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To find out more about what an American living abroad had to say about cultural differences, Bored Panda reached out to Kacie Burns, actor and dancer from Canton, Michigan, who has been documenting her daily adventures after moving to live in Florence, Italy. Kacie has a whopping 479.6K followers on her TikTok, where she has amassed 12.9M likes for her fun and lighthearted videos.
Having lived in Europe for quite some time now, Kacie has confirmed that American culture is really different from European in so many ways. “Everything from what they eat to how they dress to what they value to culture/society norms—and then it differs even further when you look at the cultural differences between different European countries,” Kacie told us.
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She also said that she experienced “major cultural shocks living in Italy, but I know that if I visit or live in any other European country, I'll experience different culture shocks there as well.” The biggest lifestyle and mindset difference Kacie sees is “the old saying, 'Americans live to work, while Europeans work to live.' It's so true.”
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She added that in general, “Americans are constantly on the go—constantly working, constantly moving, constantly striving for the next best thing, which is great for its own reasons, but I've also found that because of this, Americans are much more stressed, much more overworked, and much more burnt out compared to Europeans.”
Kacie recounted that when she moved to Italy, one of the biggest culture shocks she experienced was “how Italians take time during their day to slow down and relax, whether it be closing the store for 3 hours in the afternoon to go home and spend time with family or having mandatory paid vacation weeks by law, no matter your job.”
Having said that, the actress and TikToker added that it also has its negative connotations “but in general I've found they make enjoying their life a priority. It's definitely something I've gathered is similar as a whole in Europe as well!”
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