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We live in a world where a lot of things we learn through books, movies, and the internet. But one of the most common and exciting ways to learn more about other cultures is by traveling. For a lot of people, this became an interesting and eye-opening experience, so a lot of them like to share what they have seen and heard, and compare this experience with how things are run “at home.” Bored Panda already covered some of the stories of people who decided to share their cultural shocks, one of these stories you can find here.

When people talk about their travels, very often a place they refer to as culturally shocking is the United States. One of the recent is examples is TikTok user Jazz Thornton who started sharing what things she finds weird and different in the US. The woman who is from New Zealand relocated from her country to the United States and has already become viral on TikTok with her funny and entertaining videos. 

More Info: TikTok

#1

School At 7.30 Am

School At 7.30 Am

You'll start school at 7:30 in the morning. Are teenagers functioning at 7:30 in the morning, because where I'm from, we start school at 9 AM every day. That means that you have to get up at like, 6 AM something. I wasn't getting out of bed until like 7:30 AM. Who decided that teenagers work best at 7:30 AM?

notjazzthornton , Lead Beyond Report

#2

'i Really Wish I Had An Accent'

'i Really Wish I Had An Accent'

So the other day I was on a conversation with an American, and she looked me in the eyes and goes, 'man, I really wish I had an accent. I just speak normally.' Which I was like, 'ma'am, you do realize that the USA is not a main character, right?' You do have an accent to absolutely everyone who is not American.

notjazzthornton , Miguel Discart Report

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Chef Latte
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love the U.S BECAUSE one of the reasons that i love it here is that most U.S citizens have an accent. Californians have their own accent, Southern accents, New York and New Jersey accents. I love hearing them all

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#3

It's Really Expensive To Have A Baby In The USA

It's Really Expensive To Have A Baby In The USA

It cost about $50,000 to birth the baby. These children are putting you in debt. In New Zealand hospitals are completely free. So you could be in there for like four months afterwards and you wouldn't have to pay a thing. We do pay taxes to obviously cover that.

notjazzthornton , Sami Keinänen Report

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Amy Stone-Chandler
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm so glad I'm Canadian. I'd rather pay .13cents on top of the price tag amount then pay for medical direct. I've had 2 kids. They have had surgeries, I have had several surgeries(disabled) and long term stay admitted to hospital(almost dying twice) all my ultrasounds, MRIs, PET scans, xrays, blood work, infertility treatments, eye exams, ER visits, every single specialist doctor plus every GP visit(including house visits) midwife appointments, at home follow up after delivery..free parental or breastfeeding support etc.. all of it, I wouldn't be able to pay that out of pocket. No matter how much taxes I have paid or will pay in life, it wouldn't come anywhere near the bills that a America charges. Oh and kids have free dental to 25 too. Some cosmetic stuff is covered depending on the cause/effects too

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Jazz is a well-known mental health activist film director and book author. The 26-year-old woman’s work is related to spreading awareness and educating people about sensitive mental health problems that many individuals suffer from. For this reason, her and her friend started an organization called Voices of Hope. Jazz tries and enjoys encouraging people to believe in themselves, to have a hope that things will get better. She likes to remind this to people through her videos.

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#4

The Price That Is Displayed Is Not The Final Price

The Price That Is Displayed Is Not The Final Price

Like today I went and bought a dress and the price tag that I saw on it when I actually went to go check out, it was like $10 more, because they add tax on after. And then when you're in restaurants and stuff, it's the taxes added and the tipping is added so like nothing is the normal price. Like if that happened to me in New Zealand and I went to pay for something and it was like more than what the price tag was, I'd be like, 'I'm sorry, what?'

notjazzthornton , sylvar Report

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Sonja
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why there is not an option to write at least something like "10 $ + x$ tax = xy price"

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#5

Tipping

Tipping

Tipping is literally not a thing where I'm from, like, again, America with the unnecessary math. How do I calculate this? What am I supposed to give someone? In New Zealand, the minimum wage is $20. That's for an adult. In America, it's $7.25. Now, keeping in mind that our currency is a lot weaker than America, it equals out to be $14.10 in minimum wage, which is double the minimum wage here. But also do people make more money from tips?

notjazzthornton , Kai Hendry Report

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truebluecanadian2021_1 avatar
BoredHuman
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tipping needs to be eliminated. I go to a small coffee shop in Toronto where the woman picks up the tip jar and shakes it while you are paying. To show me hey look at the tip jar. It lasts only a second but it is very off putting. Tipping is getting out of hand. I am already paying for a service. I live on a budget and getting haircuts and takeout coffee should not feel like pressure to tip. Pay a living wage

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#6

American Portion Sizes

American Portion Sizes

So I'm on week two here and I discovered very early on that a lot of your portion sizes, like, the large is a very large. I'm not used to it where I'm from. So, I was like, was this so big? So tonight, right? I was like okay, I'm going to get a small. This is what I got tonight. Please, is someone pranking me? This is the size of my palm. This is my noodle box.

notjazzthornton , Konrad Summers Report

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Claire Stanfield
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's wild and depends on the restaurant. If you want big portions you can eat for days, BBQ and those Greek family restaurants serve absurd amounts of food for the price you'll spend. Chain restaurants vary widely.

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#7

Dogs In Stores

Dogs In Stores

So you're telling me that here in America, you can bring your dogs into stores with you? Like, guys yesterday I was at H&M, right? And it was like four dogs in the store. I am so here for it. This is not a thing that we see in New Zealand and I need it. As long as I can pet all of the dogs.

notjazzthornton , Bennilover Report

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jeffrequier_1 avatar
Requiem
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

NOPE, you need to have a Certified service dog and YES you can be questioned on wether your Chihuahua is an actual service dog. A pet store is the exception to the No regular dogs rule

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The woman also uploads goofy and lighthearted content on her TikTok platform. One of these is related to her relocation to the United States. In her TikToks, the woman doesn't hide her surprise at how different some of the things in the US are. It might seem that some of these things are already well known. Not knowing how to tip waiters in a restaurant and having to pay for having a baby at the hospital are only a couple of these examples. The woman also shared some of the lesser known facts about when American kids start their school day and that people are allowed to bring their dogs to stores.

Which one of these things do you find weird? Or maybe you know something that wasn’t shared on this list? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below! 

#8

Scam Calls

Scam Calls

I got an American number not too long ago and on the day that I did I had like four scam calls in one day. And now they just- every day, multiple times a day, is just scam calls. I think in New Zealand I got like one scam call every two months.

notjazzthornton , Sascha Kohlmann Report

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jeffrequier_1 avatar
Requiem
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

all scam calls in Canada and the US come from other countries

dodsonmichelle avatar
Celtic Pirate Queen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No - they don't. There are plenty of greedy asshole scammers right here in the good 'ole USA.

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mrkette avatar
Mary Rose Kent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s possible to put yourself on a DO NOT CALL list, and that helps a lot, but my method is to not answer the phone if the number doesn’t bring up a name from someone entered into my address list; exceptions are made if I made a call to a business for information, but even then, the name of the business tends to present itself.

dragonwolfe_169 avatar
William Spain
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do not call lists do nothing. My number has been registered on a do not call registry for 5 years and I get 10+ scam calls a day. When I do answer, I always hit the option to be put on their do not call list. They do not call... until the next day. My favorite is the one threatening to suspend my social security number (government identification number) if I do not pay a "hefty fine".

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morganqueenmelodious avatar
Morgan Queen Melodious
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scam calls is what happens when companies sell out of your information. Very common in the US, i learned to have burner phones and content purpose emails to avoid these.

mintmint481 avatar
Iris
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I recommend getting the "should I answer" phone app if you can.

ericmacfadden avatar
Eric Mac Fadden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Brazil we simply don't answer, or when we do it's just hang the call. Why someone we don't know would call us? These scams are so unreal when I heard about it

zselyke_szekely avatar
UpupaEpops
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It was the same in the UK. And a flood of spam text messages too. In the end, I switched to using roaming and my number from my home country. Weirdly enough, it was cheaper than having a UK number too.

devilish_the_cat avatar
Dan
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What country are you from? This is quite useful, I might be looking into doing the same thing, I have both an Uk number and an Eastern European one

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pascal_3 avatar
Kanuli
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Where I live: It depends where you register. European data protection regulation helps a bit. But if you sign on a website and don’t read the fine print they are allowed to sell your data. What helped alot: screaming at them that it’s the 5th call this week and it’s enough! And: asking multiple times where they got your number from (they will lie anyway), demand it to be deleted (bonus points for quoting the european data protection regulation).

wwyrebek avatar
Bill Wyrebek
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know the scam calls are annoying, but the U.S. is a large country with many companies and social groups looking for money. I play with them and use different accents, and tell confusing stories until they hang up in frustration.

joycedeering681 avatar
Joyce Deering
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sadly, I'm convinced there are ways to fix this once and for all, but others seem to feel that a firing squad is too extreme. Too bad.

josh_coker avatar
Josh Coker
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i learned about the scam calls? if the area code and the prefix is the same number that you have? it's scam. now when they call? my phone says "scam likely" i never pick up. it's either 'your car warranty is up on your car (which i never owned THAT car)' or - congratulations ... you have just....uh huh.

damonhill avatar
Seadog
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sad thing is the telecom systems could automatically eliminate most of them simply by determining the call is coming from a location where that number is not listed for or by seeing this number is calling x numbers per day. No one is going to legitimately call that many people in a single day. Number masking could be 99.9% eliminated by knowing where that number is (especially if it's a land line) and the call is coming from another location.

florenceehastings avatar
Florence Hastings
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I don’t know the number I don’t answer the phone. If it’s important they can leave a message.

marsfka avatar
MarsFKA
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have caller ID on our landline and any call we don't recognise doesn't get answered. That backfired the day our daughter in Fort Lauderdale called and the ID displayed her number instead of her name, which it does on our cell phones. So we just let the call go to answerphone, then picked up in a panic when we heard her leaving a message.

dthkls avatar
Bill Karp
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

3rd party sellers. buy phone numbers. the what yours is mine (?) mentality.

johnniebravo avatar
Johnnie
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most modern phone apps have a setting where only contacts are allowed to call or text, the rest goto voice mail.

deannababy61 avatar
Deanna Crichley
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Obviously there will be less of this in a country the size of Colorado.

sonja-szabrotska avatar
Sonja
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"No, thanks, you're very kind, but thanks no." and drop.

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#9

Burger And Sandwich

Burger And Sandwich

Can someone please explain to me why they call this a burger, but they call this a sandwich. If it's beef it's a burger. If it's chicken, it's a sandwich, but they're both in a bun.

notjazzthornton Report

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sofacushionfort
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ground beef is called hamburger. In the 30’s it was called a hamburger sandwich, but then it was shortened.

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#10

Biscuits And Gravy

Biscuits And Gravy

All I'm imagining right now is that kind of thing. That beautiful biscuit cover in meat sauce. It just looks nasty.

notjazzthornton , Michael Kmak Report

#11

Spray Cheese

Spray Cheese

This does not exist where I'm from. I've been told to eat it only with Ritz crackers so you have put your thumb on it.

notjazzthornton Report