US Woman Goes On 1st Europe Trip—Can’t Cope With ‘Cultural Electrification’

A video of a woman’s hilariously shocking cultural discovery on her first trip to Europe has gone viral on Instagram.
The clip was posted by Sarah Tonen (@sarahcube12) and has amassed two million views since it was first shared on June 18.
A note overlaid on video, which shows a woman talking into a camera, reads “the culture shock that nobody tells you about in Europe.”
The woman says “I’m in Europe right now for the first time and the absolute cultural electrification that I just received is…” before explaining how she found out that “coffee’s [coffee shops are] not open ’til 9 [a.m.] anywhere” after attempting to get some coffee at 6:45 a.m. She does not reveal in which city or country the incident took place.
Videos such as this viral Instagram post might lead some to believe that many Americans lack knowledge about other cultures and that it is down to having never traveled abroad.
However, most Americans have been out of the country at least once, according to a June 2021 Pew Research Center survey.
The survey found that 71 percent of U.S. adults traveled internationally at some point in their lives, while just under a quarter (27 percent) have not.
The degree to which Americans have traveled varies widely, with 19 percent having been to only one foreign country, while 12 percent have been to two, 15 percent have been to three or four, and 14 percent have traveled to five to nine countries. Only 11 percent of Americans were reported have been to 10 or more countries, according to the survey.
The study also found that income also plays a key role on who travels and how much, with the highest earners being “significantly more likely” to have visited multiple countries.
The woman in the viral video says “So it’s 6:45 … first thing I do when I get up is I go get a cup of coffee.” So, she went to the lobby of where she was staying but found that the coffee shop there was closed.
Thinking that it was “kinda weird,” she asked a lady at the front desk “is the [coffee] barista running late?” The staff member looked at her “really weird” before later saying that “he’s probably still sleeping.”
When the poster asked whether the barista person was sick, the front desk worker appeared “really confused” and said he was not ill.
The staff worker later “kinda rolled her eyes” and told the poster that “coffee’s not open ’til 9.”
The woman then repeats “Coffee is not open ’til 9?” as intense music plays in the background.
Noting “this is so weird,” the poster jus told the worker “guess I’ll just go into town then and grab some coffee.” According to the poster, the front desk work “just laughs,” saying “good luck [because] you’re not gonna find anything…”
The poster said it turns out that “coffee’s not open ’til 9 anywhere,” adding that she’s “been on a caffeine deficiency for the last 3 hours.”
In a caption shared with the video, the poster says “And cue the comments: ‘where in Europe?’ ‘Ahh yes the country of Europe’ ‘Make your own coffee’ ‘nobody wakes up that early, you’re on vacation, sleep in’ ‘I hate Americans’.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via Instagram. This video has not been independently verified.
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