American in the UK: 21 British Culture Shocks & Surprises
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Published 2024-06-08
Welcome! Today’s video is all about the culture “shocks” we’ve experienced since moving to Scotland in May almost a month ago; however, we think cultural “surprises” or “differences” could actually be better terms. We’ve found it interesting having two perspectives with Zach returning to the U.K. following 14 years in the U.S. (so reverse culture shock there), and Annie moving across the pond from America after only having visited for a few weeks here and there at a time. So far, the changes have been resoundingly positive, but we’ll be sure to share what else we encounter over the next few months…and years! If you enjoy the video, we’d love to have your support with a like and subscribe if you want to see more content like this! Also, if there’s something you would like to learn about, see, or watch us do/experience across the United Kingdom, please leave it in the comments.
Chapters/Timestamps:
1: 1:22 Dubbed Voices
2: 2:10 Ringtones
3: 2:52 Hair Tools
4: 3:09 Line Dry
5. 4:19 Salad Dressing
6. 5:12 Groceries
7. 5:50 For Here or To Go
8. 6:36 Delivery Times
9. 7:34 Sun is Out
10. 8:02 Road Exits
11. 9:13 Car Sickness
12. 9:56 How much does it cost?
13. 11:01 Grocery Scanners
14. 11:48 School Orientation
15. 13:27 Bank Transfers
16. 14:16 Insular
17. 15:26 Smiling at Strangers
18. 16:04 Food Goes Bad
19. 17:33 Measurements
20. 18:55 Type B Person
21. 19:22 Efficiency
21:24 UK to US
22:14 DON’T MISS THIS!
All Comments (21)
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They're called garden shears and most gardeners have a pair - Americans: 'We need power tools to speed it up." British gardener - there's no rush, enjoy the gardening and get in touch with nature.
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Line dried clothes have a smell about them that I can't explain but it makes me feel happy when I smell them.
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I lived in California and I'm married to Californian wife back here in the UK. Food quality is much better and also fresher and tastier in the UK. Many preservatives and colourings in US food are banned in the UK and the EU and also many other parts of the world. For example, take what you might think as like for like: McDonalds fries. In the US they contain no less than 19 ingredients, many of which are banned as unsafe in the UK and EU. In a UK McDonalds the French fries contain just 3 ingredients: potato, vegetable oil, and salt. There are no colourings to make them look like they glow bright yellow or chemical preservatives that are added to lengthen the life of ingredients, such as the potato, that are not fresh at preparation. There is no Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, that they add to the potato in US McDonalds fries. There is no Dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicon compound used as a lubrcant, or another silicon polymer called Dimethylpolysiloxane. It's just plain good quality ingredients of unadulterated potato, vegetable oil from rape seed and a little salt in my fries in my UK fries.
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Most people make their own salad dressing rather than buying over processed gloop to spoil your healthy salad
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You may have more choices of food in the USA but virtually all of it is pumped full of chemicals, many of which are banned outside the States. Bread is a classic example of this. You cannot beat a good local bakery produced granary loaf.
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Salad cream is NOT a salad " dressing" ! We use it like ketchup on stuff ! American bread would be classed as CAKE in the UK because of the amount of sugar in it !
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Power tools work best for construction, but gardening it an art, not an industrial process.
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"They do things in an old fashioned way", says the people counting in imperial measures!!!! Chill guys, slow down and smell the roses
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Also drying clothes outside is GOOD FOR THE PLANET!!!
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Clothes dried outside on the line smell and feel much better
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Regarding the issue of food going bad quicker, because in the UK it doesn't have as many preservatives. Do strawberries sold in US stores really have preservatives added to allow them to keep longer on the shelf? I don't know if you're aware of the difference between "Best Before" and "Use By" dates on food items. Fresh fruit and veg, along with bread and milk, will have a "Best Before" date printed on the package. It doesn't mean it will be bad after that date has passed. So don't throw your strawberries, away when the "Best Before" date has been reached and passed by a few days. As long as they look and smell OK, they'll still be safe to eat. However, Fresh meat has a "Use By" date on, and has to be used before that date.
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Also, the UV light from outside drying kills bacteria, so things smell fresher without having to over-kill with artificial fresheners.
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Many of us Brits make our own salad dressings using fresh ingredients. Much better than ones you can buy and a lot cheaper.
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The reason they have lots of salad dressings in the US is because the salad itself is bland because of all the genetic modification to make the shelf life longer.
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We are Scottish but have visited the US on holidays several times. The best way I can describe the cultural difference with pace is that Americans are in such a rush to do things/go places (due to longer working hours and less time off) that they forget to actually experience life. Meanwhile, I work 36 hours a week, and have 42 days annual leave per year. I have time to take my time.
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welcome to the UK as a whole, you will be so welcome, and such a lovely couple,
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A tip with salad dressings, they are not always in the same part of the store you expect, or for that matter with the mayonnaise etc. If you check an average online supermarket like Tesco (which is also in branch) you will see such as: Caesar, thousand island, honey mustard, miso soy ginger, french, coconut chili lime, garlic & herb etc. Assuming you have access to a regular size supermarket, you should be ok.
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Salad dressing Balsamics Vinegrettes Olive oils Make your own Lots more dressings in supermarkets than you think!
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You seem a lovely couple, I'm from Northern Ireland but now live in Wales and did live in Scotland for 5 years, where my son was born, the Scots are beautiful cheeky people. A big welcome to the UK.
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I get my AMAZON DELIVERY’s the next day. Prime. Never a problem.
