An Australian exchange student who’s just moved to Manchester has been documenting his voyage of discovery with British culture on TikTok, including his first trips to Wetherspoons, Greggs, and even Tesco.
Sebastien Butler has been vlogging his move to the UK on social media for the last few weeks, visiting some places that will be pretty familiar to a lot of us Mancs.
But until we viewed them through his young Aussie eyes, we didn’t realise how weird a lot of British staples actually are.
In his video series, Sebastien has partied in some local nightlife spots, been perplexed by our crisp packet colours (salt and vinegar should be pink, apparently), and been alarmed by the ‘very big, kinda scary’ geese.
Sebastien has visited some local student nightlife institutions already in his short time here. He’s checked off Factory, Courtyard (Corona on tap? ‘That’s sick’), and student bar Squirrel’s (‘drinks here are so f*cking cheap’).
There’s also been SEVERAL trips to Wetherspoons, including The Paramount on Oxford Street, where he deemed the chicken wings ‘actually alright’ and was stunned to find you can order drinks to your table.
A trip to Walkabout left him – rightfully – upset that the only ‘Aussie’ beer on tap was Fosters.
In fact, alcohol and the price of it seems to be the recurring thing throughout his TikTok series.
“It’s f*cked, it’s so cheap here. What are we doing in Australia?” he asked in one video.
Sebastien also said: “A lot of you guys in the UK think Australia have like a f*cked drinking culture, but I reckon you guys drink a lot more than us. And a lot more consistently. It’s fun though.
“I just feel like in Australia because alcohol is more expensive, people go out drinking like twice a week and that’s about it, but here it’s like most nights you can do something if you want to.”
Sebastien has made us realise how weird it is that we have slot machines (or ‘pokies’, if you’re Australian’) in our service stations, and that we are indeed being ripped off by Domino’s, which is about half the price Down Under.
‘Whoever Gregg is, take a bow’ – Credit: TikTok, @sebastienbutler
His ventures with food and drink have made up the bulk of his content.
His conclusions? Nando’s is worth the hype, Lidl bakery toffee yumyums are ‘honestly one of the nicest things I’ve tasted’, and Tesco meal deals are his ‘favourite part of the UK’.
On Vimto, he said: “Ooo-oh. I don’t know. It tastes like one of the frozen Fanta flavours from Macca’s. Trying to remember what it tastes like. Tastes like bubblegum, that’s it.”
He’s had two trips to Greggs, saying on his maiden voyage: “I’ve seen this place before. I think from memory they do like pastries and stuff… I asked inside and apparently the sausage roll is a Greggs classic, so.”
Sebastien then filmed himself taking a huge bite of his sausage roll, reviewing it: “Decent, decent. The meat tastes a bit fake but the pastry’s alright. For £1.20, pretty good, pretty good.”
Standing in Piccadilly Gardens, he pointed out the mad proximity of Greggs bakeries, saying: “Why is there a Greggs over there, when I literally just went to a Greggs here. Like are they that popular?” Yes Sebastien, yes they are.
On his second visit, he ordered better and got himself a steak bake, leading to this gem: “Whoever Gregg is, take a bow.”
His series has been going down a storm on TikTok with millions of views, even though he said he only initially started doing it to keep in touch with his friends back home.
One person commented after a night out video: “The UK is gonna turn you feral.”
Someone else said: “Imagine coming all the way from Australia to go to Factory.”
Another wrote: “No as someone from Manchester watching an Aussie go to Factory is HILARIOUS.”
Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
Daisy Jackson -
10th February 2023 
