Study Abroad

 Before I left Charleston, South Carolina on January 13th, I was the least traveled person I knew. I grew up in the same city my entire life, only living in two habitations no further than five miles apart. I had never been on a plane before in my life. I had only traveled as far north as Kentucky and Northern Virginia and as far south as Fort Lauderdale. I had never taken a plane before; I had never gotten my passport or visa. I also stayed in the Eastern time zone. At this point, you can guess that I had never been outside of the country. To me, a trip one hundred miles north to see my family in Columbia, South Carolina, was as big as a vacation could get. My family was never incredibly well off compared to my friends and neighbors, so we never went. Even though we never traveled, there was never a yearning to. My parents never complained about not going anywhere because they didn’t even want to. Plus, the fact that Charleston is a vacation destination itself. When it is nice and warm most days for nine months of the year (sometimes more), there is no urge to go anywhere else. As a result, we never left, and I did not care. So going to Spain was destined to be such a shock to me no matter what. I learned three great lessons about life and about the Spanish people while I studied in Alicante.

The first is that there are more ways to live a life other than the American Lifestyle. In Spain, people lived a much more laid-back, relaxed energy and decided to live a much simpler and cheaper lifestyle. The average workday for an employee is less intense and not as frantic. It was a much more moderate pace than the American style of work. Most of them refused to let their work bother them much after their shift, and they believed in the work to live longer than us. Almost the entirety of Alicante and southern Spain, for that matter also observes siesta. A break in the day between 2-4 or sometimes 5 where employees go home and relax and rest for a few hours. On the other hand, many Americans refuse to go on a one-hour lunch break! Overall, I found the Spanish people in Alicante to be humbler and less stressed about life. They had a mentality of working less but accepting less. This was not because they were lazy but because the southern Spanish culture has a different goal in life from what we are used to.  

I took two precious lessons from this. First, I understand there is no “correct way” to live. Just because the average Spaniard does not take home as much money as the average American does, that does not mean that they are any less equal than us. Every country and culture has its own way of life, and we should respect how they live and not try to change it. Just because it is different than ours does not mean we have the right to judge or “fix it.” Secondly, I have also learned that I need to enjoy life and appreciate the beauty of being alive. I will still constantly strive to become a great worker and a valuable member of whatever organization I am a part of. From my experiences in Spain, I know I will work hard for a reason. That is because I can enjoy the people I love when I am off shift. Being in Spain has helped me become a greater future employee and a happier man. 

The second lesson I learned is that the Spaniards I met were in much higher spirits than many Americans and a lot more seemed to be more comfortable while they were working and when they were off shift. I believe that Spain’s culture is much more engineered to show great hospitality to other Spaniards as well as foreigners. I think that this is due to two main factors: the first being that around 15% of Spain’s GDP is centered around tourism so a friendly population is necessary for the businesses to keep going. The other part is that Spain is one of the sunniest countries in the whole world which has statistically shown to make people happier and prone to be more outgoing, friendly, and upbeat. If we take a look at other parts of the world people in places like the United Kingdom or Seattle, Washington the inhabitants are more reserved. Of course there are regions in the United States that are very friendly and outgoing but overall I believe that our culture is more cold and holds back the friendly relations. I did not realize that a culture could be as welcoming and friendly as the Spanish were and I was pleasantly surprised.

I would not give up my experiences in Alicante, Spain for a million dollars because the gift of understanding perspective is priceless.

​