An American woman who returned to the United States after living in Australia for six years has outlined the biggest culture shocks since her return.
Creator Tay took to TikTok to share a series of videos detailing the “reverse culture shocks” she has experienced since returning to her home country.
Her first realization was when she was out in public and noticed how loud some people were talking, as she uploaded a short clip in which a woman can clearly be heard talking about her missing Tesla key.
In another video, Tay listed some other things that have shocked her since returning home, noting the vast amounts of packaged food as she walked through the grocery store.
“Everything is huge or family-sized,” Tay said, as she strolled through Target showing off boxes of cereal — all extremely large.
An American woman who returned to the United States after living in Australia for six years has outlined the biggest culture shocks since her return
“Do they make anything normal size?” she asked incredulously. ‘It’s all a bit of a reverse culture shock.’
Tay noted that before she lived in Australia, the mega-sized foods seemed normal to her.
“After being away for so long, I was like, wow,” she admitted. “It’s like reverse culture shock.”
Another one showed a sign which read, “No firearms are allowed on the premises,” while the American exclaimed, “Why are you bringing a firearm to the dinner anyway?”
Commentators agreed with her observations; many Americans who have returned from time abroad agreed with her videos.
“This still seriously affects me and I’ve lived in the US for almost three years,” one exclaimed.
‘Yes, I’m also American and lived in Australia for eight years! The huge bags of cereal are wild,” another agreed.
‘I worked in an Aussie call centre. There was a New Yorker, you could hear him clearly from the other side of the building, 100 feet away,” one user joked.
Creator Tay has shared a series of videos detailing the reverse culture shocks she has experienced since returning to her home country
Commentators agreed with her observations; many Americans who have returned from time abroad agreed with her
Others said they find Australians just as loud.
“Where in Australia did you live… I feel like Sydney people have the same loudness as Americans lol so I’m confused,” one user commented.
Tay often documents her observations and things she wishes she had known before moving from America to Down Under.
In one video, she shared some words of wisdom, starting with the knowledge that an iced coffee in Australia often comes with ice.
“Buy an iced latte instead,” she advised. “If you just want ice cream and coffee, get a long black one.”
The second was lemonade, which Tay says is Sprite.
“If you ask for lemonade, you get Sprite,” she said.
The next involved food, mentioning the chicken burger, which the American says is a chicken sandwich in Australia.
Others were related to the supermarket, such as arugula known as arugula and peppers as capsicum, melons as rockmelon and shrimp as shrimp.
Even vehicles have different names, with Tay pointing out that pick-up trucks are called utes in Australia.