Madrid Part III: An American in Europe and Culture Shock?

Living in a foreign country is a huge change, especially when you don't speak much of the language! Going to school in NYC has made my transition to living in Madrid a bit easier, since I am familiar with subway systems and city life in general. I can imagine that it would be much more difficult for someone who has only lived in the suburbs or rural America! I would definitely recommend downloading a metro map and becoming familiar with your city right away while studying abroad.

One thing that was shocking, coming from the city that never sleeps, was the fact that the Madrid metro shuts down around 1:30, which is late compared to some other cities. This means that, unless you want to take a bus, you'll be walking or taking a cab from around 1:30 to 6 or 7 am! This may not seem like a problem until you realize that the Spanish keep unusual hours.

The Spanish don't eat lunch until 2 or 4, and dinner isn't until 8 or 10! They also eat a larger lunch and a smaller dinner. After dinner, Spaniards go to bars until they close at 2 or 3 in the morning, but the night is just getting started! Once the bars are closed, Spaniards go to elaborate night clubs where they dance until the subway opens back up. They stop off to get some churros con chocolate and then head home to sleep before starting all over the next night. This seems to be at least in part because most Spaniards go to the public university closest to home and live with their parents, so they can't stumble in drunk every night!

As a biology student, the thing that I found to be the most shocking was the attention, or lack thereof, paid to hygiene. One of the first things I noticed was that Spaniards, and many Europeans in general, do not wash their hands, you won't even find soap in every bathroom, and sometimes you won't even find toilet paper! Bring pocket tissues and hand sanitizer for emergencies! Spaniards often don't wash their hands in the bathroom and many will cough and sneeze into their hands and go about their business touching door handles, etc. When you come from a foreign country and your immune system has not built up effector cells against the germs of a new place and everyone seems fine with sharing their germs, you can get very sick! Be prepared to get lots of colds, I'm on my fourth. It's important to take care of your health in the whirl wind of beautiful cities and nights out!

Most Spanish hang dry their clothes. I had read about this but am still frustrated with the wait period, laundry has become an even bigger chore that requires planning to ensure you have dry clothing -_-.

The only other thing that is a bit shocking, which I heard a lot about before arriving, is that customer service in Europe is pretty poor. Waiters in restaurants don't work off of tips like they do in the US, so there is no incentive to do a good job. There also seems to be an overall culture of poor service. Ofcourse, this is not true of everyone, so when you do have a bad experience just brush it off!

If you're feeling overwhelmed and homesick that's completely ok! It's fine to go to McDonald's or spend a night in watching US TV, but you should also get out and explore your city! Go on trips, say yes when someone asks you to do something new or to go to a new place! go to an art museum even if you wouldn't be caught dead in one in the US! Go to a club all night even if you go to sleep by 12 back home! Try new things! Remember, you don't come to Europe to live like an American!