Reverse Culture Shock?! | back in the USA for the holidays

Vents are also mandatory in Europe in every building, it's just very discreet. There have to be vents in kitchens, toilets and bathrooms with a proper ventilation system and windows must have grids to allow air to come in in order to renew air in the building. Technically, opening windows to ventilate is not necessary but many people will do, especially in bedrooms and kitchens.

I lived in Paris for two years and we just moved back to Southern California last month. The one thing we are having trouble getting used to is NOT having to bag our own groceries at the store! LOL My kids (teenagers) just start bagging the groceries automatically, and the employees look at them like they’re nuts. 🤪

Her: "personally, I like small talk." Me: °_°

"this past year..." immediately checks the date this was posted

Same as everyone in the comment when I came back from living in Scotland I struggled to find my words and would ofter frenchize English words and not understand when everyone would look at me funny. It still happens sometimes and I've been back 10 years !

Your new hair looks so good 😄

The food observations were interesting - displaying calorie count (which I do appreciate) doesn't seem to bring these shocking levels of obesity down. It may just not be as necessary in France, starting out with a much healthier attitude to food in general. Including options - yep, I've heard of "oh you're vegetarian, so I'll get you just some chicken then", but when it comes to fresh and less processed food, Europe mostly beats the States hands down. And yes, we have eaten exceptionally well in the US.

I totally agree with you for the vegetarian thing. It is the same for me: always so complicated to find in France a place where you can find food without meat and where they offer you more than salad and tomatoes. It is really frustrating. I mostly find my "happiness" in the area near gare du nord where you find many vegetarian Indian restaurants.

Lovely to see a new video, and I really like this style. I live in Paris as well, going back to Germany feels weirder every time

I am also not a fan of the term (reverse) culture shock, but as you noted the disorientation is very real and can sneak up on you in unexpected ways. As an undergraduate, I spent a year in Ecuador (language and culture coursework plus an internship); for me, the reverse culture shock of returning to the Midwest was far greater and more challenging than anything I experienced going to Ecuador. 😳🇪🇨🇺🇸

I live in Brazil and I think France has more similarities with Brasil than the US, lol! I’ve been to the US a few times, and the fact that you have to use the car all the time - mostly in small towns -, was a thing that stuck with me. The fact that they don’t open the windows all the time too. I remember that I thought that was so weird! But other positives things: the fact that everyone holds the door when you are entering some place. That was cool. The fact that people are always saying “morning, how are u you”, etc, that isn’t that common here.

The bangs suit you so well with your big gorgeous eyes !! Et j’adore le roux avec ton teint :)))

I moved abroad from south africa to the netherlandsat the age of 23 and have been here a decade now. Not been back once. No real desire to go back besides occasional nostalgia. This is my home now.

Such a fun video girl! Hahaha yes so many things to have reverse culture shock about and it’s interesting hearing what you like back home. So cool they have a lot of options for vegetarians/vegans/special diet there in the US. I have to say I am in the boat of not liking small talk so I don’t mind that it’s non existant here 😅😅❤️

I lived in France for 2 years back in the 70’s. I remember that cultural shock coming home was intense back then. I visited Paris for a intense week 3 years ago staying in an AIRBNB with a French couple who rented a room. My shock 42 years later was to discover how similar things are between our cultures. The 5 things you mentioned are still different; but in 1975 the list was very long. I’ve reconnected with my friends in France from that era, relearned the language, and long for more time there. That was 6 years ago I began that more intense reconnection. Their young adult kids have visited with our family here a few times and enjoy the family like ties that has bound me with their parents across the decades. I’m their honorary American dad and I love them as family. I love the feeling of having “almost family” there; People I can text to in France In French and receive texts back in French. I love having French spell checking. Your videos are refreshing, informative, and fulfilling to a heart that longs for more time there.... The fact that you’re adorable, friendly, and comforting to watch and listen to adds to why I enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work.

Going back and forth between Nicaragua and the US, I have experienced this as well. It got described to me as something like this: when you're first in a place (like a foreign country) where everything is SO different, the language, culture, even going to the bathroom, your brain is turned up to 100%, you constantly have to pay attention to everything you're doing. When you go back to your home country, you revert back to a more robotic version of yourself because you don't have to think so much about what's happening around you, so that starts to feel strange and foreign to you. That's how it was for me, but sounds like you had to think harder being back in the US 😁

And it was so good to see you when you were here!

Had lived in Italy for a few years and had my first apartment there. Was a shock when returning to the country in the U.S. that the restaurants closed by 10pm the latest. The time I had gotten accustomed to going out. There is also the carpet in so many apartments. Did (and still do) miss the ease of traveling without a car. Took a few years to stop driving like I had in Naples, IT. Which is where I learned to drive too. Lol, the car here are also wider, and finding a stick shift takes some searching.

The thing about vege options in Paris surprised me. Living in Poland, a kinda smaller sibling to the western Europe, we've got this trend now for around 2-3 years that in every bigger city there is many vege friendly or completely vege restaurants opening. And the rest of the places are easily having one or two options without meat, because even in our polish cousine we have such dishes, mainly because of the religious reasons. But I'm living in fairly small city and my best friend who is vegetarian is finding something new to eat everyday. I've heard stories about the capital though, and they say it's heaven for people with different diets. So it's completely weird to hear that it's hard in Paris.

The air forced into a vent by a ventilation system will never be the same thing as fresh, open air coming in through a fully opened window. BTW Vents are mandatory in Europe in rooms where you have a stove top and/or an oven or a boiler, and in bathrooms without windows (renovated old homes often have one, because the bathroom was “carved out” of an existing room). I don’t know about France, but here in Italy too 90 percent of restaurants, including the most traditional trattorias, have at least one veggie option, even in steak restaurants.