Throughout my trip to Spain, France, and Italy, I gained insight into the inner workings of many types of businesses and the countries themselves. In each and every country I noticed that most places we visited thrived due to a tourism-based economy. And due to this, most people I encountered could conduct business and at least have basic conversations in English. During my first day in each country, my first impression was that I would have trouble communicating and understanding the local people. However, as each day progressed I was pleasantly surprised because I was always able to find someone who I could communicate with, whether they spoke basic English or whether I utilized Google Translate, Most of the companies we visited, especially those who interacted with many people, were able to communicate well in English and explain the intricacies of their business processes. This demonstrated to me that even in major foreign economies and businesses English is a very useful language to know. My time abroad, although it was for a short period of time, provided me with plenty of experiences that changed my perspective. I realized that there are many opportunities, ideas, and worlds that exist outside of the U.S. My main objective for this trip was to learn more and observe daily life, practices, and business processes in each country, and this trip provided me with exactly that. I also found it amusing how often locals were able to immediately tell that I was a foreigner and would start conversations in English. My initial thoughts when the trip began is that I would not see much diversity in each country, however, I found that I was completely wrong. In all 3 countries, I observed diverse communities. Granted, they were not as diverse as the United States, but much more than I expected. In conclusion, I believe that this field trip broadened my horizons and has changed my future goals while improving my global perspective.
