This summer has been a whirlwind of growth for so many different reasons while I have been in Spain. Being away from home has been an undeniable challenge, but I have grown personally and professionally, acquired cross-cultural skills, and learned new information about the Spanish business environment that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to absorb.
From a personal standpoint, being in Spain for the past five weeks has been an incredibly eye-opening experience. I have never traveled to Europe, so coming into the trip I was not sure what to expect. Overall, life was not very different from home, but I have found myself missing small things from home like the freedom of having my own car and the simple ability to communicate with waiters. But being thrown into these unfamiliar situations has allowed me to learn to adapt while maintaining a curiosity of the culture around me. I now feel more independent because of the time I spent away from my familiar life and more liberated in knowing that I can navigate unknown areas of life and benefit greatly from them.
Learning how to communicate with what little Spanish I remember from high school was a real test of my independence. I have not truly practiced Spanish in probably over three years, but since being here I have found myself understanding more than I expected and at times even impressing myself with how I am able to respond and converse with someone in Spanish. Even though I probably had enough Spanish under my belt to survive here, I would have had a much more difficult time if it were not for two of my roommates who are much further along in their knowledge of Spanish than I am.
From a professional standpoint, I have gained a much deeper understanding of how business is done across various cultures. There is much to be considered than I never would have thought of to be important variables. Physical cues are much more important than I originally believed, but I have come to notice that even in everyday interactions how someone behaves physically can communicate information to the other party. But these cues are not always interpreted the same way across cultures.
One way Spaniards and other European cultures operate in regard to physical cues varies from how Americans behave is the distance apart people stand. Americans tend to stand with a larger gap between the person they are talking to, but I have come to learn that stepping away to regain this distance may be perceived as rude to a Spaniard who is used to standing nearer to others when chatting. Even on the metro, I have noticed that strangers do not feel as much of a need to maintain a large radius of personal space with others around them. I am much more used to having space around me especially when around strangers, but it is not seen as necessary here. Spain is also a high context culture, opposite of the United States. This means that Spaniards rely more on underlying messages and require more use of tone than Americans who expect to communicate by using the exact words of the message they are trying to convey.
The most shocking aspect of life in Spain that is contrary to life in the United States is the perspective that time does not equal money. I am so used to viewing my time as a scarce resource that is worth valuable money. Because of this I have found myself frustrated with people leisurely walking down the street and not promptly bringing the check to our table when we are finished with a meal. This would also make doing business internationally very difficult because in the workplace Americans expect timely work and a strict nine to five work schedules with no siesta included. If I had not had the chance to learn about how these differences in cultures invade every aspect of how we operate in daily life I think I would have had a very difficult time operating professionally. It takes much self-awareness and acceptance to be able to adapt to changing circumstances such as a complete shift in culture and I think it would take a lot of time to develop the right skills to be able to effectively conduct business across many nations of varying cultures.
I never expected to stick out the way I seem to in Barcelona. Every day I find people staring at our group as if they are watching television. Even when you lock eye contact with people they will not look away. It has taken some time to understand, but I am sure we are very interesting for locals to watch. We are the group of five blondes on the metro dressed like Americans and speaking English with a southern accent. We most definitely do not blend in, and I cannot blame people for being curious about us just as we are curious about them as well. At first though, the staring we experienced was very off-putting. At home we are taught from a young age not to stare at other people because it is rude, but it does not seem like that is the same case in Spain. This serves as just another difference in our cultures that I never would have expected to influence my time studying abroad.
Though there are a lot of roadblocks to effectively conducting business internationally and cross-culturally, after having lived in Spain for over a month I know that I could do so successfully. A task like this would be incredibly challenging; however, I feel as though my eyes have been opened to new cultures and how to embrace them without losing that of my own which I value so much.
Spain is proud of its rich history and Christian landmarks seem to be around every corner coupled with breathtaking architecture and nature, but I do not see myself trading-in my quiet family-focused life in Texas and Aggie pride for European life anytime soon.