EntertainmentNOV 24, 2021

11 “Culture Shocks” That This New Zealander Experienced After Relocating To The US

Konstancija Gasaitytė and Saulė Tolstych

We live in a world where a lot of things we learn through books, movies, and the internet. But one of the most common and exciting ways to learn more about other cultures is by traveling. For a lot of people, this became an interesting and eye-opening experience, so a lot of them like to share what they have seen and heard, and compare this experience with how things are run “at home.” Bored Panda already covered some of the stories of people who decided to share their cultural shocks, one of these stories you can find here.

When people talk about their travels, very often a place they refer to as culturally shocking is the United States. One of the recent is examples is TikTok user Jazz Thornton who started sharing what things she finds weird and different in the US. The woman who is from New Zealand relocated from her country to the United States and has already become viral on TikTok with her funny and entertaining videos.

More Info: TikTok

#1 School At 7.30 Am

You'll start school at 7:30 in the morning. Are teenagers functioning at 7:30 in the morning, because where I'm from, we start school at 9 AM every day. That means that you have to get up at like, 6 AM something. I wasn't getting out of bed until like 7:30 AM. Who decided that teenagers work best at 7:30 AM?

notjazzthornton, Lead Beyond

Report

145points

#2 'i Really Wish I Had An Accent'

So the other day I was on a conversation with an American, and she looked me in the eyes and goes, 'man, I really wish I had an accent. I just speak normally.' Which I was like, 'ma'am, you do realize that the USA is not a main character, right?' You do have an accent to absolutely everyone who is not American.

notjazzthornton, Miguel Discart

Report

144points

#3 It's Really Expensive To Have A Baby In The USA

It cost about $50,000 to birth the baby. These children are putting you in debt. In New Zealand hospitals are completely free. So you could be in there for like four months afterwards and you wouldn't have to pay a thing. We do pay taxes to obviously cover that.

notjazzthornton, Sami Keinänen

Report

126points

Jazz is a well-known mental health activist film director and book author. The 26-year-old woman’s work is related to spreading awareness and educating people about sensitive mental health problems that many individuals suffer from. For this reason, her and her friend started an organization called Voices of Hope. Jazz tries and enjoys encouraging people to believe in themselves, to have a hope that things will get better. She likes to remind this to people through her videos.

#4 The Price That Is Displayed Is Not The Final Price

Like today I went and bought a dress and the price tag that I saw on it when I actually went to go check out, it was like $10 more, because they add tax on after. And then when you're in restaurants and stuff, it's the taxes added and the tipping is added so like nothing is the normal price. Like if that happened to me in New Zealand and I went to pay for something and it was like more than what the price tag was, I'd be like, 'I'm sorry, what?'

notjazzthornton, sylvar

Report

104points

#5 Tipping

Tipping is literally not a thing where I'm from, like, again, America with the unnecessary math. How do I calculate this? What am I supposed to give someone? In New Zealand, the minimum wage is $20. That's for an adult. In America, it's $7.25. Now, keeping in mind that our currency is a lot weaker than America, it equals out to be $14.10 in minimum wage, which is double the minimum wage here. But also do people make more money from tips?

notjazzthornton, Kai Hendry

Report

80points

#6 American Portion Sizes

So I'm on week two here and I discovered very early on that a lot of your portion sizes, like, the large is a very large. I'm not used to it where I'm from. So, I was like, was this so big? So tonight, right? I was like okay, I'm going to get a small. This is what I got tonight. Please, is someone pranking me? This is the size of my palm. This is my noodle box.

notjazzthornton, Konrad Summers

Report

77points

#7 Dogs In Stores

So you're telling me that here in America, you can bring your dogs into stores with you? Like, guys yesterday I was at H&M, right? And it was like four dogs in the store. I am so here for it. This is not a thing that we see in New Zealand and I need it. As long as I can pet all of the dogs.

notjazzthornton, Bennilover

Report

76points

The woman also uploads goofy and lighthearted content on her TikTok platform. One of these is related to her relocation to the United States. In her TikToks, the woman doesn't hide her surprise at how different some of the things in the US are. It might seem that some of these things are already well known. Not knowing how to tip waiters in a restaurant and having to pay for having a baby at the hospital are only a couple of these examples. The woman also shared some of the lesser known facts about when American kids start their school day and that people are allowed to bring their dogs to stores.

Which one of these things do you find weird? Or maybe you know something that wasn’t shared on this list? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!

#8 Scam Calls

I got an American number not too long ago and on the day that I did I had like four scam calls in one day. And now they just- every day, multiple times a day, is just scam calls. I think in New Zealand I got like one scam call every two months.

notjazzthornton, Sascha Kohlmann

Report

71points

#9 Burger And Sandwich

Can someone please explain to me why they call this a burger, but they call this a sandwich. If it's beef it's a burger. If it's chicken, it's a sandwich, but they're both in a bun.

notjazzthornton

Report

63points

#10 Biscuits And Gravy

All I'm imagining right now is that kind of thing. That beautiful biscuit cover in meat sauce. It just looks nasty.

notjazzthornton, Michael Kmak

Report

45points

#11 Spray Cheese

This does not exist where I'm from. I've been told to eat it only with Ritz crackers so you have put your thumb on it.

notjazzthornton

Report

39points