An American woman shared her experience of moving to the UK and the unexpected things that came with it on TikTok.
Having met her English partner on Tinder in 2020, Shells took a leap and started her move to the UK in December 2024 to be with her now-fiancé. But her life change came with some unexpected alterations to her home life. Now she shared it all online.
The first thing she brought up was how the temperature on the oven was in Celsius and not Fahrenheit that she was used to. She explained how she thought having the washing machine in the kitchen was also weird.
"Typically the washer goes where the dishwasher is," she said pointing to her dishwasher in the kitchen. "But most people don't have dishwashers. But if you're lucky enough, like us, to have both, which - we don't have a washer right now, we still have to buy it - but we have a dishwasher and a washer, which isn't typical. Most people put their washer [where her dishwasher is] and they don't have a dishwasher."
Another thing she found weird was the fact that every room, including the kitchen and living room, had proper doors which closed, compared to her home in the US, where most houses have a more open plan layout without doors.
"This is something that I still don't love, and wish we didn't have doors on the kitchen and living room, but we do," she said.
Viewers were shocked at Shell's next thing, as she was surprised that houses in the UK still use radiators in every room to heat up their houses. Meanwhile, a lot of newer US houses use a central furnace which heats up the air and pumps it out throughout the houses.
The final thing that caused confusion for Shells was the front doors, and how can't get in or out of the house without a key, and that a key is required to lock the door from the inside of the home.
"You literally cannot get out of the door if you do not have the key," she said. "Or you just don't lock it, but then the door is not locked."
Several Brits who watched Shells' video were shocked by her confusion, not understanding why some of the things she mentioned were weird.
"So in America, you don't have doors, keys or radiators??" one person asked, to which a second person clarified: "The point is the door can just be opened, by anyone. We have one like that and I don’t feel safe unless it’s locked!
"The point is, that type of door needs a key to lock it whereas other doors have then lock built in."
Another user said: "Where else would you keep the washing machine? Living room? Bedroom? Outside? I'm so confused."