After being abroad for two weeks in Portugal, I learned a lot about international business and how my culture differs from others. My initial perspective of the trip was not entirely accurate. I had initially thought the language barrier would be hard to overcome, people would not be friendly to tourists, and my culture and way of doing things would be completely different compared to the Portuguese. After completing the trip aboard, I realized all these thoughts were wrong. Almost everyone spoke English, the locals were super nice and accommodating to tourists, and despite some cultural differences, the people in Portugal were similar to people in the United States.
There were quite a few cultural differences that I learned while aboard. For one, servers and workers don?t get tipped and could take offense if you tried to tip them a lot. The most you could tip that would be considered normal is rounding up on the final price. Also, tax is included in everything you purchase. The price listed on the sticker is the exact price that you will pay. Additionally, at restaurants, it is impolite to not eat your meal fresh or not finish your plate. You are expected to begin eating right as your meal is served and finish everything.
The way businesses are run in Portugal can differ compared to the United States. Portuguese businesses have major focus points on sustainability and reducing their environmental impact. Businesses try their best to reduce waste and recycle products instead of throwing them away. Almost all the businesses we visited had chargers for electric cars in their parking lots and one business had an entire fleet of electric vehicles that their employees could use.
I was able to gain a new perspective on how businesses can be run and learned about a new culture and how their customs and traditions translated into the workplace. Studying abroad is not only educational but also is so much fun as you are able to experience so many new things. I would highly recommend studying aboard to anyone who is considering it.