Visiting European countries is something that every student wishes they could do. I believe that a person that is culturally aware and has a variety of experiences will allow for a successful career. I am fortunate enough to be visiting Spain, France, and Italy. Currently, we have only traveled within Barcelona and Girona, Spain, and have learned many cultural traditions and how businesses operate. During our time in Barcelona, we learned that the day is very long with many people waking up early to work and eating dinner very late at night. Many restaurants tend to stay open until past midnight bringing in most of their money from tourism. The citizens of Barcelona tend to rely on public transportation to get around the city as every day that we took the metro or bus we came across a huge amount of people. In the United States, we tend to rely more on our own cars and are used to eating dinner at a reasonable time. We learned that operations in business are different depending on the location and culture of the parties involved. It was great learning that nearly 90% of Barcelona?s revenue comes from tourism and that more than 90% of goods are imported or exported through boats. The people of Spain are very lovely and nice people who treated us very well. I am fortunate enough to know the language so which allowed me to jump deeper into the Spanish culture as I met and chatted with many locals. Culturally, the nightlife in Barcelona is very different from the United States as many places tend to stay open until way past midnight. We have visited many cultural sites but the Sagrada Familia has been by far my favorite. The Sagrada Familia is one of the most historic sites around the world bringing in people from around the world. Learning about the culture and rich history of this iconic Roman Catholic Church was by far the best experience so far. Overall, the city of Barcelona is very different from the United States and has allowed me to look at things from different perspectives and allowed me to learn more about different cultures. I can?t wait to see what France and Italy have in store for us and I am very excited to learn more from these wonderful countries.
