American Expats Reveal Their Wildest Reverse Culture Shocks Upon Returning Home (50 Stories)

I lived in Japan for a year. Coming back to the states made me realize how dirty it is here and people are lazy and disrespectful when it comes to taking care of the city and eachother. In Japan it’s a collective effort. Public restrooms are clean. If you have trash you put it in your pocket or purse and hold on to it until you can find access to a trash can. Here? People will drop it on the ground because they cannot dare to be inconvenienced. I’ve seen people at stop lights open their door and leave bags of McDonald’s trash on the street and drive off so they can have a clean car. Of course one of the first public restroom experiences when I came back home was in a store where there was a drainage grate in the floor and a woman had her kid taking a p**s in the grates instead of the toilet.

And don’t get me started how if they even have the sniffles they wear a mask in public to be courteous but here people like to cough directly into the wind.

Music in restaurants is SO LOUD.

How everywhere in the world has to pay attention to what happens in the United States, but people in the US don't have a clue about anywhere else. I doubt 1 in 100 could name the president of Mexico, for instance.

How huge everything is. The flags, the people, the portion sizes.

After living in Korean and Japan, I will always forever appreciate the independence/individualism of American cultural.

Especially in Korea, it felt like I joined gang/cult when I realized even the simplest of tasks required the consensus of the entire office. I saw a 46 y.o feel like he didn’t have enough authority to paper in the printer, so we had to wait and ask the office superior hours later.

It’s hard to describe in a small post. I just feel like there’s a certain kind of autonomy that exists here that doesn’t exist over there.( with regards to work).

I lived in South Korea for a few years. When I returned to my hometown, St. Louis, very little had changed. You can't walk anywhere in St. Louis County, and for the first time, that fact really got to me. My friends were also very sedentary and incurious, not wanting to go anywhere. I would go to a friend's house and they just wanted to watch Netflix, and I was so used to being a very active person. Lastly, when anyone asked me about Korea, they couldn't help but slip in a racist joke or 2. I had changed overseas, but my hometown didn't.

Getting yelled at and herded around like cattle by US customs and immigration as soon as I arrived back home. It’s a huge shock to see how everyone with even an ounce of authority in the U.S. acts after being abroad where you’re treated like a human.

The difference in how the food affected my whole body in a positive way after being away from the US for almost 2 years.

My wife and I both had physical withdrawals when we arrived in South America from the difference in the food for atleast the first 2 weeks. Couldn’t figure it out at first until our bodies adjusted.

Both immediately lost weight without trying and our whole physical appearance changed for the entire duration in a very positive way. Never felt so good in my life.

After a few months back in the US it all came back no matter how good we tried to eat. It was very eye opening to say the least.

Edit: Typo.

Coming back to the US from Cairo, it was not needing to be so alert all the time. There’s a lot to like about Cairo, but it is a tourist city and a lot of the businesses and locals take advantage of the tourists. It’s a little thing, but you have to be ready to argue vehemently about every price and service. I didn’t realize how much that was stressing me until I came home.

Central. F*****g. Air. Conditioning.

Outside of places like more affluent/developed Middle Eastern countries like UAE, Israel, and Kuwait, or like Singapore, A/C is an absolute luxury. A lot of people in the US do not appreciate how good our HVAC capabilities are.

Having to drive everywhere. Dublin isn’t the most bike friendly place, but living there for several years and being able to hop on my bike and get across town in 20 minutes is something I will always miss. After being back in Illinois for 2 years I still hate that I have to drive 2 miles to target bc that’s the only option for getting there and home in one piece

ETA: at no point did I say I live in Chicago. I don’t have city public transit and resources, thus my comment.

All the sugar in the food.

Lived in Russia for 18 months (this was over 10 years ago), when I came back to the US I spent a week in NYC and was taken aback at how nice everyone was and how s****y the subway is.

Had a layover in Salt Lake City on my way home from living in China for six months… “How did all these people get permission to have so many children?!? Oh…right.”.

Coming back from Germany / Europe and the customer service at US restaurants was SO intrusive and annoying. You cannot just sit and enjoy a meal with someone, you are constantly interrupted while talking, and while mid-chew. How is everything? Doing alright? Can I get you another drink? Etc. I get that some people like this type of service because they're used to or expect it, but it annoyed me to no end how the server constantly interrupted my meal.

Lived in Baden Württemberg Germany, when I returned I realized how awful our bakeries are. Also I realized how much grass we mow around public roads. In Germany they just let it grow out.

Going into an American grocery store after years abroad is overwhelming but also glorious.

The lack of public gathering spaces. I tried sitting on a bench for more than 5 minutes in a park and a police officer came to “check up” on me

Edit; to me he acted hostile while asking for some “more information “.

Prescription d**g commercials and strip malls, two things I never missed.

How poorly Americans dress. Massively oversized (or sometimes undersized) shirts / pants, graphic tees / sports jerseys, sweatpants and hoodies everywhere. Coming back home from Scandinavia was eye opening. I now buy clothes that actually fit and make an effort to not look like I rolled out of bed.