A woman who moved from Australia to the UK has revealed the biggest culture shocks she’s experienced, including ‘terrifying’ seagulls that plague British shores and the lack of plug sockets in bathrooms.
Nina Skalonja, 31, moved from Adelaide, Australia, to Swansea, Wales, in October 2024 after she fell in love with Welshman Ben Roberts, 28, a year earlier.
Nina, a project planner, and Ben, an electrical engineer, met in Cardiff during Nina’s solo trip to the UK in November 2023 and dated long-distance for nine months before she made the 10,786-mile journey to be with him.
Since then, Nina has been compiling an ever-growing list of cultural differences between the UK and Australia.
At the top of the list was the absence of plugs in bathrooms, which left her running to-and-from the bedroom and the bathroom to dry her hair.
Nina said she was ‘gutted’ to find out the two-bedroom house she shared with Ben was no exception to the socket-less bathrooms, adding: ‘Drying my hair in the bathroom was a critical part of my morning routine in Australia.
‘It was easier to clean hair off the tiles. But now I’m often running between my bedroom and bathroom searching for a plug for my blow dryer.’
The ‘terrifyingly massive’ British seagulls were also a shock, as they were so big Nina initially thought they were a different bird altogether.
Nina Skalonja moved from Adelaide, Australia, to Swansea, Wales, to be with her Welshman boyfriend Ben Roberts, who she met in 2023
The 31-year-old said the biggest differences she noticed were the lack of plugs in bathrooms and the ‘terrifyingly massive’ seagulls
She said: ‘The first time I saw one, I was with my friend and I asked if it was an albatross.
‘They look nothing like the ones in Adelaide and I was shocked to see they even came in different colours here.’
The ‘heavy’ day drinking culture that Britons often indulge in was also something Nina had to adjust to – particular as the price of a pint is higher in the UK than it is in Australia.
‘In Australia, I think a lot of us save our drinking until the weekend. But in the UK, it seems to be 24/7 – especially when the sun comes out,’ she said.
‘When I travel to London, even if it’s in the middle of a weekday, the pubs always seem full.
‘I think I’m more confused about how everyone can afford to drink all the time.
‘In Australia, you can get a pint for £3 or maybe £4 tops – but in London, you’re looking at over £8.’
Nina, who also runs an online skincare business called StillInked, added narrow country roads, unpredictable UK weather and the fact Britons pay for a TV license to her list of ‘shocks’.
Nina said the Australian sun was a ‘luxury’ compared to the UK’s unpredictable weather
She also found the ‘small country lanes’ in rural areas difficult to navigate and recalled stalling her car ‘every day for a week’ when she first drove a manual car
Nina said she was also surprised by the drinking culture in the UK and ‘how everyone can afford to drink all the time’
Recalling the first time she drove a manual car in the UK, Nina admitted that she ‘stalled every day for a week at least once’.
Even now, 11 months on, she said she still wasn’t totally confident about driving in the UK’s rural lanes.
‘I drive a small Volkswagen Polo and I still worry about navigating the small country lanes,’ Nina confessed.
‘In Wales, there’s a lot of high shrubbery that grows on roadsides, which makes it difficult to see.’
The UK’s broad range of accents also caught Nina off-guard and she struggled to communicate with British people from different parts of the country.
‘I feel like within a 20-minute drive, I come across a new accent I haven’t heard of before,’ she marvelled.
Nina also said she struggled to understand the different accents in the UK but marvelled at the broad range of accents in every part of the country
Nina, who lives with her boyfriend Ben (pictured), said one of the best things about living in the UK is how cheap flights are to other European destinations
When she first visited the UK from April 2023 to February 2024, Nina also flew to Croatia, Italy, Dublin, and Bosnia from Heathrow
‘It can be confusing – and I do catch myself asking people to repeat all the time.’
However, Nina said she ‘loves living in the UK’ despite struggling to get used to some of the cultural differences.
She chalked it up to being ‘part of the British charm’, adding: ‘There are definitely things in Australia which would shock a lot of Brits, too.’
She also enjoyed how close the UK is to destinations in Europe and how cheap flight can be in comparison to Australia.
When she first visited the UK from April 2023 to February 2024, Nina also flew to Croatia, Italy, Dublin, and Bosnia from Heathrow.
She said she ‘never spent more than £30’ on a single ticket to each destination.
‘In Australia, even if you want to go to a nearby country like New Zealand, you are looking at £300 for a plane ticket,’ she lamented.
Whilst many Britons were confused as to why Nina would ever leave sunny Australia, she insisted there was a ‘certain charm about the UK that you just can’t find anywhere else’.
‘I don’t think this will be our forever home, but never say never,’ Nina said, ‘even though there are certain things I miss about Australia – like chicken salt and the coffee.
‘I’m happy living life as a Brit,’ she added, joking: ‘Perhaps one day I’ll even bump into the royal family.’