Foreigners vs. BIGGEST USA Culture SHOCKS!

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]In today's video, I'll be asking foreigners, what's really surprising about the US? What's been their biggest US culture shock? Stick around to the end to find out so you know what to look out for. Where are you from, mate? I'm from Birmingham.

[00:00:10]>> Nice. What brings you to the US?

[00:00:11]Holiday, mate. Holiday, holiday.

[00:00:13]>> [laughter] >> All right. What's been your biggest US culture shock?

[00:00:15]>> Can I be honest? Yeah. The crackheads bothering me, mate. Like in in Birmingham, the crackheads like doing their own thing. Over here, mate, they're getting involved. They're getting involved, mate. They're telling me, "Oh, I don't There goes the crackhead that I see each [music] morning. They're all right. I mean, they're harmless, but flipping hell, mate. Leave me alone. Where's this been that you've been accosted by the crackheads?

[00:00:36]>> Uh Times Square.

[00:00:37]>> Yeah? Yeah. Everyone's talking about Times Square today.

[00:00:39]>> Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] People stay away from Times Square if you don't want to have to deal with crackheads. I don't I was on a bus coming here to Central Park, and there was one woman on the bus, and she was just walking around, and she unfortunately smelled homeless.

[00:00:51]>> [laughter] >> Um and yeah, you could tell there was something going on there. So, aside from the crackheads, what else has been a big culture shock to you about the US?

[00:00:58]>> Oh, mate, how quick the food comes out.

[00:01:00]>> Yeah? Now, if we compare that to other countries, especially France, we spend three times as much in fast food than they do. Speed at which they make this food is mind-blowing.

[00:01:08]>> Uh every time we've eaten out, yeah, it's came out in about 2 minutes. I was like, "I haven't even got my phone out yet. I was meant to take a flipping, you know, I was meant to take photos and stuff."

[00:01:14]>> Well, if it if it comes out quickly when they cook it, it's probably going to come out quickly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:01:18][laughter] If you don't ask for it. I mean, I've been all right so far. That's good. That's what I And the Quarter Pounders in Australia, it's grass-fed meat that's just fried with cheese in a bun. And he said he got a Quarter Pounder over here, he's like, "What the [ __ ] is this?" He said it tastes like [ __ ] You know, they're not even feeding their cows grain.

[00:01:33]>> And how have you found Americans to be?

[00:01:35]>> Friendly, mate. I love them. I love them. So friendly, yeah.

[00:01:37]>> What kind of things have you seen about them that's been friendly? I was in Orlando like a couple years ago.

[00:01:42]Basically, I I I lost my card, and I couldn't use Apple Pay to pay for my baggage when I was at the airport, and I was like stressed as out. They were like, "No, you need a physical card. You need a physical card." I was like, "Hey, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?" And then the guy next to me who's weighing his bag is like, "Bro, don't worry about it." Passed me his card. I was like, "Bro, no way. You serious? You've saved my life. Like legend, legend, legend." He's like, "What's your details?" He's like, "Ah, don't worry about it, bro." And I was like, "What the It's like $250, man.

[00:02:02]That's a lot of kindness. That's amazing. He was probably a baller, but you know, nevertheless He was with a He was with a fit younger bird, so he's probably showing off a bit. Fair enough.

[00:02:10]That's amazing. All right, any final words about the US? Come here, man. Try it out. People say a lot of stuff about Americans. They say, you know, they say a lot about stuff about Americans, but come here, man, cuz they're friendly people.

[00:02:19]>> Awesome. Fantastic. Thank you so much.

[00:02:20]>> Thank you, bro. And where are you from?

[00:02:21]We are from Thailand.

[00:02:22]>> Thailand. Welcome. All right. So, what's been your biggest US culture shock? Um for me, like, when you get sick of have a fever, they would give you like an ice cream or like popsicle, which is like >> There you go.

[00:02:35]>> [laughter] >> In my country In my country, they would just like if you get something warm, something cozy, but you guys just give me like popsicle to cool down my body, which is like it's reasonable, but kind of weird for me. So, you you said you went to A&E.

[00:02:57]>> gave me popsicle and ice cream for like uh oh, you get a fever, yeah, take this and you will get better. Huh? Did it work?

[00:03:04]>> No, not at all. I'm just coughing after that and sore throat. Oh my god.

[00:03:09]>> So, how did How did you get better in the end? I just take medicine after that. Okay, okay. You went somewhere >> our medicine. All right. Cool. And you, what's your biggest US culture shock? It was just from today. We went um to like the subway. Oh, yeah. It's kind of different from Thailand cuz it's kind of like I don't know. There's lots of people and then they were kind of in rush. I don't know. Yeah.

[00:03:29]And it's kind of I mean, it's beautiful in the in like in USA culture, you know.

[00:03:34]How does it compare to subways in Thailand? In Thailand, it's more modern.

[00:03:38]In here, it's kind of like traditional, classic. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

[00:03:44]Did you see any rats? Oh. New York is known for its rats, next to the pigeon.

[00:03:49]They're probably the closest thing the city has to a mascot. This man had fallen asleep on the subway when his little rat friend decided to come up and give him a kiss good night.

[00:04:05]Yeah. I kind of smell I get the smell too. And in Thailand, do you see rats or smell rats too? Yeah, we do have them like not as usual as that like that.

[00:04:15]Okay, and how have you found Americans to be? I think they're independent.

[00:04:19]Really Yeah. And outgoing. All the All the activity in here is just like go out, hang out outside. Not just indoor.

[00:04:27]You will have like hiking, swimming. You walk a lot in here.

[00:04:32]Yeah, so different from Thailand.

[00:04:34]>> What's been your favorite thing or the thing that you've had most fun doing so far that you liked the most? I mean talking with people in here. They're kind of friendly. Yeah. I thought it's going to be like, "Oh my god, I have to be scared of like strangers." But like they're just like, "Hi." Everyone that you go to they just talk. Yeah, they're Yeah. They talk. It's good. I like it.

[00:04:52]>> Well, that's fantastic. Any final message you all have about the USA? We love New York.

[00:04:57]WELCOME [laughter] TO NEW YORK.

[00:04:59]Thank you. Thank you. Where are you from? We are from Spain, Alicante.

[00:05:02]What's been your biggest culture shock of the US so far?

[00:05:05]>> We've been doing a tour around around New York and we think the US culture has been the most shocked us because everything, the way they dress, the neighborhood, the neighborhood, everything.

[00:05:16]>> What's been shocking about their their dress sense or how they dress? They are like freed up everything.

[00:05:21]Like a Sunday a Sunday day, the beard, the hair, everything. The woman, everything.

[00:05:27]>> And you talked about the neighborhood.

[00:05:28]What was surprising about the neighborhoods? The school bus, Yeah, the buildings. The buildings were beautiful.

[00:05:33]Yeah. The parks, everything. It was great. It was great. And how have Americans treated you? How have you found them to be? It's really fun. We are not used to this but it's really fun and it's amazing. What have you thought of the personality of Americans? It's like I see they are like open-minded.

[00:05:48]Yeah, so open-minded, so funny.

[00:05:49]>> Yeah, but they are also like on their on their way, you know? You can see who are tourists and who are not. Just landing in New York City, guys, and I'm so excited to finally be Hey, I'm walking here.

[00:06:01]I'm so excited to finally be here.

[00:06:02]Americans are rushing from place to place, and the tourists are taking their time. Okay, okay.

[00:06:08]What's been your best experience in the US so far? What have you liked most?

[00:06:11]Maybe the food, I would say. Maybe the food. What food did you have? burgers And he said he got a quarter pounder over here. He's like, "What the is this?" He said tastes like sh Uh what about you? What about you? Ribs?

[00:06:22]Nice. If anyone wants to come to the US, what would you recommend they should do?

[00:06:25]Go to Central Park, of course. Visit them the Brooklyn Bridge. It's great, also. Fantastic. Thank you so much.

[00:06:31]>> Thank you. Thank you. Where you from?

[00:06:32]Liverpool. Liverpool.

[00:06:34]>> Liverpool, UK. Nice. Another bit here.

[00:06:36]All right, so what's been your biggest US culture shock so far?

[00:06:38]>> The homelessness.

[00:06:39]>> Yeah? Yeah.

[00:06:40]>> What's been shocking about that?

[00:06:41]>> How much of it there is. The three US cities with the largest homeless populations. Number three, Seattle.

[00:06:47]Seattle's homeless population is over 38,000, representing 5% of the nation's total, with entire streets lined with makeshift dwellings. Many still live beneath bridges and in local parks.

[00:06:58]Number two, Los Angeles. With more than 86,000 homeless residents, Los Angeles has one of the largest homeless populations in the country. Skid Row, a sprawling 50-block area, is home to thousands. The city allocates over $1 billion a year to address the crisis, but the problem keeps growing. Some encampments have developed their own amenities, like barber shops and communal kitchens. New York City tops the list with approximately 111,000 >> lot bigger than England, like in especially Liverpool, like We thought that it was bad where we lived. And it seems like normal.

[00:07:30]When you walk around, people don't even like question anything. Everything just seems normal.

[00:07:34]>> It's when you walk in through like Times Square, like it's crazy. And it's so sad, as well, like and the drug problem, as well. Yeah.

[00:07:39]>> It's big.

[00:07:43]>> [music] >> It like you think how do you enjoy this bubble? Yeah, but when you come here and make sure It is big. And it's there should be more like resources and everything like more help for them cuz people shouldn't be on the streets like that.

[00:07:57]>> No, not like that. Yeah, no. So last time I came to the US was in 2019. I don't know if I saw it as much then, but in 2019 and then till now, weed has become legalized. Have you noticed how much people Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I said that and you walk on the streets and it stinks and you're like, "Oh, what is going on?" The number one thing I smell right now is pot. It's like everybody is smoking a joint now, you know?

[00:08:17]Everybody has a joint.

[00:08:19]>> How are they allowed to just walk around? It's legalized. It's legalized in the last couple of years.

[00:08:22]>> But why though? Why should someone be in prison for something that's minor as >> I agree with that. No, but I do agree with that. Obviously there's worse issues. But you get arrested here for like jaywalking.

[00:08:31]What? Well, another thing I've noticed is the jaywalking. I feel like I've seen lots of Americans jaywalking here. Yeah?

[00:08:36]And I thought it was illegal.

[00:08:37]>> Last time I came I never Yeah. But this time that I've came I actually have. I mean I've done it quite a few times to be honest because it's it's easy to forget, isn't it? Like when you're You just walk on. You just you keep nearly just crossing over like at any rate, not even crossing, not going to the zebra crossing, just trying to cross the road.

[00:08:51]You're going to get run over. And what have you thought of Americans? How have they treated you so far? So nice. I thought that they were going to be horrible, but everywhere you go like everyone just is so nice to you and they're so helpful. People say New Yorkers all the time are dead like rude and ignorant. I have not had one ignorant >> That's amazing. Yeah, they're so nice.

[00:09:07]They've been so nice. What kind of examples have you had of that? Like in the last couple of months I asked someone for directions and they're more than happy to help. Yeah, just like every everyone we've asked questions to just been happy to help us.

[00:09:15]>> Everyone has been so nice. Any final words about the US in general?

[00:09:18]>> I love it. It's so good. It's so nice and it's so different. Yeah, it is. To the UK, so different. The culture is so different.

[00:09:24]>> What's so different about it?

[00:09:25]>> We went to the Bronx yesterday, didn't we, to watch the Yankees game? And like there's so much community. Like you know, everyone was sitting in the park and like there was so kids playing with each other still and like all families Families were just sat outside like just like big groups of people and we were like, that is it's just not like that.

[00:09:40]Like if you're in if you're on your own by yourself like at our home, it's not it's not like that at all. It's so different here. It's nice to see.

[00:09:47]>> Awesome, fantastic. Thank you so much.

[00:09:48]>> Thank you. Where are you from? Mexico.

[00:09:50]>> Mexico, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. What has been your biggest US culture shock or your biggest culture shock in the US so far? Okay, for me that's something I like actually is that in Mexico if we want to say like no, for example if something someone invite you to hang out, you say, "You know what? I'm not feeling okay, like I have this to do." or you speak like not that direct. And here in the US is like people are more direct like, "No, like I don't want to do it."

[00:10:19]>> UK, when someone points out something obvious, we say, [music] "Well spotted." which is a sarcastic way of saying, "Anyone with half a brain would have noticed that AGES AGO." WE SAY, "NO SHERLOCK."

[00:10:31]>> I THINK IT'S BETTER THAT WAY for me.

[00:10:33]Yes, that's my big culture shock I think. And what made you want to come to the US in the first place? I'm here like as a tourist, so I think the cities are amazing. New York for me is like was one of my biggest dream to visit, so I'm here with my best friend.

[00:10:48]>> Nice.

[00:10:49]For the first time, so that's it.

[00:10:51]>> And what's been your best experience so far in the US? Being here with my best friend. We are architects, so to see the buildings we wanted to study in Mexico, it's really amazing. Nice. Do you have a favorite building so far that you've seen in the US? It's not a building, but I think the High Line and The Vessel are really really great. For me that's the best.

[00:11:12]>> [music] >> Fantastic. Any final message to the world about the USA? Well, I think we should be like more support each other countries. I think right now US and in the country are things are getting complicated, so I think we should show our share the love and be more uni- united. Be more united. Also fantastic.

[00:11:38]Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

[00:11:40]Where you from? France. That's nice. And so what's been your biggest US culture shock so far? I will say that we can't take the head of the shower down to This is what you think the direct down rain shower head is going to be like.

[00:11:55]>> [music] >> And then this is what it actually is.

[00:12:01]It's not practical.

[00:12:02]>> That's not very practical.

[00:12:04]>> Yeah. Yes, hygienic, I think.

[00:12:06]>> [laughter] >> So are you staying in a hotel or you staying in like a hostel? Okay. And is it a nice hotel like or We are staying in a hostel. Okay. Okay.

[00:12:14]Okay. But you'd think you should be able to take it off and like use it like all over the place and not just stuck in a You have the big one and a smaller one.

[00:12:21]Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I've I've experienced the same thing. It's just like it's stuck over your head so you're like, "What do I do? What do I do?" All right. What have you thought of Americans so far as you've interacted with them? They're very nice. It looks like in the movie. Yeah? Yeah.

[00:12:33]>> How so? Like people are open and don't hesitate to make compliments.

[00:12:39]Okay. And what are you most looking forward to hit in your time in the US?

[00:12:42]Have fun. Have fun? Yeah? Anything in particular that you're looking forward to do? We went to the summit today. This was the thing we wanted to see.

[00:12:50]>> Yes. Yeah. So it's a big building, right? Everyone keeps talking about it.

[00:12:53]Okay, cool. You wanted to see the whole of New York from it. That was it.

[00:12:56]>> It was great. Yeah. Very amazing. Here is amazing. Fantastic. Thank you so much. Thank you. Where you from? We're from China. China. Nice to meet you both. So what's been your biggest US culture shock? The smell of the weed.

[00:13:07]Yeah. Especially in New York.

[00:13:08]>> [laughter] >> What's New York City in one smell? Oh god. Strong, it's pungent, it's not a delightful smell. Garbage. Ashtray at the gas station. Yeah, I was going to say the garbage truck.

[00:13:22]Is that something you're not used to?

[00:13:23]Have you not been smelling weed elsewhere like in China? Is it Do you smell weed at all? No. Is it absolutely banned in China? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:13:30]Absolutely big no now.

[00:13:32]>> [laughter] >> What do you think of the weed being legalized in New York? What are your thoughts on it? As long as not like unhealthy to people, I think it's fine.

[00:13:41]What about you? Yeah.

[00:13:43]And what are the culture shocks you've had?

[00:13:44]>> People you really don't pay the subway fee.

[00:13:47]>> [laughter] >> What was once an occasional sighting has now become routine. Call it turnstile jumping or fare evasion, the MTA is calling it a criminal act that's costing them more than 500 million dollars just this year.

[00:13:58]>> One in three New Yorkers, over 30% of bus riders are not paying the fare.

[00:14:02]You've seen lots of people skipping the skipping and jumping over. And like We tried once.

[00:14:08]What happened when you tried it?

[00:14:09]Like nothing happened. Okay. So you just walked through and And we like we pay one. We pay one and we go together.

[00:14:17]Yeah. Okay, okay.

[00:14:18]How did you feel being a New Yorker and jumping the subway fees? Freedom.

[00:14:23]>> [laughter] >> Would you ever do something like that in China? No, you're not allowed to do that. Yeah. We We have a very like the security check is very like a Strict.

[00:14:32]Strict, okay. Yeah. And how have you found New Yorkers to be or Americans to be? What do you think of Americans? How have they been when you've talked to them or you've met them? What's their personality been like?

[00:14:40]>> Friendly, passionate, and they Yeah.

[00:14:43]They say hello to everyone. When we kind of like looking for something, they are always come here to ask or do you need any help?

[00:14:49]>> Yeah. Fantastic. All right. And any final message to the world about the USA? I think USA is freedom.

[00:14:55]Okay. [laughter] USA is freedom. I like that. All right, fantastic. Thank you.

[00:14:59]I'm from France. Nice. What in France are you from? I'm from Bordeaux, the south of France.

[00:15:03]>> Okay, great. [clears throat] What's been your biggest culture shock of the US so far?

[00:15:07]>> The buildings they are all very high and it's very different than than in in France. They are a little bit in in Paris, but not that high. A team daredevil climbs a construction crane high above the streets of Manhattan. He cheers on the very top with no harness.

[00:15:24]>> And also is a Central Park is very big with nature in the middle of the city.

[00:15:28]Central [music] Park is the fifth largest park in the New York City. It spreads over 843 [music] acres, which is larger than Monaco and almost twice the size of Vatican City. It is also the most visited urban park [music] in the United States with over 42 million visitors annually. And for me that's very shocking and that's incredible.

[00:15:48]It's very good, yeah. You don't have that in Bordeaux where you're from? You don't have big parks in the middle of the city?

[00:15:53]>> Oh, well, well, but not that big and not around that those skyscrapers that are very, very high.

[00:16:00]>> And how have you found Americans to be so far? What do you think of Americans so far?

[00:16:04]>> They're kind, I think, but they're very emotional. They they tell us a lot of things and I like that. Like what? What kind of things have they done that's been emotional or they've told you? They tell us that everything is incredible and they also every time use words like amazing, awesome, and Wow, they got to Perfect.

[00:16:23]>> [laughter] >> They're very expressive, I want to tell that's what I want to say.

[00:16:31]>> this, yeah. Cool, thank you so much.

[00:16:33]Thank you very >> And where are you from? Israel. And what's been your biggest US culture shock?

[00:16:37]>> I love US because US supporting Trump in Israel and I love Trump. I supporting Trump and Israel is the best country and US love Israel. So, this is the reason I'm in US.

[00:16:51]What surprise in US? The people. The American people is so nice, is so kind.

[00:16:57]So, I love American people. In what way have people been nice and kind to you?

[00:17:02]Because they open the door for me and they >> [laughter and gasps] >> And they say sorry about everything. I also love the people in the country.

[00:17:13]Also the food very good, all the junk food and the speed food. I very like it.

[00:17:20]And yes, the people so kind for What's What's been the most surprising thing?

[00:17:24]Maybe the people.

[00:17:25]>> Yes? Yes, the people very nice here.

[00:17:27]Also you.

[00:17:29]Thank you. Thank you. All right.

[00:17:33]Hi everyone. My name is Cody and I'm embarking on an exciting challenge [music] going from 100 subscribers to 10,000 subscribers in 1 month. I need your help [music] to achieve this. I am a YouTuber. I make great exciting videos traveling, asking people about hot topics. You can check out my videos, subscribe, follow, share, and like.

[00:17:49]Let's hit this target of 10,000 subscribers in 1 month. Together we can do this. Let the internet unite and let's [music] make this happen.