American reacts to 5 UK Culture shocks!

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01]Hello, y'all. I'm Wayne from Dallas, Texas.

[00:00:04]I react to all things UK.

[00:00:07]Got a video here for you right now. It's called Life in the UK Exposed, Five Shocking Cultural Shocks by the channel Grace Ola.

[00:00:16]I'll put a link in the video description. Let's check it out.

[00:00:20]>> The biggest culture shock when I first moved into the UK, people actually queue for basically everything.

[00:00:27]And if here, when you try to cheat, people are going to give you a very funny look. They're going to be wondering, where is this guy from?

[00:00:35]>> [snorts] >> Grace Ola.

[00:00:41]Love that name.

[00:00:43]>> And my name is Grace Ola. In all this channel, I share everything migration, from job opportunities to visas, and I bring on my personal experiences as well, just to make it relatable. So, if this is something that interests you, just like, subscribe, and share my videos. Well, today, I will be talking about the five biggest shock of my life.

[00:01:07]The five biggest culture shock I faced when I entered the UK.

[00:01:12]It's been 2 years, but I can't still think back. I can't think back, guys.

[00:01:17]Make sure you watch the video to the end because these are things that you wouldn't even think about. These are things that you would least expect. The first thing I'll be talking about is queuing and politeness. So, in this country, people are very polite. And when it comes to queuing, people wait for their turn.

[00:01:38]Unlike back in Africa, where, like, you know, everybody is just It's just like survival of the fittest. Here, when it's not your turn, you're not going to be served. So, here, people are very polite. And even if you're delaying, let's say you're in a queue. So, I went to the supermarket one day, and there was this guy that was delaying. I was thinking he was going to be scolded, you know. You know, back in Africa you'll be shouted up. Oh, boss, hurry up. No, here it's not like that. People are very polite.

[00:02:06]So, that is number one. The second thing is the weather.

[00:02:11]The weather, hm.

[00:02:14]That's if I if the say disappointment in its highest degree, it is UK's weather. Sometimes the weather forecast, when you go on your Google, the weather can tell you this in the next minute it's actually rain. The weather can change. It can tell you to be sunny and then the next minute it's raining.

[00:02:34]During autumn, where it rains, I just grab an umbrella, put it in my bag, and then, you know, just for the uncertainty.

[00:02:43]The third thing is accent and slangs.

[00:02:47]Would you imagine that the word cheers is not the cheers we know in Ghana, like, you know, when you are like celebrating. That is not what it means.

[00:02:58]Cheers in the UK means thank you, like, a way to appreciate someone. Someone said cheers to me in a shop and I was looking at the person like So, I go home and I researched and I got to know that cheers means thank you.

[00:03:18]So, I was confused, but I mean, I didn't want to show my ignorance immediately, but I just pretended. But I went to a corner and I was like What is that mean? Cheers? Cheers to what?

[00:03:31]What are we cheering? There is no drink, you know.

[00:03:33]Slang's like cheers. Slang's like I'm going to the loo. The loo [clears throat] in the UK is you're going to the toilet.

[00:03:40]So, in the UK you don't say I'm going to the toilet.

[00:03:44]It's kind of very strange. The fourth thing is food portion and prices.

[00:03:49]Guys, if you are a foodie, eh, this country is not for you. And I got to realize that some of the things that are even imported, like African foods, are the quality are not the same with those back at home. Some of you who are in the UK, you will know what it takes to import or maybe ship items from Ghana. It's a lot of money. So, I came into the UK and I mean, it was very hard, but um well, I brought some things, but I mean, it finished. You got to survive.

[00:04:20]Surviving. Yeah, we're still here and surviving in the UK. The fifth thing I'll be talking about is independence and privacy.

[00:04:28]There is something that as a migrant, I mean, you need to adjust and adapt to.

[00:04:36]So, you know, back in Africa, neighbors are like family. They share ideas, share food. But here in UK, it is totally the opposite because your neighbor is not your friend.

[00:04:51]Your neighbor is not your family. In fact, your neighbor might not even greet you. You are not entitled to your neighbor's greetings or sharing pleasantries or anything. If you're coming into the UK and you are the friendly type, well, I pray you find your match, but I pray you you meet good people. There were good people there who are friendly. I mean, don't get me wrong. There are good people there who are friendly. But when you find yourself in a community that are not Africans, you know, it's it's going to be quite difficult.

[00:05:25]So, before I go, I would like you to comment what you think about all I've said, if you have any experience in your community or where you live currently.

[00:05:37]Um I would like you to share your experiences in the comment section just so that we can interact and then people can also learn from it. Okay? Thank you so much guys for watching and I will see you in my next video. Bye guys.

[00:05:56]>> Bye.

[00:05:58]Yeah, queuing shows up in this in these types of videos all the time.

[00:06:05]I don't I've never I mean I don't I've lived in 13 states in the US. Of course, she's not from the US.

[00:06:14]I don't experience people cheating in line.

[00:06:18]I've never seen it. I've never experienced it. I've seen Americans say this, oh that you queue so well in the UK.

[00:06:26]I don't know. I don't know. I've been to 32 states.

[00:06:30]Like I said, I've lived in 13 plus the plus Washington D.C. which is not in a state.

[00:06:38]So, I've lived a lot of places, north, south, east, west.

[00:06:42]I've stood in a lot of queues. I've never seen anyone cheat or push or shove.

[00:06:48]So, I don't know. I don't understand that one when I see it.

[00:06:51]The cheers thing, it confused me too at first because like she said, in her country, cheers in the US, it means we're cheering something or we're toasting something. Doesn't mean thank you. So, yeah, that one's confused me too. Good video though. If you enjoyed it, please hit the like and subscribe button. Till next time, y'all take care.