A Newcomer Shared The Reaction She Gets When Asked Where She's From & It's Cringey (VIDEO)​

Time to brush up on geography, maybe?

Stills from a TikTok video.

Stills from a TikTok video.

Associate Editor

Being a newcomer to Canada means you often deal with a host of new things, from the weather to the confusion that is bagged milk.

And this can also include some pretty awkward conversations, especially if people ask you where you're from.

TikToker Lene, who posts under the handle @lenehermans, recently shared a video that's all too relatable for anyone who might be new to the country.

In the video, she shared what seems to be a common reaction that comes when she tells people she's actually new to Canada.

Apparently, it usually leads to a follow-up question: "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Norway," she responds.

"No way," people apparently say.

"Yeah, not many of us here," she usually shoots back.

"I've always wanted to go to Stockholm," is the response that usually comes back, to which a visibly confused Lene says, "Cool."

If you're wondering why this is so awkward, Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and not Norway.

@lenehermans

This happens too often. It’s like telling a Canadian you want to go to LA🤷🏻‍♀️

The capital of Norway is Oslo.

In a caption, Lene further explains why this is so awkward and yet hilarious.

"This happens too often," she's posted. "It's like telling a Canadian you want to go to L.A."

Just a reminder that if you're not sure of where a city or country is, just ask instead of assuming.

The video, which was viewed over 58,000 times, got loads of comments welcoming Lene into the country and laughing along with the faux pas.

"They meant Helsinki," one TikToker joked.

"People don't understand the difference between the Scandinavian countries here," another responded.

"Canadian geographical knowledge is basically half of Canada and then whatever heritage they have," another user joked.

It's obviously all in good fun, and Lene seems to be taking it in that manner too.

That being said, never too late to brush up on some geography!

  • Associate Editor

    Janice Rodrigues (she/her) was an Associate Editor with Narcity Media. She's a lifestyle journalist who swapped the sandy shores of Dubai for snowy Toronto in March 2022. She's previously worked with newspapers Khaleej Times in Dubai and The National in Abu Dhabi, writing about food, health, travel, human interest and more, and her byline has also appeared in blogTO in Toronto. She has a master's degree in media and communications from the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Since arriving, she's been busy exploring Toronto and is excited about everything it has to offer (with the only exception being the snow).

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