Moving to another country can be really challenging because of language and cultural barriers. However, migrating to another place is a pretty common thing nowadays, especially when we have all the means to prepare for it: learn the language, learn more about the place, ask for recommendations or find people who can help us through our journey. The possibilities of finding out more about a certain country are endless. However, people cannot be prepared for everything, and that’s where the fun begins. Getting lost and experiencing culture shock is how people learn to adapt to a new place.
Living in another country means that you find something new every day and it is exciting to share your findings with others. Having this in mind, American TikTok user @kayywuerf started sharing videos of what differences she has experienced since she moved to Australia.
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i once asked (on BP?) why you put on a price without taxes and someone told me, so you can compare prices without the changing taxes in the differnt states.. but if a product costs 5$ with taxes and 6$ with taxes in a different state, i don't gaf that the taxes are different? it is just more expensive in state b? wth?
Kaymie Wuerfel is a 23-year-old American who has moved to Australia. She moved to Sydney from Florida in 2020 after she got married to an Australian. On her TikTok, she shares funny and short videos where most of the time, she recreates everyday situations. For example, one of her video series is called “Things I Had To Learn Working At An Aussie School”. Since she’s a school teacher, Kaymie shared how she first struggled with understanding certain things kids say.
In her video series “Culture shocks: moving to Australia from America”, Kaymie shares her reactions to things that are considered normal in Australia and are handled differently in the United States. Besides learning some new meanings of words, she also had to adjust to the fact that refills are not free and grocery bags and sauce at a fast-food restaurant cost something, too.
She is probably talking about soft drinks aka soda coz tap water refills are free in Australia.
Been the same in the UK for many years now. Bring your own bags or pay for them, your choice.
Single use plastic shopping bags are banned in NZ :) it took a bit of adjusting but it's second nature now to bring bags with me to the supermarket etc
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It is very common worldwide, and a good thing! You will think twice before throwing it if you paid for it ^^
Not really saving the environment though. I used to reuse the bags as bin liners. Now I have to buy a roll of plastic bin liners to replace the ones I used to get. Except now they’re even more “single use” than before.
As someone who uses grocery bags for trash can liners… this is bs. The amount of grocery bags vs the amount of bags I need for my trash cans is not the same. I end up with bags of bags.
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New Zealand straight up banned plastic bags (Jacinda did it, probably after being pushed by the Greens). They sell reusables at the till, as well as paper bags if you’ve just forgotten to bring your bags that day.
Cuts down on the people having a single-use carrier bag for one item
Some stores in France sell you a bag and whe it is worn out, they replace it for free
The best reusable bags are those big zip up bags from Aldis's with the metal lining to keep your food chilled. I've been using the same two bags for nearly ten years and they are still in good condition. :)
In my experience, when you're somewhere that makes you pay for a bag, the bags you get are really nice. Good for many uses.
15 cents for a plastic bag is dirt cheap. We pay something like half a euro.
It's supposed to protect the environment, by increasing reuse of bags, but it doesn't really work, because a lot of people just buy the bags each time, and the bags have more plastic and aren't biodegradable. We should switch to paper.
If I carry my shopping home in a paper bag, and it rains on the way home, I would go hungry that week.
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Here in Canada we pay for store bags too. Some stores even have compostable bags which makes them even better then the just plastic ones that get thrown out or put in recycle.
If you’re in the US, Aldi (which I believe is originally from Germany) does this. It definitely encourages using your own bags or reusing boxes.
Its the same here in IL. 10 cents a bag. People bring thier own.
ironically, plastic bags are more environmentally friendly than paper bags or reusable bags; many of us repurpose plastic bags (3x to justify using it) but you'd have to reuse a paper bag 50x to justify all the trees that needed to be cut down to make it, and reusable bags need to be used thousands of times to justify the material used.
But at least in America she'd have got a sturdy paper bag that could be reused or recycled, and not a flimsy plastic one that would literally cost the earth. 🌍
paying for bags at grocery stores is becoming more common, in Oregon we have to pay $0.05 a bag or bring our own.
Same here in Chicago. No more freebies for grocery bags. Just bring your own..
It's that way in Oregon -- but please remember, 'FLORIDA'. It's like a whole other place.
You have to pay for bags in the U.S. as well depending on where u live
This is the same way in the US in many major cities including all of California.
I think the main purpose of that is to make you consider if you really need to use a plastic bag, or if there is a better alternative. Adding one or two extra plastic bags to this world every time you go shopping seems like such a wastefull process. when I only buy a few things I like to just carry them in my arms and save the enviroment from a one time use piece of plastic.
they're starting that here now (massachusetts), stop & shop and CVS, 10cents a bag
Same as in Canada... and they'll "sell" you brown paper bags - no more plastic. Not that it makes much of a huge difference but hey!
This has been happening here in New York for a little over a year now. I’ve been pretty good about remembering my reusable bags!!!
Yep the supermarkets pulled a good one there. The convinced the idiot greens that is was for the environment and not for extra profit. If they had just changed from plastic back to paper not only would the bags be eco friendly but the trees grown to make them would be reducing the CO2 level.
Many places in the US ban or charge for plastic bags. This girl is from Florida which is the worst so ya
This is not uncommon in the US either. Where did this woman come from that she paid tax on food, got free bags, and didn't have a single neighbor that hang their clothes outside?
I think the US is the only country left in the world that doesn't care about dumping millions or billions of plastic bags in dumps and in the oceans. I'm in Canada and we've used "bring your own bag" for many years now. Even if you buy a bag, it's a large brown paper bag.
It's like that in some states in America. I know that New York is like that
Through her journey of getting to know her new home, the woman shared some positive things she learned throughout time. Kaymie was pleasantly surprised to find out that in case a person needs medical help, their bills are covered by Medicare—a national health insurance program. In the United States, there is no one health care program as it consists of private and public health coverage. In one of her videos, she also revealed that she didn’t know Australians don’t leave tips for waiters as they get a proper salary.
These TikTok videos became viral as people were very interested in the differences between Australia and the United States. It is also a great way to see things from a different perspective and learn something new in an entertaining way. Which one of these “shocks” is your favorite? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
It's a no. The yeah is to say we heard what your saying and the nah is to disagree with what you said. I am terrible with this and say it all the time. But also for another reason, indecisiveness lol.
This is the only Australian reference i know! (They’re flip flops ;) )
Many people don't realise that US Target has absolutely no affiliation with Australian Target in any way.
Just like in Pennsylvania. Only recently is beer available in some supermarkets. Not in 7 eleven, CVS or gas stations.
Business at the front, party in the back. I personally think mullets look bloody awful. But each to their own.
Culture shock is real. I remember going from Zimbabwe (when it was the land of pretty much nothing) to the United States (land of too much of everything) and just standing like a deer in headlights every time I went into an American store. The choice was just overwhelming.
I'm from Australia and felt like that in an American supermarket. So. Much. Everything.
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Australia is a wonderful country, most of the folks are really friendly and it's just a chill atmosphere, 10/10 would recommend
There’s a lot of overlap with New Zealand too, unsurprisingly.
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This was quite funny, the f word is a noun, consonant and vowel in this country 😂 ( yes I know what I said)
did this woman actually do any research before she moved countries? like the fact with the health care? i would research things like that before moving?!
I always like reading these articles until the comments get all LoL aMeRiKa BaD LoLllLoL like it's the height of hilarity. Trust us we *know* universal healthcare would be amazing, but politicians do basically whatever they want to line their pockets so it's really hard to make changes even when votes go the way they should
The phrase "3rd world country" has absolutely NOTHING to do with wealth or citizen health. It is simply the term given to all the countries which did not take a side during the cold war. It has now become a derogatory term for lower-income and less-developed countries.
Load More Replies... She didn't have to pay for plastic bags in the US? In California, we have for a long time...maybe her state never passed it. Honestly, all of these do not sound very shocking. Like maybe everyone yelling c*nt all the time, but other than that, did she not already know that most other countries don't do added tax or tips? Seems like it's just taking normal stuff and making posts about it just for the likes and follows, not because it's actually shocking.
This reminds me of the movie 'Heaven and Earth" that was a beautiful yet tragic movie...just the recipe for a good ole culture shock
I would love to go but based on someone else's experience even the magpies want to kill you. This dude wasnt even provoking them! They're just mean!
I want to move to New Zealand. I would be happy to be in a beautiful place where nothing happens except for looking at the beauty.
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Oh don't start these again BP. Oh look different countries have different practices, woohoo.
My mum came from England to the States when she was a teenager. She says there was a lot of culture shock, but pizza made up for a fair amount of it!
We have pizza and a lot of it, in the UK! It's a very popular meal/ take away...
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Culture shock is real. I remember going from Zimbabwe (when it was the land of pretty much nothing) to the United States (land of too much of everything) and just standing like a deer in headlights every time I went into an American store. The choice was just overwhelming.
I'm from Australia and felt like that in an American supermarket. So. Much. Everything.
Load More Replies... Australia is a wonderful country, most of the folks are really friendly and it's just a chill atmosphere, 10/10 would recommend
There’s a lot of overlap with New Zealand too, unsurprisingly.
Load More Replies... This was quite funny, the f word is a noun, consonant and vowel in this country 😂 ( yes I know what I said)
did this woman actually do any research before she moved countries? like the fact with the health care? i would research things like that before moving?!
I always like reading these articles until the comments get all LoL aMeRiKa BaD LoLllLoL like it's the height of hilarity. Trust us we *know* universal healthcare would be amazing, but politicians do basically whatever they want to line their pockets so it's really hard to make changes even when votes go the way they should
The phrase "3rd world country" has absolutely NOTHING to do with wealth or citizen health. It is simply the term given to all the countries which did not take a side during the cold war. It has now become a derogatory term for lower-income and less-developed countries.
Load More Replies... She didn't have to pay for plastic bags in the US? In California, we have for a long time...maybe her state never passed it. Honestly, all of these do not sound very shocking. Like maybe everyone yelling c*nt all the time, but other than that, did she not already know that most other countries don't do added tax or tips? Seems like it's just taking normal stuff and making posts about it just for the likes and follows, not because it's actually shocking.
This reminds me of the movie 'Heaven and Earth" that was a beautiful yet tragic movie...just the recipe for a good ole culture shock
I would love to go but based on someone else's experience even the magpies want to kill you. This dude wasnt even provoking them! They're just mean!
I want to move to New Zealand. I would be happy to be in a beautiful place where nothing happens except for looking at the beauty.
Load More Replies... Oh don't start these again BP. Oh look different countries have different practices, woohoo.
My mum came from England to the States when she was a teenager. She says there was a lot of culture shock, but pizza made up for a fair amount of it!
We have pizza and a lot of it, in the UK! It's a very popular meal/ take away...
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