Culture Shock

Coming to Spain as a student and not a tourist forced me to become assimilated into the culture and customs, so maybe I wouldn’t “stick out” so much and I could learn how the people of Pamplona really live. The most differences between American and Spanish culture that I observed happened around an essential part of every human’s day: meal time. Everyone needs food to survive so it was inevitable that it would be in this arena where I would learn the most about cultural intricacies and the do’s and don’ts of Spanish dining. First, it is not customary to phrase orders with “can I have” or “is it possible..?”, which is the typical polite and indirect way of ordering in the U.S., but with “give me” or “I want”, which seemed horrifying at first. I had to ask the Spanish students and guides several times before being comfortable with this amount of bluntness, but eventually was able to shed my American coat of niceties and get to the point.
Next came the length and timing of the meal. As I have mentioned before Spanish meal times are later than in the U.S., with lunch being eaten around 2 and dinner at 8:30 or 9:00. Not only are the times different, but the general attitude towards meal-time is different as well. At home, oftentimes meals are just for the sake of eating and to-go places are becoming more and more popular. In Spain, the meal is actually an event that usually lasts at least 2 hours, with no particular rush, and very few take-out eateries. This took some getting used to when I was hungry for lunch and just wanted to grab a sandwich and not sit down to a three-course meal, but in the end I liked the new notion of actually enjoying the meal and time spent with friends.

This idea of long lunches and dinners also changes the process of getting your bill at the end of the meal. In the U.S. most servers will bring it to you sometime after you get your dinners saying “no rush!”, while most times you know that they rather you not sit there all night taking up a table that could be used for new paying customers. However in Spain, it’s seen as rude for the server to give you your bill without you asking for it specifically, and they usually don’t come around to check for it it until well after your meal, expecting for you to want to sit and spend time at the table.
“Culture shock” is a phrase often used by people who go to new places and experience other people’s way of life. Usually it refers to you yourself being shocked at how other people go about their lives, but I think there is a flipside to this common phrase. There is also the shock at your own culture, your own habits, and how they might not be the end all be all best way to do things. It may come as a shock to you that you can adapt to a new life, or it may come as a shock to you that you can’t. The important thing is that you try, because whether you are traveling to a different country for a month, year, or even just a week, you are a guest in their world and it is important to respect that. Traveling to new places gives the mind a new perspective on the world and how many people go about doing things, such as having a meal, but it also gives you an appreciation for your own culture back at home. My experiences in Spain have definitely changed my perspective on American culture and my own life, and I plan on taking this new knowledge with me to further appreciate my own roots, while incorporating some of the new tricks I learned while away.