Andrea Celeste moved from sunny California, US, for life in England and recently shared the three biggest culture shocks she’s experienced during her time across the pond
Life in the UK really differs from the US(Image: Getty Images)
A woman revealed what life in the UK is really like after moving from America to here. Life can feel different in the UK, especially for our friends across the pond.
While we share the same language, eat many similar foods, there’s still a lot of differences the UK and US face on a daily basis. Now one woman who swapped sunny California for life in the UK has revealed the three biggest culture shocks she’s faced. Andrea Celeste, who now lives in London, has been living it up here, enjoying our pub culture and lingo.
In a TikTok post with her 200,600 followers, she said: “One of the biggest culture shocks I had as a Californian living in England was how people greet each other.”
Speaking about when she first moved across the pond, Celeste pointed out the frequent use of the sentence ‘you alright?’ She thought it was “a casual hello” but pointed out how in California this means someone’s worried about you.
She added: “I also hadn’t anticipated how much it would throw me off because back home, ‘how are you’ is more of a formality and you’re not really expected to answer honestly. But here if you ask someone how they are, they’ll actually tell you.”
Sharing her next culture shock, Celeste mentioned how in the UK people apologise for everything, while in California, ‘sorry’ is reserved for when you’ve done wrong.
The influencer continued: “In England I noticed people apologising for things that aren’t even their fault like you walk into them, they’ll apologise, it’s like sorry is less about guilt and more about keeping things smooth between people.”
And finally, our pub culture received a mention in Celeste’s video.
She explained: “The other thing that genuinely surprised me was discovering how central pubs are to everyday life. In California, if you’re meeting up with someone, you might go to a restaurant, coffee shop, the beach etc, so there’s not really one default spot.
“But here the pub is the go-to for a lot of occasions, like after work drinks, Sunday lunch with family or catch up with friends. There’s something cosy about the tradition of having a weekly Sunday roast with family and friends or going to a pub in a small village where everyone knows everyone.
“The equivalent in California would probably be a brewery but I can’t think of anything like it back home and it took me a while to realise how much of English social life actually happens there.”
Since she shared the video, it garnered plenty of likes and comments. One said: “My go to is ‘you alright’ or ‘hiya’.” Another added: “How I miss England. I love your observations.”
