A man filmed his American girlfriend repeatedly baffled on her first visit to the UK as she mistook a post box for a 'fire hydrant' - but says watching Love Island has made her 'smarter'.
Ben Reid brought Savannah McCray over to visit England in May 2022 and caught many of his girlfriend's blunders on camera, including the moment she thought cricket was badminton.
The clip also shows the tourist from Los Angeles, California, US, being left awestruck by Big Ben, as she excitedly tells her boyfriend that she recognises the tourist hotspot from Peter Pan.
Savannah also admits to nearly being hit by cars because she kept looking the wrong way whilst crossing the street and was also left perplexed whenever she heard people were celebrating the 'Jubilee'.
The TikToker confessed she was unable to keep up in conversation with 'intellectually advanced' British kids of primary school age - branding them 'Mini Einsteins'.
However she says watching Love Island has helped her learn more words.
Despite the cultural confusion, Savannah is looking forward to future visits to her boyfriend's homeland, saying she hopes to return to the US 'a little bit smarter'.
Ben, who moved to Los Angeles in 2011, took Savannah to the UK for a week-and-a-half to visit family, showing her London, Bristol, Gloucestershire and Oxford.
Savannah said: "I'd never been out of the US before this trip. I'd always had a passion for travelling but never acted on it.
"When I was younger, I was fascinated by London and England in general. I was super excited when we got the chance to go out there.
"I was obviously confused when I came over - it was a big culture shock. I nearly got hit by cars multiple times crossing the road, because I kept looking the wrong way.
"I noticed that in London, they have markings on the road reminding you which way to look when you cross. That helped me out a lot.
"I had no idea what those post boxes were. Fire hydrant was my first guess because they looked exactly how our fire hydrants do - but a bigger version.
"I obviously didn't understand what a post box was and ended up sounding like an idiot.
"I thought cricket was badminton when I saw it being played. Neither of those sports are very big in the US - I just thought to compare it to softball.
"When I saw Big Ben, it just reminded me of the Disney film Peter Pan. I loved watching it as a kid, and that's what started my fascination with London.
"So when I saw it in real life, that was my first instinct and I started freaking out. And they'd just painted it with fresh paint, so it was perfect timing.
"When I was over, the Jubilee was going on. I had no idea what that was. In the US, we don't have kings or queens, so it was great to see the Palace. That was pretty surreal too."
Ben has been dating Savannah since the start of 2021 after meeting her online.
Ben, from Hammersmith, Greater London, said: "Savannah was moving out to Los Angeles in January 2021, and she'd seen me on TikTok and followed me on Instagram.
"I swiped up on one of her stories and said 'Hello', and we met at a cafe. From then on, we kept hanging out and we were inseparable.
"Whenever I'm around Savannah's family, they'll try to mimic an English accent and they'll start saying 'Cheers'.
"I knew [bringing Savannah to the UK] would be a humorous experience from the get go.
"Landing in the UK, Savannah had tears rolling down her face as she looked out the plan window exclaiming all the buildings looked like they were out of Harry Potter.
"Being able to witness her experience all the cultural differences was a whole new experience for me as I got to enjoy everything I grew up with, through a new lens with her excitement.
"A couple comments I made were 'Are you serious!?' and 'There’s no way you can’t tell what that is'. My overall reaction throughout the whole trip was excitement though."
Whilst visiting Britain, Savannah had trouble keeping up with conversation as she had to adapt to words being used by native Brits.
Savannah said: "I didn't understand a lot of the words that were being used whilst I was over there. Like 'rubbish' instead of 'garbage' and 'bin' rather than 'trash can'.
"When spending time with some of Ben's family friends, I got to meet a 10-year-old and 12-year-old. I felt like I was talking to mini Einsteins.
"I didn't understand half the words they were using. They just sounded so intellectually advanced, and I was just smiling and nodding the whole time.
"I'm hoping it'll start rubbing off on me and I'll come back to the US a little bit smarter. I love it in the UK, it's beautiful, the people are sweet, and I love the accents.
"We watch Love Island together and that's helped me. I've learnt a few words here and there.
"They call each other 'babes' a lot. They say 'banter' a lot, we don't say that over here. And they'll say 'Can we have a chat?', when Americans just say 'Can I talk to you for a second?'"
When the video of Savannah's hilarious blunders was uploaded to TikTok, it received more than one million views and hundreds of comments from baffled viewers.
Savannah said: "Most people thought the video was hilarious.
"A bunch of the comments came from people who were like 'How does she not know that?' and telling Ben how messed up it was.
"There were a lot of comments made about the American education system. I feel like people outside the US know more about the US than vice versa.
"The education system in the UK is definitely a lot better."
Commenters were left baffled by Savannah's lack of knowledge about British culture, though some saw the funny side to her confusion.
One user wrote: "American education at its best", whilst another wrote: "I used to live in Arkansas with my ex, this was pretty much every visit to Britain so I understand."
Another commenter said: "She looks happy so that's all that counts."
One user commented: "I love these cultural peculiarities. Difference makes us what we are."
