A Ukrainian Refugee Got Real On TikTok About How Canadians & Americans Are Different (VIDEO)

"I don’t want to jump into conclusions..."

Semion talking. Right: Semion looking off-camera.

Semion talking. Right: Semion looking off-camera.

Senior Writer

A Ukrainian who recently moved to Canada has been documenting all of his thoughts about the country on TikTok, but his recent trip to Los Angeles seems to have given him something new to directly compare Canucks to.

Semion, who describes himself as a "Ukrainian refugee exploring Canada life" on his TikTok, recently visited the U.S. after being in Canada for two months.

"I don't know how it works, but every person that engaged in a conversation with me — it's either a cashier, most of the time it's a cashier, but even random people at the hotel who are from L.A. — they weren't nice at all," he said.

@newcanadians

Why is LA that way? Canadian people seemed way nicer. I don’t want to jump into conclusions, but im so happy we planted ourselves in #canada #canada_life🇨🇦 #usa #refugees #Ukraine #losangeles

He said while the Americans he met weren't rude, they were "just regular," like people are in Ukraine.

"In comparison to any person like I told you many times in Canada, they would take like three minutes conversation about basically nothing, but you are going to be enjoying it," he said of the chitchat that some Canadians like to engage in.

It seems Semion struggled with the difference in how Americans versus Canadians interact.

"It doesn't happen here in LA. To the point that I asked people 'how are you' and they reply nothing. I feel offended," he said before backtracking. "No, I don't."

"But still, you know, for two months living in Canada, I used to hear people asking how am I, and I would say something," he explained. "And I would ask how are they, and they would reply with something."

He noted that while those interactions don't really have a deep meaning, it's something he's gotten used to and now finds it odd that the people in LA don't have that friendliness.

"And the weirdest part is that I really want to go back to Canada."

In the caption of his video, he says that while he doesn't want to jump to conclusions, "Canadian people seemed way nicer" and that he's very happy his family "planted ourselves" in Canada.

  • Senior Writer

    Sarah Rohoman (she/her) was a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. She has worked at BuzzFeed Canada, Yahoo Canada, and CBC Radio in news, lifestyle, ecommerce, and social media. She has an MA in Journalism from Western University and a BA from McGill. She loves libraries, alpacas, and all things witchy.

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