someone, we're going to say "hi" or at least nod at them. Otherwise it just feels like you're being weird
It really depends on which part of the UK you are from. I’m Northern Irish myself & (where I live at least) it isn’t unusual for complete strangers to show their friendly side & either say a short-but-sweet hello or start up a little chat. It could be whilst walking the dog, going grocery shopping or taking kids to the park. That doesn’t mean that every encounter is going to be pleasant, though. Just to prove my point: I was staying in hospital once & briefly went outside for a bit of air & got approached by someone who I assumed just wanted a friendly chat (he seemed very friendly at first). What I didn’t know was he’d had too much to drink. When he asked me what was wrong with me & I told him how my foot was seriously hurt, then he suddenly turned nasty, called me a liar & suddenly grabbed my heavily bandaged foot. Some people ran outside when they heard my screams of agony & the guy just legged it & managed to jump in a taxi. Just goes to show, I guess. Looks can be deceiving! 🤷♀️
That's me literally every time someone says something to me. Like, can I be anxious and depressed in a quiet environment? Lol
Brenden said the reception to these culture shock videos has been amazing. “I've been particularly touched to read the comments thanking me for making a positive video highlighting the differences between America and other countries instead of pointing out all the flaws and poking fun. This has always been my intention from the start because I truly love it here and wanted to focus on the fun and lighthearted differences rather than the more controversial and antagonistic ones.”
You can get large jugs of tap water free in most places - just ask.
In our village we have a competition to make the best effigy of a 'guy'
When asked about things he really likes in the US, the TikToker said he loves Thanksgiving. “Naturally, it's a holiday unique to this country and it's a lovely opportunity to get together with friends and family and eat delicious food,” Brenden said.
Apart from that, he likes that Americans have much more space, from bigger cars to wider streets and more spacious homes. “Back home, it can feel a little cramped at times; everything feels so much smaller in comparison,” he added.
In Germany, a big menu is a sure sign that they are going to serve you frozen pre-made food if you take anything other than fast food classics. That doesn't count for restaurants with Indian or Chinese food, though. If they have such a big menu they are probably just swapping the sauce for each dish.
Having said that, there are a lot of British things Brenden misses, “most of all my family. But from my daily life, I miss Cadbury's chocolate the most. It's completely different to the Cadbury's that you can buy in the US which, I believe, is actually made by Hershey's.” Plus, few things compare to British pubs! “I miss having a pint at a British pub, which has a completely different vibe and ambience to American bars,” Brenden told us.
Lol reverse this and substitute cricket for Americans , so I hear ^-^
His facial expressions throughout the whole thing are like a cherry on top of the funny circumstances.
This is why most Americans really love Brits. They're cool and they're funny (and thank you for Monty Python by the way!)
So many people getting so upset about "laughing at America" content. I think these articles are funny. Even within the USA there are so many regional differences that stand out as absurd to other Americans. There's no reason to get all butthurt by silly jabs at the US. I'm a firm believer that if you can't laugh at yourself you probably have a massive stick up your a$$.
I had SO many issues in the beginning. I remember asking for serviettes and the woman had no idea what I was talking about. We eventually got there. I also wanted a dressing gown and went shopping with a new American friend. I told her what I wanted. She took me to the evening gown section. "No, a dressing gown, you know, like you put on in the morning when you get up?" "You mean a housecoat?" she asks. "What's a housecoat?" I ask. We went back and forth. In the end, I told her to take me to the nightwear section. I found a dressing gown. "Oh, a ROBE. You wanted a ROBE." A robe? Like what a monarch wears? So, so confusing.
I'm gonna have to say, I get tired of the "US doesn't use same words as UK" stuff. We know. And? Nobody's better or worse. Just different. And slang varies by region within the UK, and the US, so.... is what it is. The bathroom stall door, thing, however, is utterly weird, no question.
Almost every breakfast I had while I was in England had beans. Not usually very warm. What I hated the most was the bacon. I felt I was going to get some disease eating almost raw pork. The cold toast was kinda disappointing. Eggs were always sunny-side up. I stayed at many unique 'B&Bs". I did indulge in Wheatabix...soggy mess and coffee was always instant. Brittany is not really known for haute cuisine. I came back home 30 lbs lighter from not really eating and walking every where in my 5 week journey. But I LOVED everywhere I went and everything I ate, even if it sounded gross. Clotted cream was the best!!
Now see, I despise the posts that hate on America. I can hate on us. You can't. See? But this one? This was funny! YAY! (I do indeed have a sense of humor!)
He's English. British covers 3 countries and not even Northern English people are like southerners like him.
Potion sizes in the US are so big because leftovers are a part of our culture-- especially dine-in. Hosts send their guests home with food, so there has to be too much food to eat in one sitting. Most places that have lunch servings sizes are only enough to eat while you're there because you aren't expected to carry your food with you when you're not going home.
No, portion sizes are large because of agricultural subsidies that make bad food too cheap, and bad food is market to the point where 3 in 5 Americans are either overweight or obese.
Load More Replies...
You must be new here. They're normally a lot worse and get pretty tiresome after a while. This one was at least funny and pretty light hearted. I liked it, actually. Lol.
Load More Replies... 
Seems we had totally different experiences on this one. I was actually happy to see some of the weird stuff from Britain being put alongside the odd things about America. I had some delightful NEs with the language differences too.
Load More Replies...
His facial expressions throughout the whole thing are like a cherry on top of the funny circumstances.
This is why most Americans really love Brits. They're cool and they're funny (and thank you for Monty Python by the way!)
So many people getting so upset about "laughing at America" content. I think these articles are funny. Even within the USA there are so many regional differences that stand out as absurd to other Americans. There's no reason to get all butthurt by silly jabs at the US. I'm a firm believer that if you can't laugh at yourself you probably have a massive stick up your a$$.
I had SO many issues in the beginning. I remember asking for serviettes and the woman had no idea what I was talking about. We eventually got there. I also wanted a dressing gown and went shopping with a new American friend. I told her what I wanted. She took me to the evening gown section. "No, a dressing gown, you know, like you put on in the morning when you get up?" "You mean a housecoat?" she asks. "What's a housecoat?" I ask. We went back and forth. In the end, I told her to take me to the nightwear section. I found a dressing gown. "Oh, a ROBE. You wanted a ROBE." A robe? Like what a monarch wears? So, so confusing.
I'm gonna have to say, I get tired of the "US doesn't use same words as UK" stuff. We know. And? Nobody's better or worse. Just different. And slang varies by region within the UK, and the US, so.... is what it is. The bathroom stall door, thing, however, is utterly weird, no question.
Almost every breakfast I had while I was in England had beans. Not usually very warm. What I hated the most was the bacon. I felt I was going to get some disease eating almost raw pork. The cold toast was kinda disappointing. Eggs were always sunny-side up. I stayed at many unique 'B&Bs". I did indulge in Wheatabix...soggy mess and coffee was always instant. Brittany is not really known for haute cuisine. I came back home 30 lbs lighter from not really eating and walking every where in my 5 week journey. But I LOVED everywhere I went and everything I ate, even if it sounded gross. Clotted cream was the best!!
Now see, I despise the posts that hate on America. I can hate on us. You can't. See? But this one? This was funny! YAY! (I do indeed have a sense of humor!)
He's English. British covers 3 countries and not even Northern English people are like southerners like him.
Potion sizes in the US are so big because leftovers are a part of our culture-- especially dine-in. Hosts send their guests home with food, so there has to be too much food to eat in one sitting. Most places that have lunch servings sizes are only enough to eat while you're there because you aren't expected to carry your food with you when you're not going home.
No, portion sizes are large because of agricultural subsidies that make bad food too cheap, and bad food is market to the point where 3 in 5 Americans are either overweight or obese.
Load More Replies... You must be new here. They're normally a lot worse and get pretty tiresome after a while. This one was at least funny and pretty light hearted. I liked it, actually. Lol.
Load More Replies... Seems we had totally different experiences on this one. I was actually happy to see some of the weird stuff from Britain being put alongside the odd things about America. I had some delightful NEs with the language differences too.
Load More Replies...