TikToker Is Sharing 15 “Culture Shocks” That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines

Moving to a new city might feel disastrous to a teen. But leaving your life behind and starting a new one in another country? That's a real challenge for anyone.

Christen Eve grew up in Davao City, Philippines. However, when she was 15, Christen had to pack her bags for the US. Now 28, the singer/songwriter has been revisiting the big transition in a TikTok video series where she reveals the "culture shocks" she had experienced back then.

It provides an interesting comparison between the two countries so we figured you might enjoy it as much as Christen's 395K followers.

More info: TikTok | Instagram

P.S. If this turns out to be something up your alley, check out Bored Panda's publications on the "culture shocks" this Canadian woman went through after moving to Sweden as well as the ones this American woman faced in Australia and this Brit was exposed to in the US.

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines When I moved to the U.S. at 15 I was surprised to find out that not everybody in the world uses cement and shards of glass as their security system. At our house in the Philippines we didn't have an alarm system, hell, we didn't even have a smoke alarm, but we had broken bottles of glass dammit and that's all we needed

christen_eve Report

Final score:

74points

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Roxy Eastland 3 years ago

Used to see this in the UK, I think it's illegal now. Imagine if the emergency services had to break in, for example.

21points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines Breakfast in the Philippines vs breakfast in America. A huge adjustment for me when moving back to the States is how sugary the breakfasts are here.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"Oh oil and sugar pls"
In the Philippines we always had rice for breakfast. I mean you had rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but like with fried spam, egg or like fried sausage w/ eggs. When I first moved here and I would try eating the typical American breakfast I would feel sick afterward honestly cuz it's just so bread-based and corn syrup and sugary

christen_eve Report

Final score:

71points

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Sara Rosen 3 years ago

Don't believe the sitcoms. The "typical American breakfast" is pretty rare. Most people just have a piece of toast or some yogurt and fruit. The whole eggs, pancakes, sausage thing is just a special treat.

101points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines Note: I understand this doesn't include everybody in the U.S.

At our house in the Philippines we always had lizards or geckos, whatever you wanna call them, all over the walls and they were great at taking care of flies and mosquitoes. It was common to just be, you know, going about your day in your house and all the sudden just hear *gecko noise*. And the other thing we always had was ants - ants all over the kitchen, forming a line, doing their thing. We didn't bother them they didn't bother us. When I moved here I was so surprised at how much people freak out over having these things in their house and ants in their kitchen, and they buy all these chemical things to get rid of them.

christen_eve Report

Final score:

71points

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KJ 3 years ago

Hell no to having ants in the kitchen.

97points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines I moved to the U.S. when I was 15, I'm 28 now... I still don't know how to not stare. In the Philippines, staring is not a big deal. It's not considered rude or bad manners like it is here in the States. Staring is Caring OK. If there was an accident on the road, you would always know, because a huge crowd would form in the middle of the road watching whoever got injured, yes, in the middle of the road with traffic continuing to go by, and of course because I grew up there since I was a baby, it is very normal for me to just sit and watch people. People would stare at me and I would stare at them. Now in America my boyfriend has to tell me all the time to stop staring

christen_eve Report

Final score:

57points

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Mark Melton 3 years ago

There's areas of America where holding a man's stare is the same as saying, "I want to fight you". So don't be rude and stare!

14points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines McDonald's, McDonald's instead of McDo and not being able to order chicken and rice or spaghetti at Mcdonald's. That was a really weird one and I was super bummed out about it. Because the brown gravy that goes with the chicken and rice at the Mcdonald's in the Philippines is to die for and yes I would drink it

christen_eve Report

Final score:

55points

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Kona Pake 3 years ago

A scoop of rice, two eggs and spam or Portuguese sausage.

12points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines In the Philippines I was so used to just leaving the house with my hair wet. Everyone did it, all the women did it, that's how I grew up doing it there. Take a shower right before you leave the house, and you just leave with your hair completely wet and not dried or styled. When I mover here and found out that's not really a thing I was like *squeak*. I still didn't care. I was like "I can't do this" even in winter I would leave the house with my hair wet and it would get so hard and cold

christen_eve Report

Final score:

53points

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Random Panda 3 years ago

I'm in the US and I leave the house all the time with wet hair. Just did it yesterday while going to the store. Why do people think that's weird?

55points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines The brooms! This freaking "broom" doesn't do s**t. My boyfriend and I got into an argument about this one day when we were cleaning the house because he was like "What's wrong with the brooms here? I don't understand. There's nothing wrong with them" I was like.. this thing you're gonna defend this really? When I had to sweep with this crappy thing for the first time here in the States, I was like I'm not gonna survive here. This thing does not do anything and it's awful it's stiff and just bleh. Now this is a broom that actually sweeps PROPERLY

christen_eve Report

Final score:

44points

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Susie Keegan 3 years ago

I hated those brushes when I lived in Thailand, you need a proper sweeping brush like we have in Ireland otherwise its back breaking!

3points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines Everybody eating bread with almost every meal here and barely eating rice. Bread is a snack and rice is a staple

christen_eve Report

Final score:

41points

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Caro Caro 3 years ago

This I totally get. Even here in France bread goes with everything, even a meal with potatoes or a pasta.

15points

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TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines There weren't any Sari Sari stores anywhere. Sari Sari stores are everywhere in the Philippines and our neighbors had one next door so we would always go there and get snacks. You walk up and just pick out what you want, pay for it and just get it out of that little window right there. Also if you were out and about and you were thirsty, you could go up to one of these, you could get a little plastic bag that had been filled with water, tied at the top and put in the fridge. You'd just bite the corner and drink some cold water

christen_eve Report

Final score:

39points

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Roxy Eastland 3 years ago

Like kiosks?

29points

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See Also on Bored Panda

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#15

TikToker Is Sharing 15 "Culture Shocks" That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines The way people would make a big deal or freak out over words being shortened or how I referred to things. For example, when I would say "Hey can u go put this in the ref for me?" They'd be like "In the what?" "The ref.. you know... refrigerator

christen_eve Report

Final score:

16points

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Aahzmandus Pervect 3 years ago

Isn't fridge short for refrigerator? Ref is referee, no wonder they were making a big deal, they didn't understand you.

96points

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What do you think ?

Norma_Bates 3 years ago

Strange article

27points

Kenny Kulbiski 3 years ago

Yeah, I'm kinda shocked that people are shocked when things are different in other places.

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Ronualdo 3 years ago

So happy BoredPanda featured things about my country. If there’s one thing i can add, is that when someone would ask for direction, most of the time we use our lips to point the direction instead of our fingers. Like we pout our lips to show you the way. And also to foreigners, don’t get offended when filipinos would refer you as “Americans”, we were colonized by the Americans and they have heavily influenced our culture, so all foreigners to most filipinos are Americans. It’s not an insult, it is something ingrained in our minds after they colonized us.

8points

Appear! 🙋‍♂️ I would also add the *way* of getting directions. In UK or US, you can always find your own way around without ever asking - multiple area maps, pointed signs, self-guided pamphlets, posted transportation routes and schedules etc. In the Philippines, the way from point A to point B is go to the nearest bus stop or busy hub and "ask somebody." Then they will tell you how to get to the next hub, where you "ask somebody," and so on. The best part is, it actually works! 4 AM on a Tuesday? Some random people will be there, and they will help you! Even inside some 2-story shopping malls there are no maps.

2points

Vicky Z 3 years ago

Isn't anyone else a little tired of these "cultural shocks" articles that are more and more lately? Honestly it's ALWAYS a cultural shock when you move to a different country!

Sanne H. 3 years ago

I like to read them actually.

9points

Knoura 3 years ago

Your education has failed you when you are shocked that other countries do things differently.

1point

Shruti Patel 2 years ago

Afer reading all this i feel Philippines is 99.99% like India. Apart from ancestry and geography we are sisters.

0points

Jose Carlo 2 years ago

WHY . . . on earth would you be shocked when going from one country to another? I had been to more or less 80 - I never experienced ANY culture shock! People and culture, as well as the language will be different EVERYWHERE! I too came from the Philippines - no culture shock when I got here in the US and assimilated in a a FEW DAYS!

Yehudit Hannah Cohn 3 years ago

There's no real shock here. Things are different. Wow. Hey, everyone else said this, too. Culture shock is much more than differences in what McDonald's serves in countries other than your own. The McD's in Jerusalem is serving mini pitas and falafel, which I find just useless, but not shocking.

Yenifer Gavina 3 years ago

Lol this sounds like The Philippines is so similar to Mexico

Toast Of Saint Louis 3 years ago

Welcome to the States. No body gives a f**k.

-1point

Łukasz Markuszewski 3 years ago

"I was shocked. And it was so hard to adjust to changing it in my brain" TF girl? It's just a naming, nothing serious. Also you had mental breakdown over conditioner? Seriously? What's wrong with you?

Auntriarch 3 years ago

When you've spent your life using a word for a sanitary product and hear it being used for table ware, I imagine it would give you a mental jolt, and take some getting used to.

TikToker Is Sharing 15 “Culture Shocks” That She Experienced After Moving To The USA From The Philippines

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