An American studying in the UK shares the differences that surprised her the most, from fashion trends to grocery stores

• An American student living in the UK makes TikTok videos about the differences between both places.
• Scarlett Kiaras-Attari from Louisville, Kentucky, attends the University of Edinburgh.
• Her viral videos discuss differences from fashion trends to the "hierarchy of grocery stores."
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

An American student living in Edinburgh, Scotland creates viral TikToks about the culture-shock moments she has experienced since moving to the UK three years ago.

Scarlett Kiaras-Attari, who told Insider she is a 21-year-old history and politics student at The University of Edinburgh in her fourth year, makes videos comparing US and UK norms for her 62,500 followers.

Kiaras-Attari said she was born in London but her family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, soon after, and she decided to move back to the UK for university in 2018 aged 18. "My dad actually studied here," she said. "He's from Iran and left for boarding school in Eastbourne around the time of the Iranian Revolution."

In one of her earlier comparison videos posted on December 21, 2020, Kiaras-Attari compared key differences between fashion trends in Britain versus Kentucky. She said wider or straight leg printed trousers or baggier jeans are popular with a big coat and chunky sneakers in the UK.

Meanwhile, she said when she was in high school, wearing jeans was "considered dressing nicely," and it was normal to wear running shorts with boat shoes and a sweatshirt with her hair in a bun "literally to go anywhere," or they might wear leggings in the winter.

Kiaras-Attari told Insider: "I think culture shock often has negative connotations and I really like it here. So I'm more excited about the differences than feeling negatively towards them."

She added that she was first inspired to think about the cultural differences between the UK and US after eating Oreos and noticing that portion sizes are smaller in the UK.

Since then, she has made 21 videos at the time of writing that cover everything from the different ways people in the UK and US react to the same temperature outside, to the lack of prescription drug adverts on British TV compared to the US.

In one video from April 8 that has been viewed over 190,000 times, she outlines how much more popular sweetcorn is in the UK, saying: "It can go on so many things, including pizza. I know so many people who love sweetcorn on their pizza."

"Sweetcorn isn't even a topping option at Domino's in the US," she adds.

Another video from March 29 describes the "hierarchy of grocery stores" that exists within the UK. "People extensively discuss which grocery stores they've gone to and it says something about your personality," she says in the video.

"In the US we aren't as die-hard about a grocery store. People do love Trader Joe's, the Kroger, the Costco, but there's so many local grocery stores that people like that it's hard to come up with a US hierarchy," she says.

She also created a video discussing differing rules around alcohol sales on March 26, noting that sales where she is from in Louisville halt on Sundays, and drinks are sometimes stored in a "separate room" of the store that can be locked. Meanwhile, she adds that the UK doesn't have the same kinds of restrictions.

Kiaras-Attari said some other aspects of British student life that surprised her included the lack of Greek culture that is prominent in US college sororities and fraternities, and the prevalence of single-occupancy dorm rooms.

She told Insider these differences have enriched her study abroad experience and reaffirmed her desire to move there. She added: "I really love the quirks. I always wanted to be in a historic and beautiful town or city."