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Foreign exchange student describes first spray-tanning experience as the ‘most American thing ever’
TikTok is loving the wholesome video one woman shared of a foreign exchange student she’s currently hosting in her home. In it, the teenager is prepping for her upcoming school prom by partaking in the time-honored American pastime of getting a spray tan. Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t all go smoothly, and the teen’s reaction to the strange new experience is both adorable and hilarious.
The clip was recently shared by @josiewhite201, whose TikTok bio describes her as a mom of two daughters, plus two “bonus daughters” who are foreign exchange students from other countries.
The mom has actually shared many videos before of her foreign exchange daughters, as she calls them, including trips they’ve gone on together and times she’s introduced them to “new” American foods.
But none have captured as many hearts as her recent spray-tan video, which is now up to 5.6 million views.
Though the exchange daughter featured in the clip isn’t named, @josiewhite201 does identify her as a Swiss-born teen who’s currently studying in the U.S.
In the video, she has just returned from a spray-tanning booth, which she calls “the most American thing ever,” and is already blown away by the results.
“I just had to go into a machine, and now I look like I’ve been on vacation for like two weeks,” the teen says before her host mom reminds her that it actually takes six hours to fully process the color.
“And I’m already that dark?!” the girl replies. “I’m so scared!”
She then recounts her experience inside the booth, which sounds like it was an unintentional comedy of errors.
“I was in the thing, and I totally forgot to put my hair in the plastic thing, and it says, ‘3, 2, 1!’ and I was like, ‘Ohhhh shoot!'” the teen recalls.
After that, she also realized she forgot to put in the nose plugs they recommended, so she wouldn’t be breathing in the substance that was getting sprayed. She then found herself panicking the whole way through.
According to the teen, spray tanning — and even self-tanner — is not common in her home country, and she would normally be considered “weird” if she had it done. That said, she had no regrets over getting one now and even admitted that she might get “addicted” to it, considering how good it looked when she stepped outside.
“I’m gonna do that like every week,” she joked before declaring, “I am ready to go to prom!”
The TikTok is just one of many to emerge lately featuring foreign-exchange students getting “the full American experience.” In one viral video, a French exchange student shows how she would normally dress back in France versus what she feels pressured to dress like in America. In another, a Japanese exchange student shares a recent mishap she experienced while attempting to date in America — and realizing right away that things are much different than back in her home country.
Luckily, even though the teen in this latest video claims she “messed up” by forgetting to follow certain directions, it looks as if she got a pretty even tan in the end.
Not everyone has been so lucky, though. In fact, many TikTokers have opened up in the past about their own tanning faux pas — from awkward encounters with the spray-tan tech to not turning from side to side on time — and the results can sometimes be a bit jarring.
(Scroll through the hashtag #tanningmistakes on TikTok, and you can see a whole lot more where that came from.)
In a follow-up video to the spray-tan post, it’s clear that the exchange student fared much better than some of these other poor souls on TikTok. In it, @josiewhite201 films the teen as she gets her hair and makeup done and meets up with her prom date for photos — all with an amazingly gentle glow about her.
In response, many commenters said how beautiful the teen looked and complimented her spray tan.
“THE SPRAY TAN,” wrote one user. “So beautiful!!!!”
“She kept thinking she was orange!” the video creator replied. “She will love your comment!”
“this is THE American high school experience,” wrote someone else. “LOVE.”
“I’m crying!” another person admitted. “She looks so happy and absolutely gorgeous.”
Here’s hoping she had a fabulous time.
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