Culture shock is a phrase that is used to describe the feeling of sensory overload that many people experience when they visit or move to a new country.

And of course, when we first came to China this certainly applied to us.

But after many years, the things that initially shocked us started to become routine.

The construction noise faded into the background.

We got used to the mind-blowingly spicy dishes.

And we learnt how to quickly navigate the vastly different work culture with all its quirks and customs.

After a few years, China goes from (being) a holiday destination to the place that you live.

And then something rather strange happens when you eventually return to the place that you once called home.

They call it reverse culture shock.

Things that seemed totally normal to you when you're growing up, now seem downright weird.

Why is this food all so beige?

And the people you once called friends just don't look the same as you remember.

You got so old.

What happened Matilda? Awww.

And your family members will get bored of you constantly telling them how much better things were back in China.

Full disclosure, though, I'm not actually back in my home country of the UK.

Whereas I very much am.

I have in fact moved to Auckland, which is where my brother lives and my parents will be for the next six months.

It's obviously more of a western learning country, so whilst I've experienced some good old reverse culture shock, I've also observed some curious cultural differences from the UK.

In a way, it does in fact remind me of the UK.

Most people speak English.

The food is very similar.

And the scenery around Auckland reminds me of our rolling green hills.

But then you see an exotic bird and you remember where you are.

What is happening, New Zealand?

It is meant to be summer right now.

It is January and it's absolutely pouring (rain).

It's very, very windy here.

It's like I'm back in the UK.

We haven't been to the South Island yet, but Jack is coming over in February and we're going to explore the whole country together.

I'm so excited because I've heard it's absolutely amazing and I'm ready for the scenery to be a bit more dramatic.

In the UK, I would describe the landscape perhaps more as quaint rather than dramatic.

I mean, it can still be quite beautiful, but it's not like China where often when we were traveling and we were out in the countryside, it felt like we were on another planet.

In China, it was quite rare to hear other people speak English.

So, you're kind of in a language bubble.

But now I'm definitely experiencing some sensory overload as I constantly hear people babble away in my native language.

Honestly, it's bloody irritating.

I just cannot tune other people out.

That means that when I come to crowded places, I just end up being forced to eavesdrop on other people's incredibly mundane conversations.

To be honest, that is why I only come out when the weather's kind of sh** like today.

So there's a lot less people out and about and I don't have to listen to them talking absolute waffle.

Although they'd probably say the same about me, wouldn't they?

What is nice is there's quite a large Chinese community here in Auckland, so I often hear people speaking Chinese, which gives me this warm, homely feeling inside.

We have a large community of Chinese expats in my city.

And I just can't stop thinking about what they must be thinking when they see the state of this country's infrastructure.

I'm honestly appalled at just how bad they've let public transport get in this country.

It's just totally, totally being allowed to rot.

When I lived in the centre of beijing, a city with 22 million people, you could easily walk, cycle or take the metro anywhere that you wanted to go.

But my brother lives in the suburbers here, so it's kind of hard to get to places unless you have a bus pass or a car.

Luckily, after the first few days of adjusting, I stopped feeling like I was stuck in the suburbs and I got myself a bus pass, I got insured on the car and I got a SIM card.

So now I have everything I need so I can explore.

But maybe that's because I'm from a provincial twon of just shy of a million people and not the capital city.

I actually went down to London to visit my brother this past weekend.

Stop it I'm not in your vlog.

Yeah, the public transport is definitely a lot better there.

It's got a very impressive tube network.

Although I've got to say, I think it was probably built a long time ago when the population was a lot smaller and it's not necessarily best placed to handle a busy rush hour.

It's also pretty expensive too.

How much could you spend a day on the metro, would you say?

I think it's slightly under ￡10, it maxes out after that.

Yo, absolute spenny mate, yeah.

Oh shut up, man.

Phwoah, that's steep, I tell you.

It feels so nice to be able to drive around (local) places.

Whilst we technically could have done this in China, there wasn't really much point because we lived in the centre of city.

Here thought it's so convenient.

And a bonus is they drive on the left just like the UK.

We are definitely a lot more reliant on cars here in the West.

I'd say that whilst in Beijing having a car is kind of a status symbol, here in the UK it is an absolute necessity.

Especially in the cold British winter.

Luckily for me though, it's summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere, although you might not be able to tell.

It's absolutely pouring.

It is very, very windy here.

It's like I'm back in the UK.

But that hasn't stopped me going to the beach every opportunity that I can.

I'm not enjoying the mosquito bites or sunburn though.

Even though it was a lot hotter in China, the ozone layer is much thinner down here in New Zealand, so my pale skin is getting burnt to a crisp.

No sunburn for me.

But one thing that absolutely burns my eyes is the sight of toilet roll down the toilet.

You can flush it down the drain and it won't even destory your pipes.

Isn't that just utter, utter madness?

Yeah. I keep reaching for the bin every time I go.

And speaking of toilets, there're all sit-down toilets here, even in public places.

Phew, my squatting game is going to be weak after being here for so long.

I'm still keeping in practice, but to be honest, I have been trying to avoid public toilets as much as possible because it really freaks me out thinking about just how many people's dirty bottoms have touched that bloody toilet seat.

Yuk!

Cleanliness is not an issue in New Zealand.

This country could well lay claim to having the finest and most abundant selection of public toilets in the world.

They're clean, they have toilet paper and they have soap, which feels like quite the luxury.

And whilst we're on the topic of fluids, watch this.

I still can't get over the fact that you can drink water straight from the tap without even boiling it.

Yeah you might not get sick from the tap water.

But that doesn't stop me from feeling constantly homesick.

My heart aches for China, for Beijing, and for the life that we've built there.

Luckily I found an Asian supermarket and honestly I nearly cried because it felt like home.

It was so nice to see things that I used to enjoy in China here in New Zealand, but with a much bigger price tag.

Beibingyang, woo-hoo!

It's like I'm back in Beijing!

Numb and spicy hot pot is like my favourite flavour of crisp.

If you think that's expensive, then you should come to a British supermarket Nico.

Honestly, the prices have gone up so much.

The UK is currently undergoing like a heavy, heavy bout of inflation and a real cost of living crisis.

And honestly, everyday goods are just so much more expensive than the last time we were home.

This used to be 37 pence.

Now it's a whopping 90 pence.

Fortunately, the British diet is quite simple, so most people can survive by eating copious amount of bread.

I have just absolutely lost count of how much beige coloured food I've eaten in the past month or so.

Man, what I would do for a spicy Sichuan dinner right now.

My god, do I miss flavour.

It's carboard, innit.

That's better.

Well, get yourself down to the Chinese supermarket, Jack, and get cooking for your family.

To be fair though, we didn't really cook a lot of Chinese food when we lived in china because, well, why would we?

We live(d) in China.

There's so many amazing chefs and it was much easier and cheaper to just go to a local noodle joint for lunch.

Mmm noodles.

I need to master making noodle from scratch, fast.

Because honestly, this is the kind of crap that people eat in the UK.

People will pair them with some like nasty stir fry sauce like this.

I managed to find a pretty legit restaurant here where the owner and the chef were from Chongqing.

So I took my mum for some boboji, some Sichuan noodles and some chaoshou.

Wow.

Is it spicy?

Very spicy.

My lips are starting to tingle.

And I can just feel this numbness on them.

They're so flavoursome, but wow, the kick.

That was amazing.

But it was a little bit more expensive than in China.

To be honest, New Zealand is expensive.

Every time I go to the shop or the pub, I'm constantly checking the prices.

That's not the weirdest thing that I've seen in the supermarket.

You see here in the New Zealand, people like to walk around barefoot.

Now I'm not just talking about at the beach, in the street as well.

People walk around with no shoes on.

Oh, my God, that is hilarious.

You certainly couldn't walk around barefoot in the UK and I think if you did, you'd probably step on a bottle or maybe a hubcap.

Or, at the very least, end up with incredibly muddy feet whilst walking around the streets.

And talking of streets, it's absolutely mind-blowing to be walking around suburbia once more.

It's just so different to China.

Yeah. In the UK you find a lot less of these identikit apartment blocks that you find in China.

But what you will find is like identikit housing estates.

But here in Auckland it's totally different.

Maybe it's just the area that I'm in, but all of the houses are completely different.

They're so unique and they are huge.

I would love to see inside some of them.

I still reckon I prefer the China vibes though.

At the end of the day, the energy that you find in Chinese cities is just unlike anything I have experienced elsewhere.

I agree. But it's interesting that many years in China has made us view the UK completely differently.

We kind of anticipated this happening.

So, before we left China, we filmed a series of comparison videos where we finded half in China and half in the UK and we talk about many of these topics.

But before that we've got a Shanghai and Chengdu series coming out throughout 2023.

So make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any of our videos.

Also, leave us a comment letting us know what different culture shocks you've experienced around the world.

It might even inspire us to make a whole new culture shock video.

Yes, finally, some blue sky.

Do you know what that means?

It means I'm off to to the beach.

Bye.