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An American bartender who moved Down Under has revealed the 14 surprising culture shocks she has experienced since arriving four months ago.
Grace, from Texas, mentioned an array of changes including the lack of tinned green beans, the use of QR codes to order food, the lack of ice tea and much higher wages.
The 23-year-old now lives in Bermagui, New South Wales, and says she could easily add many more culture shocks to her lengthy list.
23-year-old Grace (pictured) recently moved to New South Wales, Australia and was shocked at the differences between here and her homeplace in America
The Texas bartender loves Australia, but experienced so many culture shocks she shared a list of 14 differences on TikTok
The bartender had so much to say on the topic that she shared three TikTok videos about the culture shocks she experienced.
‘I’m honestly having a really hard time keeping this under a minute,’ she said in her first video.
The number one ‘biggest’ difference she noticed was the disparity in wage between America and the US.
‘I get paid $27 an hour as a bartender, if you work on a public holiday it’s like $60 an hour. If I work on a Sunday, I’m getting $38 an hour,’ she explained to her American followers.
‘Coming from $7.25 or $2.13 an hour that’s a massive difference to me.’
She was also surprised that Aussies pay rent and sports memberships weekly instead of monthly.
‘Even though it’s still technically $20 a month, its $5 a week,’ she said.
Ordering food is ‘massively different’ as ‘nine times out of ten’ it’s ordered via a QR code and brought to your table.
Grace also believes that the options for people with dietary restrictions in Australian restaurants is a lot wider than in the States.
‘Almost every single restaurant has gluten free, vegan and vegetarian safe options,’ she explained.
A ‘simple thing’ that annoys her is the lack of canned green beans which she said she cannot find at the store and needs to make her favourite casserole recipe.
Grace never air-dried her clothes before arriving in Australia, and was shocked that so many Aussies only dry clothes this way.
‘I’ve always had a dryer available,’ she said.
She thinks the rubbish and recycling system is very confusing.
‘There is three trash cans, I’ve never had three f*cking trash cans, and I lived in Texas so you have to pay to buy a recycling bin.’
Chemists are also different than in the States.
‘There are no pharmacies, Australians call them chemists and they are in their own building. Pharmacies are in our grocery stores. That was a culture shock for me,’ she explained.
The bartender also never saw a trolley escalator before arriving in Australia.
Some of the differences Grace noted include a higher wage in Australia, as well as weekly pay, differences ordering food and better options for people with dietary requirements
She had never heard surprised the term ‘tradies’ before, a word used to describe people who work in trades and which isn’t used in America.
Her biggest pet peeve was undoubtedly parking in Australia.
She said there is a lot less parking lots and more covered parking garages, and people tend to park on the street more.
‘I just hate it, I really do,’ she said.
Grace finds shopping malls very confusing in New South Wales as her local mall has a fish market alongside the clothes shops.
‘Why do I need to buy salmon when I came her for clothes?’ she laughed.
She finds it frustrating that stores like Coles and Woolworths are often in malls instead of separate.
Surprisingly, the bar worker said Kmart is ‘dead’ in America and is ‘thriving’ in Australia.
Her final culture shock is the lack of readily available ice tea in fast-food restaurants and shops.
Many of Grace’s followers appreciated the interesting differences she noted since making the move.
Some Americans and Australians were offended by her videos, but others thought they were very ‘interesting’ and enjoyed hearing the variation
‘I’m loving this because I’m an Aussie staying in Houston and I’m seeing these same differences but obviously the opposite way around!’ one woman said.
‘I love that you are not bashing either place! It’s so interesting to learn about but I loathe the bashing people do,’ another wrote.
However some Australian and American commenters became defensive after hearing her list.
‘Australia is boring, literally nothing to do and expensive,’ one American woman said.
Several Australian people quickly told Grace that canned green beans and ice tea can easily be found in grocery stores, whilst others said she was ‘so out of touch’.
Others explained the shocks Grace experienced.
‘When you see an electricity bill you will appreciate the clothes line,’ one woman joked.
‘We may get paid more, but things cost more too,’ another said.
Others pointed the surprising shocks they experienced since moving Down Under.
‘Just wait till you buy tampons, ours don’t have applicators,’ one woman said.
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