American woman reveals the things that confuse her most about living in the UK

An American woman who moved across the Atlantic for work has revealed all the things she finds bizarre about the UK.

Miriam Giraffe moved from Vancouver, Washington on the west coast of the United States to London in 2021.

She had previously studied abroad in the UK but is now living here permanently after getting a job.

In a series of TikTok videos, Giraffe has documented all the things that have surprised her about the British way of life.

One clip has been viewed 217,000 times and she explained that Brits using, “you alright?”, as a greeting still throws her off, as she thinks they’re saying she looks ill.

She also said that having to hail a bus to make it stop for you was new to her. After having multiple buses drive past her at the bus stop, she only learned you had to hail it after seeing someone else do it.

Another thing that shocked Giraffe was the ability to be able to transfer money to people through banking apps.

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Some people in the comments were equally shocked that you can’t do that in the US.

One person wrote: “wait you can't do a bank transfer on your phone in America? 😳”

Another commented: “Blew my mind finding out Americans don’t have bank transfer, blew my mind even more finding out they don’t have contactless cards.”

In her third clip, Giraffe said she quickly learned that wearing wellies, or rain boots, when it’s raining is not a common thing in London.

A TikToker in the comments reassured her: “Wellies are very common in the countryside. Even when it’s not raining.”

The differences in British and American culture were put to the test when indy100 asked an American to judge some of Britain's most unusual Christmas traditions. Debates have also emerged around which country does breakfast better.

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