Get Ready with Me *Reverse Culture Shocks* & my Updated Beauty Routine

[@amyjenkins368]

Spot on with the reverse culture shock! I’ve been living overseas continuously since 2009. I’ve been back to the U.S. maybe 6-7 times since then. Most recently for training in Feb-Apr and I was shocked by prices, weapons, tipping, massive vehicles, etc! I’ve lived in Yokosuka, Sasebo, and now Iwakuni (and Italy, Bahrain, Djibouti, and Diego Garcia)…no plans to move back stateside any time soon. Stay in Japan!!! 😊

[@heratlas]

OMG A WORLD TRAVELER??? How are you loving Iwakuni? It's still such a special place in my heart!!

[@amyjenkins368]

So far so good in Iwakuni! I haven’t been able to explore too much, but hope to next month.

[@mantaradius5902]

Some restaurants have the audacity to ask for a tip when it's for a place that doesn't offer wait staff level services. The most shocking was a restaurant that had a screen-order thing at the register without any human interaction, and it asked if you wanted to add a tip.

[@jfloww]

I just moved back to the US from a country I lived in for 4 years with no tipping, this wasn’t a thing yet when I left! Now it’s everywhere, it’s honestly one of my biggest shocks

[@mommymarine1756]

If you can figure out a way to STAY in Japan, do it. We left for good in Feb 2023 and have been back 3 times already and another trip is planned for a couple of months from now. I wish we had just not come back but we had to close out our careers here and take possession of all the stuff we had in storage. How much longer are you in the US?

[@sandragodfrey8688]

I love your videos! My daughter lives in Japan and she says the same when she comes to visit us.

[@adriennehilll]

I remember i went through the Starbucks drive through on my last trip back to the states, i ordered a grande americano and it was HUGE.. like bigger than venti size in Korea 🤣 I asked the barista ummm are you sure this is a grande? He looked at me like i was crazy aha

[@julissacorrales1774]

Love this!!! I agree with the ugliness of strip malls and all these places just dropped in areas that make no sense. The food portions are out of control! I love love love, the Ilia brand and the IT CC makeup. I want all the Japanese products you use! 😆😫

[@ceciliae6169]

It used to be so much cheaper here in the US a couple years ago. Everything is soooo expensive since last year. It’s gotten so bad 🫠 it didn’t used to be like this at all but it’s shocking. Going out to eat it’s a luxury right now.

[@Tnakamura11]

Having 2 home country is such luxury.

[@nataliemccluskey1199]

Haha when we went to japan we said “I bet Japanese people that travel to CA would be SHOCKED by the price of everything and low quality food at that!” Also the guns seem very Colorado that isn’t common in CA

[@dreamchampagne]

Youth to the people smells SOOO GOOD YESS!!!

[@janett.beauty3684]

i love this! more of this small talk also!! I love that you're coming back with a fresh set of eyes. it's gotten so expensive here that it's ridiculous. love vids like this also!!

[@lindseyirvin]

i love how you talked about small talk not being a thing in japan. my husband and i really fell in love with japan on our trip there and have it listed as a potential country to move to next, but a big con is the lack of social interaction that we’re so used to here in the states. my husband is a talkative extrovert and i just know he would get himself in “trouble” socially because he just wanted to give someone a compliment, or make small talk to share a nice moment with someone. our least favorite part of the trip was how we really only spoke to each other (other than transactional conversations) the entire time, which yes is partially due to the language barrier, but ultimately is just because folks keep to themselves. i’m sure we would make friends but i know i would miss smiling at and connecting with strangers (especially since i felt infinitely safer everywhere i went in japan vs the US). i love these style videos though!! i know it’s not your exact type of content but would love to hear more about the logistics of moving and remaining in japan as a foreigner. also any culture shocks you noticed your son had! or just parenting specific culture shocks too. love your channel 🫶🏼

[@zoojungle4859]

It was a long time ago but when I came back to Japan after studying in American college for 4 years , I was surprised and a little disappointed by how "unfriendly " Japanese are. We just don't talk with a stranger like Americans do. At that time I even sensed certain coldness from my own people. Now after so many years, I don't feel that way any more. But I still miss "friendliness' of American people. I miss America; great people live there.

[@arianamiller799]

My boyfriend is originally from Colorado Springs, and took me to that store while we were there visiting his family last Christmas. I’m from California and was completely shocked by all the dead animals and guns too! Also love the BOJ sunscreen stick!

[@barrettish]

Totally relate to a lot of this lol. 2 bowls of subpar ramen and a plate of gyoza in Hawaii is like $60 with tip. Imagine paying ¥9,300 for that lol. The flags, medicine ads, tipping, and stripmall/parking layout.... I think urban design being centered around large vehicles and large spaces makes things really inefficient. Interesting to hear your reactions!

[@savboo10]

I remember you mentioned that in Japan people don't really start up conversations like people in the US, does that make it hard to make friends? I don't like the tipping culture here in the US. When I call in for a food pick up and not even eat at the restaurants I feel pressure to pay a tip because it's printed on the receipt. I even tip my hairdresser cause I feel pressured that's what I'm suppose to do. I love hearing your new experience being back in the states. It's crazy to hear the stuff that's so normalize here like guns. I live in Kentucky and hunting is a big thing here in the part of the state I live at. I really love this video! The small talk and you doing your skin care!

[@TayM1099]

My best friend lives in Colorado Springs and my dad lives in North Carolina lmaoo I wish I could see Japan 😭🥲 hopefully one day!!

[@Nanimations3]

A lot of older people in Japan will hang the Japanese flag in front of their house on national holidays. Apparently this was supposed to be for good luck and it was encouraged by the government but the younger generations don't even know about this anymore (my Japanese husband had to look it up when I asked why there were flags everywhere)

[@carisatrejo3535]

Ok you were in Colorado Springs right? I live here and the amount of churches is definitely unique! COS has a huge evangelical church and parachurch ministry population.

[@heratlas]

Yeah we were in the springs/ monument area and it was so crazy!!

[@kammymarie13]

Colorado native here and I also had a feeling this was the Springs area 😂

[@KellayKat]

Wish you were more specific about your experiences now mainly being in Colorado. Things are so different across different states in the US.

[@specialk9999]

I lived in a small college town in NC for a year

[@heratlas]

Ohhhh which one??

[@specialk9999]

@@heratlas Boone, NC. It’s where Appalachian State University is.

[@stephie-senpai]

it’s so rough out here, going out to eat in the US has gotten so expensive 😔

[@alibutterfly82]

For what it's worth, to the point of things seeming much more expensive than you remember here, the inflation on lots of goods (including things like the fast food meals that you were describing) during and since the pandemic has been pretty bad, so they probably ARE somewhat more expensive than you last experienced. I was also just bemoaning Taco Bell prices with my partner last night... I remember in the early aughts when I could get my whole meal for like $7-$10, on lunch breaks when I worked at the mall. Now, when the two of us go, it's usually $30+ for the two of us to eat, and the food seems to have also gotten worse and/or smaller portions over time. But... that's a slightly different issue than what you were talking about; that's mostly just me getting old haha ^_^;;

[@heratlas]

Oh yeah it’s crazy to see how much has changed in the 5 years - and no apologies needed - I love the deep-dive comments!!!!!

[@courtneynicole5750]

Is there a website that sell these products? I’ve been wanting to try the things you use but I’m always leery that I will get fake products and not the real thing.

[@heratlas]

YESSTYLE is a great and reliable website for Japanese and Korean beauty! Here’s a link! rstyle.me/+MroKVXSZNKes-1fVhb0fEg

[@lindseyirvin]

depending on where you’re located too, you may have some asian grocery/drug stores that sell these brands in store! i’ve found almost all of these at my local asian grocery store before

[@courtneynicole5750]

@@lindseyirvin awesome! We have an amazing Asian grocery store because I live close to DC! Weekend trip planned!

[@courtneynicole5750]

@@heratlas thank you so much! Going to take the suggestion from the post after yours and check for products at our local Asian store but I’m going to use that site for everything else.

[@courtneynicole5750]

@@heratlas btw we are planning a trip to Japan for a “big birthday” next year. Would love if you could do a “must do” video. Or info on your tour guide business if you still plan on it. Thinking April/may 2025.

[@Lisallamaa]

Seriously, I hadn't been to a restaurant for like 5 years😅 and my partner and our two kids just got basic meals and jt was over a hundred dollars Canadian. If you ever come to Canada be prepared to spend 100$ at any restaurant 😢

[@2Cixth]

Are you in a the US permanently now?

[@karolinetavarez4533]

She was on vacation in the US. She has returned back to Japan.

[@2Cixth]

@@karolinetavarez4533 ohh thanks!

[@amberlol7]

I feel like there are a lot of flags in London to make it feel more British for tourists, but honestly you would never ever see someone put a flag on their home unless it was the Queen's Jubilee or something😅

[@clumsy391]

have u permanently moved back to the us or is it just a vacation?

[@heratlas]

Just a visit 🎉

[@angelinamount4969]

The shopping overwhelm is so real. On our trip to Japan I wanted to buy all these beauty products I'd heard about, but I had no idea how to find them in the stores. I couldn't read signs and there were so many lights and sounds! And I agree- American shopping center core is 🤢. Inconvenient and ugly. Why do we do this?

[@heratlas]

Hmmmmm I sense a video on JUST beauty store shopping in the future!!

[@Ojekay10]

5:41 these are not genuine sometimes. Also, I have never understood this, I don't know you don't pretend to smile at me or keep looking at me😂small talk is not my thing.

[@bjwagner89]

Tipping culture has gotten so insane and out of hand. During covid, everyone started tipping extra and for everything just because we were grateful for service workers. However, it hasn’t gone back to normal, and with paying with machines at the checkout counter or at restaurants, the default is like 25% a lot of the time. 15% is considered insulting. And you get get asked to tip for insane things now like at a subway or gas station or for situations where there’s zero service. But you don’t want to be the jerk. Anyways, I digress, but this is a pain point even for people in the U.S., especially with the major inflation we have experienced over the last 1.5 years. Luckily, we are starting to see a slight decrease or at least stagnation of grocery costs and some pushback for unnecessary tipping.

[@lailsful]

baaabe brush your hair from the ends up so you don't break them too much

[@lisabiesterfeld9925]

My dermatologist recently told me You are doing absolutely nothing When you apply multi products on your face They're not getting through one after the other And I'm not saying this to be a pot stir i'm just letting you know she she said 1 soap one toner then a lotion or 1 mask because they contain all 3. If you use that many products, use a different one every day, but you're not getting any results by multilatering products. It's just such a waste of money is what she told me. If you're going to do it every day with different products, it will only clog pores..

[@xoIvon]

I’m sorry but that microphone is not helping like it should. It’s making you sound muffled and far away.

[@cooliipie]

Stick to the topic lady

[@bta8355]

cant believe you shave your face. that is not good at all

[@ashes1ashes]

Bidenomics happened... in reference to what happened with costs in the U.S.