Bored Panda reached out to Brenden Guy, a British TikToker living in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA with his wife and daughter. Brenden’s fun and light-hearted videos of culture shocks he found after moving here from England have been going viral and he has now amassed a solid audience of 122k followers on his channel, @brendenandellie.
“I got into TikTok at the start of the pandemic initially to learn more about how the platform works and how it might relate to my career as a marketing and public relations consultant,” he recounted. “The more I made content, the more I realized how much fun it was and it soon became what my wife refers to as my pandemic passion project.”
Brenden believes that “It's a wonderful creative outlet and I'm having fun creating all sorts of content, from life as a dad and husband to these culture shock videos.”
When asked about the biggest culture shock as a Brit living in the US, Brenden said it’s probably the entire restaurant dining-out experience. “You would not think it, but there are actually a lot of differences here including rather large portions, free refills, tipping requirements, leaving cash payment on the table and simply leaving. It goes on!”
“Thankfully, I've dined out enough over the last 13 years to get used to them, but not a day goes by that I don't think about how different the experience is,” he said and added that “Overall, the American dining-out experience is superior.”
Brenden said the reception to these culture shock videos has been amazing. “I've been particularly touched to read the comments thanking me for making a positive video highlighting the differences between America and other countries instead of pointing out all the flaws and poking fun. This has always been my intention from the start because I truly love it here and wanted to focus on the fun and lighthearted differences rather than the more controversial and antagonistic ones.”
When asked about things he really likes in the US, the TikToker said he loves Thanksgiving. “Naturally, it's a holiday unique to this country and it's a lovely opportunity to get together with friends and family and eat delicious food,” Brenden said.
Apart from that, he likes that Americans have much more space, from bigger cars to wider streets and more spacious homes. “Back home, it can feel a little cramped at times; everything feels so much smaller in comparison,” he added.
Having said that, there are a lot of British things Brenden misses, “most of all my family. But from my daily life, I miss Cadbury's chocolate the most. It's completely different to the Cadbury's that you can buy in the US which, I believe, is actually made by Hershey's.” Plus, few things compare to British pubs! “I miss having a pint at a British pub, which has a completely different vibe and ambience to American bars,” Brenden told us.
