I’m a British mum… here’s what I’ve found strange since moving to America

• British mum Caroline moved to Boston and spoke of the cultural differences
• She claims she didn’t realise how sensitive Americans were

A British mum living in America has revealed the customs she finds the strangest after moving across the pond.

Caroline, who lives in Boston, has lived around the U.S since moving there with her family and shares her experiences on TikTok.

Known as @mummysflippinhouse, she posted a recent video listing uniquely American quirks, from relationships with neighbours to fast food chains.

She started off the three minute clip admitting that ‘some of these are very generalised so take it with a pinch of salt’.

She told her 707k followers:  ‘I didn’t realise how sensitive Americans are, everything is very very literal. Like I could be like “The sky is blue” and someone will argue with me and say “Sometimes it’s red!”‘

However, despite this she found them to be ‘very welcoming and very friendly’. Caroline recalled a sweet anecdote from her time in Virginia.

‘Our neighbour came round with a bag of popcorn and it said “Just popping around to welcome you!” before she broke into light laughter and joked: ‘Ha, that would never happen in my country’.

She has since moved to the East Coast and finds people to be more on her wavelength. 

‘People [in Boston] are a little bit more firm which is a lot more like British people and I think I land better with Bostonians than with southern people’.

And like many Brits, Caroline wasn’t quite aware of the breadth of US accents, but confessed: ‘I think that probably goes both ways’.

‘I just thought it was like California, and East Coast and Texas. I didn’t know that there was like a Minnesota accent – I love it.

‘My husband says Minnesotan accents sound more Canadian than Canadians’.

America is also known for its extensive fast food collection and Caroline has certainly been won over by it.

‘I think Chick Fil A is one of the best foods’, she said, speaking of the popular chain.

But she did find ordering food in American restaurants unnerving, particular when ‘the waiter walks away with your credit card’.

‘In the UK they have to do your payment at the table. You would follow them and be like “Give me my card back” because there’s so much fraud with that.

‘It’s weird how in America most things are signature still, and even chip and pin but contactless is not really a thing here. 

‘I know some newer places have it but it’s not as common because in the UK you could just not go out with your bag at all, everything’s on your phone’.

Caroline confessed that she ‘didn’t know how different each state was’. 

She said: ‘As Brits, we kind of just see the TV and don’t see how different each state is and I didn’t know that there aren’t laws by government, there are state laws.

‘So individual states can make up a law but then there’s like the one that goes all across, like federal law. I thought it was just the White House!

‘And Americans are also really passionate to tell you what state they’re from because a lot of states have different mentalities and views’.

Caroline’s final observation was a gripe – the accessibility of fast food.  She said: ‘I love and hate how easy it is to get fast food like we’re literally having a Dunkin Donuts in the car.

‘There’s not really drive throughs in the UK, well there are some but it’s not really a thing’.