Spain

The thing that I wish I could relate more to the people with when I was there was actually about soccer. I did not play soccer growing up. I played like my token like two years that every kid plays, but my kids will all play soccer because I think that's a part of their culture that like really connects them. And even if you like don't know a lot about soccer, just like listening to them to talk about soccer, like asking about how Real Madrid's doing or like how their team's doing, I think that's like something that like they really connect with. So yeah, that's something I love. And they would like bring their like their screens out into the street to like watch soccer. It's just something that's like so part of their culture that I think that it's so easy to connect with.

Spaniards, in particular Spaniards, they're European, so they're very like straightforward and they'll just tell you how it is. There's something that Spaniards do, part of their culture is something called beso, so they give kisses on their cheeks.

People kiss over there, like, if, like, you don't even know them, and they'll walk up to you and they'll give you a beso on your cheeks, which is kind of interesting. Um, it's really rude to refuse those. Yeah, besos.

Probably the biggest difference is just their schedule is super different. In Spain, they do have the siesta in the middle of the day and like, you know, the nap that everyone talks about. That's from like, I'd say two to five. But yeah, people eat really late at night, things like that. The culture's not crazy different. There are some things, but it's pretty similar. The biggest difference is you're probably going to see it from the immigrants, actually, from South America, Central America, and Africa. They're the ones who change the culture a lot, I feel like. Spaniards are pretty normal, I feel like, compared to Americans, if we're comparing Americans versus Spaniards, but it's fun. You'll love it, so.

You know, the culture in Spain is really, it's different, but at the same time it's not that different from culture here in the United States. The Spanish people love to joke, they really like quick jokes, so get good at those. Learn to be loving no matter what, be really open to everything, and just learn to love the culture. It's different, it'll take you a while to get a handle on it. I don't even know how to explain the culture there, to be honest, it's different. But yeah, just learn to love it. It's awesome. I love it so much.

Some things for the culture that I would suggest is Spaniards are genuinely pretty cold and so they don't like if you smile at them they're like what the heck like they won't smile back but if you say hola to them they'll say hi back and they just don't really chat so don't really try and chat with them like out in public.

I would say don't get offended, like don't take things so personally. A lot of the people that are from Spain are pretty blunt, they'll just straight up like if they don't understand your Spanish they'll be like I don't understand you like what are you saying. It's like it can kind of like take you aback so just like don't take things personally.

People say what is on their mind. They aren't going to be fake with you. This is the Spaniards. In Spain, there's also a lot of different cultures, so you will learn about a lot of different cultures of the world. But Spaniards specifically are very straight to the point. They will tell you exactly what they're thinking, whether it's nice or not. They really don't like religion. It's sometimes hard for them to open up, but they are some of the nicest people, and they are open with you.

So, people in Spain wear their emotions right on their sleeves. They'll tell you how they feel, but it can also be a little off-putting. So, culture tips are definitely to, you know, just know that that's part of the culture, that people are pretty gruff. So, you learn to get along with them and just have a smile and be nice, because they are really loving and kind people.

One thing to know is that it's a really big mix of culture and there's lots of immigrants in Spain, especially people who have immigrated there recently, and you'll find that especially in the bigger cities. So there's lots of people from Africa and from South America and lots of Muslims, like most of those are from Morocco, so Africa as well. And it's so cool, and you get to learn a lot about lots of these cultures, and so I'd really just say take advantage of that opportunity to learn about all of these new cultures and connect with people from different cultures as well as from Spain. And Spanish people in the south of Spain are really open, and they'll tell you their whole life story just by talking to them.

There you're gonna meet four countries of Latin Americans, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. And so don't really worry about the other ones as much, you'll meet people there, but those four are the main ones. And I would just learn maybe a little bit about it before I kind of familiar self with them. I've also learned about the history of Spain because a lot of people are proud of it. I kind of felt connected because I understood kind of history.