10 Reverse Culture Shocks as an American Returning from Britain

In this video I share the "reverse" culture shocks I experienced returning to Texas after living for the third summer in England. Because we lived in the UK for 5 months straight, I was surprised to find many things feeling unfamiliar back in my familiar home in the Dallas area!
I love living in Texas, and I also love living in Gloucestershire. But there are also things that seem weird in one place vs. the other once I get used to where I'm living!
Let me know what you find surprising and what culture shocks YOU have experienced! Thanks for watching, and please SUBSCRIBE for more British fun and adventures. Cheers! XX Dara

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[KenFullman]

One of my collegues suddenly discovered her bank account had been raided. As she was talking to the police she mentioned that, a few days prior she'd been at a petrol station and the cashier had taken her card out of her sight for a few seconds. It stuck in her mind because, as a Brit, any time anyone removes our cards from our direct view, it seems suspicious. The police raided the petrol station and discovered a card cloning machine.

[martinwyke]

Talking about the weather is a social lubricant in the UK. It's a safe topic with anyone, something even strangers have in common.

[andrewgardner]

19 degrees C is a balmy warm summers day in UK-Shorts, T shirts and sandle weather!

[kevak]

I spent a few years working in Florida as a brit and, quite literally, the only bread I would eat there was the 'artisan' bread. Eating a US packaged loaf was like having a sandwich made of cake. Like you, we also bought a breadmaker and used it a lot.

[what_im_eatin_uk]

Every time I went to a restaurant in the US I made sure I had cash as I didn't want somebody walking off with my card. They could accidentally take the wrong amount or worse such as card cloning

[The_Brit_Girls]

Hi Dara, I agree with EVERYTHING you mentioned - 100 percent! The differences between recycling, food prices, driving, saying cheers, tapping to pay, and taking your credit card away to pay are so evident. I hope that a lot of Brits who watch your video will be pleasantly surprised at how good the UK is with all these things. As a nation, we always think everyone else is doing far better than we are. Congratulations on the number of views you are getting on your videos now. We're really pleased for you, and it's thoroughly deserved. Btw, love your magenta sweater/jumper from Primark! 🩷

[nickmail]

I enjoyed the summer well here in East Anglia, June and even late May were lovely, yes July and Agust were a little unsettled but thats one of the plus point of living on a little island - its rare we get bored of our weather! Enjoyable video thanks.

[revbenf]

"Cheers" for this video, very interesting! I must admit I had wondered how you got on with the weather in England this summer, very hot in May and June, terribly wet in July and August, then warm again as soon as schools went back! Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great time back in Tx.

[tonysheerness]

Taking away ones credit card is a serious security breach, how they get away with it is madness.

[dprid]

My wife is American, lived in the UK for 24 years, so we made regular trips to see her family. We usually rent a car and combine visiting family with a driving holiday, where we avoid big cities, stay off the freeways and see small-town America, and it's always been a reasonably priced holiday. This year was our first trip since 2019 due to the pandemic, and we visited family in California first, then spent a couple of weeks driving right across to New York, visiting other family in New Mexico and Pennsylvania along the way. And the prices this time were quite shocking, especially in California. The cost of food in both shops and restaurants was so expensive, higher than the UK in many cases which we've never seen before, and combined with the increased fuel and hotel costs it was no longer a reasonably priced holiday - it was expensive!

[jeanlongsden]

Dara, I am not sure if you saw it in chat, but Jersey was hit by a storm on Wednesday night. the wind was 110 mph and we had hail as big as a fist. it ripped roofs off of houses and brought down loads of trees. one of our Parishes (St. Mary) was left isolated, as trees blocked all the roads in and out.

[richt]

The only time I've had a major issue with my credit card was in the US. I travelled in 1990 with family to Orlando and used my credit card extensively in the old swipe machines. About 10 months later while working back in the UK my credit card was used 10's of times across Orlando to about $2000 total. I only knew when I got my next statement. I still had the credit card with me. Spoke to my credit card company and could prove I wasn't in the country and at work.Said a dishonest shop worker or waiter had obviously made a new card from my details. So I'm always wary of anyone taking my card away!

[ItsArtByDonna]

Lovely video, rewatching now....got here in the ending!...lots of differences I am sure!!!

[TravelingTramps]

We enjoyed your video Dara and Ian. Many different things between the two. We do tap here in Illinois and Arizona though most of the time.

[blotski]

I really relate to the 'cheers' thing. I'm Slovenian but have lived in the UK for several years. Every time I go home, even though I go a couple of times a year, for the first couple of days I keep saying words like 'thanks', 'bye' and even 'yes' to people in English. It's sort of brain muscle memory. It sounds really pretentious though. Then I've been known to do it the other way round when I come back to the UK. You can't win.

[stephennewton]

When I lived in the US the difference in food quality was very noticeable. Meat in the delicatessen section of the supermarket in the US tended to have been mashed, mixed with salted water, and squirted into bags, from which they were then sliced. It was only around Easter and Christmas that spiral ham became available in Kroger‘s (which is more like fresh ham in the UK) and I could load up my freezer.

Fresh vegetables, where nearly always tired, looking like they’ve been sitting in a warehouse for a couple days before being delivered to the supermarket. Bread wasn’t great either.

This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy my time in the US, but there were some downsides .

[danowen]

I really don’t understand why the US - who love convenience and consumerism - are always so slow to adopt technology related to banking and shopping. Bizarre.

[davidhamilton]

A friend of ours has spent the last 5 months in the UK from NC ( passed 2 years) she misses USA but so loves everything uk. She often commented on the quality of fresh foods and additives in the US version. It's a lot easier and cheaper to get quality food in uk. But like everywhere you can get junk. Enjoy your insites in to us.we are lucky to have such a variety of countryside in a small island.

[MsSpiralmonkey]

I remember many years ago the confusion caused by handing over my chip&pin credit card in a Florida store. The assistant had never seen one before so fetched the manager, he had heard about them so gathered a couple of staff and explained to them it was OK to accept.

[brucebello]

Hi, I’m American who has lived in the UK for the last 39yrs, last summer we traveled to the states for the first time in almost 20 years, I also noticed the cost and quality of food, particularly in restaurants, fuel was much less expensive but you paid at the pumps, that lead to a couple of hilarious experiences, in Durango I found in both coffee shops and local shops the staff were very helpful and friendly but in national stores the staff were not trained or helpful, even rude which really surprised me, airports like LAX was so disorganised although I found the TSA quite professional and helpful, but there were two standouts for me, I loved the space, particularly driving from Durango to LA and in LA the homeless, really found that upsetting, but do love the States and look forward to visiting again in a few years.