Woman shares 'culture shocks' that she noticed after visiting Korea from the US: 'Wanna go back'

People usually find cultural differences when they travel to a different country. It could be the way people treat each other or the sort of food that they have. Lena—who goes by @lenalifts on TikTok—found a way more interesting differences between the USA and Korea and she decided to document them in a video. One of the differences was special seats for expectant mothers on the trains. “While traveling to Korea in the trains, they have designated spots for pregnant women only,” Lena says in the voiceover. “No one sits on them, even when it’s a super packed train. Speaking of the trains itself, they are super clean and safe.”

Another was about the restaurants in Korea, they apparently have a compartment that includes cutlery, which is all stainless steel and is on the side of each table. “The first few times I ate at a restaurant I kept thinking that they forgot our utensils and when I asked the waiters they would just swing the compartment open, leaving me slightly embarrassed,” she says in the video.

Moreover, Korean convenience stores have microwaves and hot water dispensers and tables and chairs so customers can easily dine there. "Convenience stores here are so clean and they actually let you eat at the store and for some reason, noodles taste better eating here than at home," says Lena.

She also talks about photo booths which are "all over Seoul" that have an assortment of accessories and areas to fix one's hair, according to InTheKnow. In the end, she speaks about Korea keeping "all the cusses" when they play songs by American artists. "This is a live reaction of me hearing 'My Type' by Saweetie with all the cuss words in it," she says. "You already know your girl is still vibing though."

The video went viral with about 2.4 million views and it is captioned, "5 culture shocks after visiting Korea." People loved seeing the cultural differences in Korea. @liamgillargurka commented, "I think the US is the only country that actually censors the cuss words lol, I live in Europe and I’ve never heard a censored version of a song." @miss_random_sofia said, "I love Korea I always go to Korea and then Japan when I'm going home from somewhere." @angel_lyyy expressed, "I love Korea!! I wanna go back so bad." @chrislira02 wrote, "Sadly half of this would be broken or messed up in America."

In another video, Lena goes shopping for traditional Korean clothing called Hanbok. "Come with me and my boyfriend to get fitted for a Hanbok in Korea so I can live out my princess drama fantasy." She ends up choosing a pink and golden Hanbok. "They also lend you a free bag to wear and they do free hair braiding or hairstyles so I did a half up and half down vibe," says Lena in the video.

After this, she and her boyfriend visited the Gyeonbok Palace. "They actually let you in for free if you're wearing a Hanbok which is super nice. Everyone was running around the palace wearing Hanbok and my inner child was so happy," she says.