I lived in Australia for a year and nobody warned me of the ‘culture shock’ I’d face when I returned to America: ‘Insane’

An American traveller who lived in Australia for a year revealed a bizarre experience she had moments after stepping foot in her home country again.

Marli is originally from California but moved to Sydney in 2023.

The corporate worker recently went back home and couldn’t believe the size of ‘small’ coffees and ‘gross’ food back in the US.

‘Not even 30 minutes into being back in America and I’m already shocked,’ she said in a video. 

‘I’m stunned at what a small coffee is, and I forgot you’re supposed to tip here.’

Standard small coffees in Australia are 8oz (230mL), while Americans typically start at 12oz (350mL) for takeaway drinks. 

‘This is actually insane,’ she said as she held the large cup up to the camera.  

Marli added that the food looked ‘so disgusting’ in the US. 

Americans and Australians both shared their thoughts on tipping culture in the US.

‘I keep feeling dodgy not tipping while back in Australia,’ one said.

‘Tip for someone making you a coffee – what a joke,’ another wrote. ‘If you’re not sitting down, you don’t tip.’

On the other hand, an Italian traveller previously slammed Australia for ‘going too far with coffee culture’ after finding out about babycinos and puppuccinos.

Mattia De Nardi took to TikTok to express his distaste at the beverages – which aim to make the cafe experience inclusive for small children and dogs.

‘I absolutely love Australian coffee culture, I will be missing it when I go back to Italy but I think you guys went a bit too far,’ he said.

‘Not just for the coffee itself, but for the names,’ he clarified.

In the video he explained a babycino is frothed milk with chocolate on top and a puppuccino is the same thing – without the chocolate.

The video quickly went viral with coffee-loving Aussies weighing in on the debate.

‘My two-year-old nephew lives in inner-West Sydney Darling, so can say Babycino but can not recognise Macca’s signs,’ one person said.

‘You can also get a babycino for your short friends,’ another joked.

Others took time to explain the reasoning behind the trends.

‘Because our mums got sick of sharing their foam with us when we went to cafes and puppies just became an extension of that culture,’ one woman said. 

And many defended the need to extend it to dogs.

‘I used to agree with you, and then I got a puppy, who I never thought I would order puppuccino – but I can’t help myself it’s the cutest thing.’ 

‘There’s a cafe in my area that literally has a whole doggie section, it has dog cupcakes and cookies, my three-year-old wanted some the lady had to say no,’ one woman said.