TikToker Matt Griffen has been living in the UK for several years and has been exploring major cities across the country
A Candian TikTokker was amazed by one aspect of Birmingham life.(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Uprooting your life and leaving your hometown for an entirely different continent is no easy feat. Yet it’s become fairly commonplace for our friends from across the pond to swap their lives for a taste of British culture.
One content creator, who relocated from Toronto, Canada, to the UK several years ago, has been making his way around the country’s major cities. Matt Griffen, who now works in social media, recently made his way to Birmingham and shared his honest impressions. He began his day at Pigeon Park, cheekily noting it “even has its own London Eye here”.
Speaking to his 394,000 TikTok followers, he said: “As a Canadian living in the UK, I love exploring different British cities, today we are in Birmingham for the first time.
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“To start the day we have come to Pigeon Park look they even have their own London Eye here.” Panning his camera across the pigeons, he observed: “Now I know why they call it Pigeon Park.
“They even have their own Pigeon store.”, reports the Mirror.
While wandering through the city centre, Matt then spotted a mode of transport he’d never come across before – trams.
He said: “Am I tripping or is Birmingham the only place with a street cart. These street carts are looking pretty nice, I’m not going to lie to you.”
He then popped into McDonald’s as it was “one of the highest requested places to go to”. He continued: “Cheeseburger secured, let’s give it a try…” Before he could share his verdict, however, he wandered into the railway station where he came across Ozzy. Named after rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, Matt was left gobsmacked when he spotted “the city’s mascot”.
He then continued to explore the town centre, pausing outside The Shakespeare pub, which he noted “looks like quite a vibe”.
Shortly afterwards, Matt made his way to the Jewellery Quarter, where he had a particular observation to make.
Yet it wasn’t quite what he had expected, as he remarked: “Someone commented and told me to go to the Jewellery Quarter that place is bumping and now all I’m seeing is an empty street, where is everyone?
“I will say this though my nervous system is a lot more calm than it was in that city centre…”
Rounding off his clip, Matt revealed to his followers that he had nipped home to get changed before heading out to a Call of Duty exhibition.
In the comments section, viewers were quick to point out that other cities also have trams. One noted: “It’s called a tram, Manchester city centre has trams too.” Meanwhile, others picked up on his pronunciation of Birmingham.
One person commended: “Thank you for pronouncing Birmingham correctly.” While another suggested: “Try botanical gardens. It’s really lovely.”
You can watch his video on TikTok.