7 American Habits That Made Me Cringe After Living Abroad!
From tipping for a muffin to CVS-induced panic attacks... Here’s what hit hardest after returning to the Land of Loud!
The first time I walked back into a CVS after years living abroad, I didn’t know whether to grab cold medicine or a deck of cards to play blackjack.
Neon lights everywhere.
Chipper employees chirping like animated greeters in a Walmart commercial.
Three receipts flapped out of the register for a single bottle of good old Bayer aspirin, one of them a coupon for adult diapers, just in case I lost control of my bladder from the sticker shock.
Then, to top it off, I almost tipped a buck.
For what?
For the chipperness they displayed while handing me my own overpriced suffering, I guess.
That moment hit me like a reverse culture shock uppercut. And it didn’t stop there.
After living in places like Albania, Georgia and Ukraine places where healthcare doesn’t come with a payment plan and a blood oath, where silence in public is respected like an art form, and where nobody’s trying to sell you a store credit card while you're buying deodorant, coming back to the U.S. was like landing on a planet where everyone talks too loud and tips too much just to exist.
I had been gone long enough to forget how weirdly intense everyday life in America is.
The endless tipping prompts.
The small talk that feels like a hostage situation.
The suffocating hustle that’s worn like a badge of honor.
So here they are: 7 American behaviors that made me stop in my tracks and say, “Wait… we do this?”
And yes, one of them involves a salad bar in Florida that nearly broke my soul.
The 7 American Behaviors That Hit Me Like Reverse Culture Shock
1. Why Are We Yelling?
I first noticed it sitting outside a quiet café in Avignon, France.
The espresso was strong, the conversation muted, and life was humming along at a manageable volume, until an American couple rolled in like a verbal hurricane.
I didn’t even need to turn around.
Their voices carried over the café tables, past the boulangerie, and around the block to the Place de l'Horloge.
I chalked it up to excitement.
But when it kept happening: Spain, Georgia, even in a monastery courtyard in the middle of a lake in Ioannina, Northern Greece.
I realized this wasn’t a one-off.
We really are that loud.
Coming back to the States felt like being trapped in a 24/7 improv show, volume set to 11.
It’s not that Europeans don’t talk.
They just don’t shout their thoughts into the void like they’re narrating a documentary about themselves.
2. The Tipping Spiral of Madness
In Albania, I once left the equivalent of $2.00 on the table after lunch. The waiter chased me down, not to get more money, but to thank me.
In Georgia, tipping’s optional and rarely exceeds 10%, unless you’re feeling extravagant or guilty.
But in America? I bought a bottle of water at a convenience store and was prompted to tip the cashier, who hadn’t even made eye contact.
Another time, I ordered takeout online and was given three separate tipping opportunities before the food even left the kitchen.
I lived in Ukraine long enough to know when I’m being shaken down, and this felt oddly familiar.
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3. Plastic. Plastic Everywhere.
In Spain, I made the rookie mistake of not bringing a tote bag to the store.
The cashier sighed like I’d just asked her to babysit my pet snake, then charged me for a paper bag.
Lesson learned.
In America, I watched a man bag a pack of gum in not one, but two plastic bags. And then get a plastic straw.
For gum!
Living in France, I got used to glass bottles, compost bins, and being mildly judged if I bought something with more than two ingredients.
Here, everything is shrink-wrapped, bubble-packed, and double-sealed… just in case your granola bar tries to escape.
4. Small Talk as a Weapon
In Ukraine, no one asks how you’re doing unless they’re prepared to hear your full, unfiltered answer.
So when a grocery store cashier in the U.S. hit me with a high-energy “How’s your day going so far?”, I panicked.
What’s the protocol?
Do I tell her about my slight jet lag, my fear of American healthcare bills, or my existential dread over tipping at a self-checkout?
I blurted out “fine,” then stared at the floor like I was being interrogated.
In many of the countries I’ve lived in, silence is perfectly acceptable.
Here, if you’re not cheerfully oversharing, people assume something’s wrong… or worse, that you’re unfriendly.
In much of Eastern Europe, authenticity trumps niceties.
In America, pleasantries can feel mandatory, and oddly exhausting.
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5. Healthcare? I’d Rather Not Get Sick.
In Kyiv, I once walked into a clinic with no appointment, no insurance, and I sounded like I was going to cough up a lung.
Ten minutes later I had a diagnosis, a prescription, and a receipt for less than the cost of lunch at Chipotle.
Back in the U.S., I sneezed and immediately worried if I could afford to be alive.
One look at the American health system after years in places like Georgia and Ukraine made me realize something: we don’t have healthcare.
We have healthcare roulette.
You can almost hear the wheel spin when the bill arrives.
And don’t even get me started on Dentistry. The best dental care I have ever received in my life was in Ukraine at a fraction of the cost of a U.S. Dentist.
Not to mention, the poor bedside manner, and the up-sells that would make a car dealer blush…
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6. Hustle as a Personality Trait
In France, people actually enjoy not working. Weekends are sacred, vacations are respected, and if you respond to a work email on Sunday, someone might call you a lunatic.
Meanwhile in America, people put “grind” in their Instagram bios and brag about how little they sleep.
In Bulgaria, I once sat at a café for three hours with no Wi-Fi. It wasn’t a crisis. It was normal.
Returning to the U.S., I felt like I’d landed in a nation of caffeinated sleep-deprived overachievers chasing a carrot that keeps moving.
Work isn’t just what we do… it’s who we are. And if you dare to take a break? You’re suspect.
7. Airport Security Theater
In Ukraine, I once boarded a domestic flight in under 15 minutes. No dramatic undressing.
No TSA pat-downs.
No lecture about my toothpaste.
Contrast that with the U.S., where I once had a TSA agent bark at me to remove my slip-on shoes containing no metal, which I had worn just to avoid precisely having to remove my shoes in the first place.
It’s not that I don’t want security.
But does it have to feel like we’re preparing to enter a maximum-security prison just to fly to Fort Myers?
What I Can’t Unsee Now
Living abroad didn’t just change how I view the world. It changed how I view home.
And while I still love a good diner breakfast, American optimism, and being able to get peanut butter in 27 varieties, I can’t help but notice the noise, the stress, the constant hustle… and yeah, the tipping screens.
Once you’ve seen another way to live, you start asking why this is the norm.
And more importantly… who benefits from it.
Have you lived abroad or even just traveled long enough to feel that weird re-entry shock?
What hit you hardest when you came back to the U.S.?