An American expat has revealed the number one difference between Americans and Australians is that work becomes your identity in the US, whereas in Australia, it’s the complete opposite.
The 26-year-old posted a video to his TikTok account, jacobinaustralia, admitting he has been left “confused” about his identity since moving Down Under.
He captioned the video: “When stripped of a ‘work identity,’ I feel confused about who I really am”.
The expat said he has lived in Australia for two and a half years and is now travelling between the two countries to figure out where he wants to settle permanently.
He said the biggest culture shock between the two nations is how closely a person’s identity is tied to their career.
“The biggest culture thing that I’ve been thinking about recently between the two countries is that, damn, in America you will put your identity into your work, your career, your hobbies,” he said.
He added that whenever he returns to Australia after working a 50 to 60-hour week in the US, he feels stripped of his identity and struggles to understand who he really is.
“I just moved back to Australia, and I don’t have work rights, and I will say that when you go from working in America 50 to 60 hours a week, you eat, sleep, breathe corporate life, and are working all the time,” he said.
“Then when you come here and you’re stripped of that, you’re almost thinking to yourself, ‘Damn, what do I do? Who am I? What should I be doing?’
“I feel that’s the biggest culture shock that I’ve been feeling since I’ve been back.”
He said he was trying to train his brain to accept that his job does not have to define him.
“Australians are so cool with not having their identity being placed in their job or their job title,” he said.
“I’m really trying to switch my brain into going, you know what, it’s okay, my work title doesn’t need to be my whole personality.”
He said the response he receives from Australians when he tells them he is not working at the moment is refreshingly different to what he’s used to.
“I absolutely love it, but when I speak to people, they ask what I do for work and I go: ‘Yeah, I’m not really working right now because I don’t have work rights’,” he said.
“And they go, ‘That’s good, enjoy it while you can.’
“And I’m sitting here thinking, I am nothing without work.
“But that’s what the American culture has bred me to be. But it’s a real big culture shock being here and understanding that work isn’t everything.”
Commenters agreed with the man’s take on Australian life, with many revealing they don’t even know what those closest to them do for work.
“We usually don’t know most friends’ actual job titles,” one person commented.
“I don’t even keep up with family members and their jobs,” wrote another.
Another person noted that Australians tend to change jobs quite often.
“We change jobs all the time as well – we don’t care at all,” they said.
“You could be in corporate one day and a barista the next and wouldn’t be judged.”
Others said they don’t place too much weight on their work, with one saying it’s just “something you do”.
“Work is something you do… It’s not who you are,” one person commented.
“Yes, we don’t really put our career as our identities – it’s a different part of your life,” wrote another.
A third added: “I’m Australian, and I like working, but it’s not my personality”.
“We work to live, not live to work,” wrote a fourth.