Americans probably think their country is perfectly normal.
But expat vlogger Kalyn Franke from Florida has news for them: after moving to the UK, she realised there are a lot of things about the US that are “a little weird”.
In a video for her YouTube channel Girl Gone London, she reveals seven things about the US that she would change if she had lived in the UK.
The list includes sanitation facilities, food and fences that make the United States “look like a prison.”
She told MailOnline they are ranked “in order of importance” – scroll down to see if you agree with her suggestions for improving her home country.
Expat vlogger Kalyn Franke from Florida, after moving to the UK, realised there are a lot of things about the US that are “kind of weird”.
BILLBOARD ADVERTISEMENTS FOR DIVORCE LAWYERS
Kalyn says, ‘This doesn’t seem like a strange concept when you’re in the States, but like many things, you don’t realize they’re strange until you leave.
‘I would say that for society as a whole, advertising cheap divorces is probably not the way forward.
‘I mean, you’re arguing with your spouse while driving down the highway and you see a billboard offering divorces for $90 with a phone number. Is it necessary to tempt people like that?’
AMERICAN SHOWER TAPS
Kalyn says, “Half the time I don’t know what to do with American shower faucets. You never know which way to turn them. You never know if you need to pull something or push it. There’s no standardization.”
AMERICAN DOMESTIC AIRLINE PRICES
Kalyn notes that flying domestically in the U.S. is typically more expensive than flying internationally.
Kalyn says: ‘It is often cheaper to fly internationally from the US, flying from the US to the UK, than to fly to certain places within the US.
‘I’m not saying we don’t have cheap deals… but it’s still a lot more expensive to travel domestically on U.S. airlines than you might expect.’
Bathroom cabins
Mind the gap: Kalyn doesn’t like American public bathrooms
Kalyn says, ‘The space between the floor and the door and also between the sides of the doors is crazy.’
Oregon Cookies
Kalyn says: “We don’t sell Oreos in a single sleeve like in the UK.” She explains that in the US, Oreos are usually sold in packs of three. “I love it for the amount of Oreos it gives me, but I think a single sleeve of Oreos should be an option in the US. It’s easier to transport and an American pack seems too greedy.”
CHAIN LINK FENCES
The abundance of wire fences in the United States makes the country “look like a prison”
Kalyn says, ‘We have a lot of ugly fences in the US. I guess they’re cheap, and in the US they tend to be built with cheap materials and we have less existing structures from the past and we’re always building and changing and all that… but a chain link fence just doesn’t look good, it’s scary and it’s not pretty. It makes you look like you’re in a prison.’
READY MADE MEALS
Kalyn says: ‘Ready meals in the US are not as good as those in the UK, which wouldn’t be the case because Americans are thought to like ready-made food and therefore frozen, but the food is not as good. UK ready meals are much better.’
Kalyn told MailOnline Travel that this entry on the list came as a big surprise.
He added: “What surprised me most was the quality of ready meals in the UK, as compared to the US, the UK is not necessarily thought of as a nation that is so keen on quick meals or takeaways, but it’s good that the quality of food in the UK (which is better than in the US) has moved into the ready meals sector.”
Are there any UK ready-meal brands that impress you?
She said: ‘I usually buy my ready meals from supermarket own brands and find them to be really good. M&S has some great ready meals which I like.’
For more information about Kalyn, please visit www.youtube.com/@GirlGoneLondoofficial and chicagonelondon.comTo view the original YouTube post click here here.
