Cities around the world are different in many ways, and moving to another country will most likely result in a culture shock, as habits, food, and even interactions are distinct from where we come from.
This is exactly the case for an American woman living in France who has gone social media viral after sharing a series of things that she noticed to be common in France but "could send an American into a coma."
TikTok user Roya (@royaventurera) posted a clip with a list of five things French people do that Americans certainly don’t, and the video has already gained more than six million views and over 900,000 likes.
"First is being told you can’t have a clothing dryer or air conditioning," Roya says in her viral TikTok post. "It’s really common in France to have neither of those things."
Second on the content creator’s list is a room-temperature Coca-Cola drink with no ice, which she says is frequently how this soda is served in restaurants in France. Additionally, the TikToker mentions that there are no refills offered.
Adding to the list of peculiarities is bathing while holding the shower head, and sometimes, not even having curtains around you.
"It’s really common in France to have to hold the shower head while you shower," the woman says. "Less common, but this did happen to me, I went to a friend’s house to take a shower, and there was no shower head holder, and, on top of that, there was no shower curtain."
The fourth spot is occupied by grocery stores closing at 7 p.m. Roya says it’s really typical for stores to close at that time of the day unless you live in a big city, which might help you find a store open until 9 p.m.
Last but not least, the “to-go" restaurant options are not a thing in France.
"This has become a lot more common with people interested in zero waste that you can get stuff to go, and just the globalization of coffee to go in general," says the TikToker. "But when I lived there, if you asked someone to take your food to go or a coffee to go, they would just look at you like you were a crazy person."
The comment section on Roya's viral TikTok video.royaventurera | TikTok
The comment section of the viral video was flooded with both American and French natives sharing their opinions about these cultural differences.
“The showering would put me over the edge," a user wrote.
"Des drama queens les américains j’suis morte (Those Americans are drama queens, I’m dead),” a user chimed in in French.