{"id":4257,"date":"2023-06-25T13:59:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T13:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/2023\/06\/25\/american-tiktoker-reveals-the-biggest-culture-shocks-she-had-after-moving-to-scotland\/"},"modified":"2023-06-25T13:59:14","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T13:59:14","slug":"american-tiktoker-reveals-the-biggest-culture-shocks-she-had-after-moving-to-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/american-tiktoker-reveals-the-biggest-culture-shocks-she-had-after-moving-to-scotland\/","title":{"rendered":"American TikToker reveals the biggest culture shocks she had after moving to Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A TikToker who left behind her life in Las Vegas to live in Scotland has revealed the biggest culture shocks that came with the move.<\/p>\n

Lua Rodriguez Murphy<\/a>\u00a0met her now-husband, a Scot, while he was holidaying at the hotel she worked at in Las Vegas. After they got engaged, they decided to move in together in Glasgow<\/a> where they now live with their three children.<\/p>\n

Lua, originally from California<\/a>, makes candid videos about adjusting to life in Scotland as an American, and she\u2019s starting to build up a significant fanbase, with nearly 30,000 followers to date.<\/p>\n

Speaking to MailOnline Travel, the 33-year-old lists out the things that surprised her the most about life in Scotland \u2013 with free healthcare from the NHS<\/a> at the top of the list.<\/p>\n

She says: \u2018I remember going to the doctor for the first time here and I asked my doctor how much the cost would be. She looked at me like I had two heads and said it was free! I couldn\u2019t wrap my head around that so when I walked out, I stopped by reception to reconfirm and she said I didn\u2019t owe anything because my care was covered by the NHS.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\"TikToker <\/div>\n

TikToker Lua Rodriguez Murphy left behind her life in Las Vegas to live in Scotland\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Lua <\/div>\n

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To the left is\u00a0Lua visiting the Kelvingrove Art Museum in Glasgow for the first time. She makes candid videos about adjusting to life in Scotland as an American, and she\u2019s starting to build up a significant fanbase<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now Lua even has a job working for the NHS, which she loves. The mum-of-one says: \u2018I love working in the NHS because I like working in a country that truly believes that a nation owes its citizens the right to healthcare regardless of ability to pay and without having different levels of healthcare available based on someone\u2019s status or economic standing.\u2019<\/p>\n

But free healthcare wasn\u2019t the only aspect of Scottish life that took some adjusting to \u2013 Lua found some surprises in the way British homes are designed.<\/p>\n

One thing she found strange was the \u2018light switches outside the bathroom\u2019. She explains: \u2018I remember arriving at my husband\u2019s flat for the first time and feeling around the wall in the bathroom in complete darkness trying to find the light switch. It wasn\u2019t until after a solid five minutes he told me it was outside the door.\u2019<\/p>\n

Another, she reveals, is \u2018windows not having window screens to protect the bugs from flying in\u2019.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a contrast between Scottish and American diets, too, she reveals.<\/p>\n

Lua reflects: \u2018Scottish food is, in general, a lot less processed and treated than American food. The portion sizes are also more suitable to a single person’s needs.<\/p>\n

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\"Lua <\/div>\n

Lua says that enjoying access to free healthcare was the biggest culture shock when she moved to Scotland. Now, she works for the NHS\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018Also, the [UK-wide] sugar tax was surprising. I had never heard of it before! I think it\u2019s beneficial though because it helps reduce obesity.\u2019<\/p>\n

She has well and truly warmed to Scottish cuisine, she reveals. Lua says she \u2018can\u2019t live without\u2019 tea cakes now and Irn Bru is \u2018forever stocked\u2019 in her home now.<\/p>\n

Shopping for food was another culture shock, she reveals.<\/p>\n

In one video, she says: \u2018I remember the first time I went to the grocery store by myself and the cashier [handed] me my receipt and went: “That’s you, pal”. I was like, “What? That’s me what?”‘ I didn’t know that that meant that was the end of the transaction.\u2019<\/p>\n

She continues: \u2018Another thing that I’d never seen before I first moved here… the cashiers at probably every grocery store that I’ve been to, they sit down when they’re putting through your groceries. I’ve never seen that before. I remember the first time me and my husband went to Sainsbury’s I was like, “The cashier is sitting down”. And he’s like: “Yeah, do you expect them to stand for like nine hours, are you kidding me?”‘<\/p>\n

The NHS worker adds: \u2018On top of that, they don’t even bag your stuff. Americans would have a heart attack if nobody bagged their groceries. Here they toss your stuff at you and you literally have to bag it and that’s how it is. That was wild to me, I never had seen that before.\u2019<\/p>\n

The worst thing about life in Scotland, she notes, is driving around roundabouts. She says: \u2018Not kidding, I had never experienced a roundabout in my life prior to moving here. Much of my fear of roundabouts is from my lack of familiarity and experience with them. They just seem so chaotic to me!\u2019<\/p>\n

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Lua and her son at the scenic ‘Rest and Be Thankful’ lookout in Arrochar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lua at the\u00a0Kelvingrove Art Museum. She admits: ‘I love my life here and I\u2019m so happy!\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On the other hand, the best about Scottish living, she says is \u2018hands down, the people\u2019. She explains: \u2018Everyone is so chatty, and welcoming and easy to talk to. And so, so funny! Scottish humour truly is something else.\u2019<\/p>\n

She feels that when it comes to education, the Scots do it better. Lua says: \u2018Education. Scotland is a nation where a first-class, world-leading education is accessible to all. I\u2019m grateful that my children will be able to go to college for free! Student debt is so hard to pay off in the U.S and it really discourages people from pursuing a career because it\u2019s so expensive and the interest in loans are so high.\u2019<\/p>\n

But she finds that Americans take the lead when it comes to customer service. She says: \u2018I think Americans… go above and beyond when it comes to keeping a customer happy. I also feel Americans are so enthusiastic and great at entertaining. Basketball games, baseball games, pep rallies and entertainment are all so much better back home. They love getting the crowd involved, handing out prizes, doing dance cams, cheerleading and more!\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Even at the university level, college stadiums are filled to the brim with people watching young athletes play! Which I don\u2019t think is very common here.\u2019<\/p>\n

What are the main differences between Scots and Americans? Lua says: \u2018I think enthusiasm. Americans get so excited and giddy over the smallest of things! I feel Scottish people are sometimes a bit more reserved. Overall though, I think we\u2019re all more alike than different.\u2019<\/p>\n

All in all, she\u2019s thrilled with her life in Scotland, she reveals, saying: \u2018I initially didn\u2019t think I\u2019d move to Scotland, but after a lot of thinking I decided to make the move and leave my budding career behind. It was definitely a sacrifice but I love my life here and I\u2019m so happy!\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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A TikToker who left behind her life in Las Vegas to live in Scotland has revealed the biggest culture shocks that came with the move. Lua Rodriguez Murphy\u00a0met her now-husband, a Scot, while he was holidaying at the hotel she worked at in Las Vegas. After they got engaged, they decided to move in together […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2504,977,1058,6644,23,4869,3867,1912,280,7663,40,4343,1549],"acf":{"source_article":"","image_credit":""},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4257"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latestnews.top\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}