{"id":139129,"date":"2025-05-28T16:25:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T16:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/139129\/"},"modified":"2025-05-28T16:25:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T16:25:26","slug":"man-who-ditched-canada-for-uk-left-floored-by-four-british-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/139129\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who ditched Canada for UK left floored by four British ‘differences’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Canadian man who moved to London has shared how life is different on each side of the Atlantic, and recently revealed a few things he doesn’t like about UK living<\/p>\n

16:17, 28 May 2025Updated 16:17, 28 May 2025<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Canadian loves living in the UK but has noted some things which he found shocking (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Moving abroad or embarking on an extended trip <\/a>can be thrilling, but it also presents challenges. The promise of adventure and fresh prospects is tempered by the potential to miss familiar comforts and the need to adapt to a new cultural environment. Canadian TikTok <\/a>sensation Matt Giffen has been documenting his life since relocating to London over a year ago. With a following of more than 332,000, he has shared experiences like attempting to blend in at Wembley Stadium, strolling through Richmond, tasting British cuisine and visiting historic sites.<\/p>\n

Despite his overall affection for his new surroundings, Matt has not shied away from expressing his gripes about life in the UK. The Toronto native cautions: “Before you come for my head in the comments, this is my own personal opinion based off my own personal experiences.”<\/p>\n

Friendliness<\/p>\n

On the topic of friendliness, Matt, who seeks out Tim Hortons when homesickness strikes for a taste of Canada, was taken aback by the lack of warmth he perceives in British culture.<\/p>\n

He remarked: “That’s the truth. It’s very ‘You alright?’, ‘Yeah I’m OK’ …as a Canadian, personally that is a big struggle for me.<\/p>\n

“I am used to walking in the parks and smiling at people.” Matt recalls an attempt to smile at someone only to be brusquely told to “sod off.”<\/p>\n

He observes that the longer he resides in London, the more he finds himself assimilating British social norms.<\/p>\n

Weather<\/p>\n

Matt expressed his dismay at the unpredictable British weather<\/a>, recalling a conversation with his girlfriend after a brief sunny spell.<\/p>\n

He recounted: “The last two days were very sunny and nice and I looked at my British girlfriend and said, ‘Oh my god, it’s going to be a beautiful summer.'” And she looked at me and said: “No Matt, that’s not how it works here.”<\/p>\n

He also mentioned wearing a winter jacket in July last year, but is now looking forward to some warmth as a “mini heatwave” is expected to bring temperatures up to 24\u00b0C soon.<\/p>\n

Safety<\/p>\n

Matt shared his concerns about phone theft in the capital city. He explained the recent scam where thieves take mobile phones, and swiftly have network providers transfer the number to a new SIM card they control, thus gaining access to victims’ bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets through intercepted calls and texts.<\/p>\n

Matt voiced his fears, saying: “It is my job to walk around the city aimlessly and wave my phone around – and do you not think phone thieves are licking their f***ing chops when they see me walking down a street in London.”<\/p>\n

Cost of living<\/p>\n

Matt expressed his disbelief at London’s soaring cost of living<\/a>, commenting: “The cost of living in London is mental.<\/p>\n

“Not just the rent, a house in my neighbourhood just went up for sale – a two bedroom house – for \u00a3800,000. That’s almost 1.5million Canadian dollars.”<\/p>\n

He also noted: “I would love to live in London long term but it ain’t gonna happen.”<\/p>\n

Shedding light on the challenges posed by London’s size, he said: “London is huge. I have made friends who live in the same city as me, but it would take over an hour and a half if I want to go see them, which then means we never see each other.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Canadian man who moved to London has shared how life is different on each side of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,1232,449,16,15,416],"class_list":{"0":"post-139129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-money","13":"tag-tiktok","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-viral"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114586394669078551","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}