Minerva García shared the biggest culture shocks she faced after moving to the UK from her home in Spain – and they may surprise you. Here’s her honest verdict
One Spanish woman has revealed the biggest culture shocks she found since moving to the UK.
Minerva García took to TikTok to discuss the most unexpected “realities” of living in London. The influencer, who has millions of views on the platform from her @minisgar24 account, said the British weather was a huge shock after the move from Almreria. But she also revealed some more unusual culture shocks.
Working as an au pair and staying with a family while looking after their children, she said she liked life in Britain but there were certain customs she less a fan of.
Starting on the grey London skies, she said: “The things you realise when you live in London: You appreciate the sun more when you don’t have it every day.”
And while we do get our sunny days, it’s fair to say the weather is no match for the southern coast of Spain. She also pointed another culture shock to do with our bins and the frequency of our collections.
She said: “The bin lorry passes twice a week. How dirty are these people?”
Other shocks included in buying food, with fruit and vegetables often charged per unit and not by weight. She described the items as well as being “tasteless” and like “frozen food” compared with what she was used to back home.
She was also taken aback by being able to obtain antibiotics from a pharmacy without a prescription. Although people pushed back on that suggestion, with one saying: “If the pharmacist really gave you an antibiotic, tell her to be careful or she might lose her licence.”
Meanwhile Minerva said another struggle came in form of catering for her food intolerances and finding lactose-free cheese that wasn’t cheddar. She said: “Well, you have a lot of goat, but come on, lactose-free, I don’t know what these people think I eat.”
In other struggles that even British people themselves can find challenging she talked about one aspect of communication that stumps her. She said when people ask “alright” or “how are you? that it’s “not a real question” and “they don’t expect you to answer it”.
And lastly, another that Brits in London also experience – the price of alcohol. She said: “You go out for a beer and you end up paying for a house. Incredible! Beer is so expensive.”
