After living in Valencia for almost 5 months (ah!), sometimes I don't even notice these blatant cultural differences anymore. And at other times, I just think that something is so entirely weird/illogical/different that it will always remain that way to me. Anyways, here are some observations that I've made.
1. Dress: Spanish (and Europeans in general) dress way better on a day-to-day basis than Americans. Never have I EVER seen someone go to class in work out clothes, or, god forbid, pajamas. Actually, I never really see anyone in work out clothes (except people who are literally working out) or pajamas in public, whereas during finals week in Westwood there's definitely more people in pajamas than not. Americans are just more casual. Also, generally the 'soccer moms' of the U.S. are not considered very stylish or trendy (celebrities excluded) but here, the fact that they have children doesn't seem to prevent Spanish women from being trendy.
2. Self-image: Compared to Americans, Spanish (and I guess Europeans in general) seem to have a better self-image. From what I've seen, people tend to worry less about their weight, dieting, or a being a certain size. And from my limited surveying among my friends, of course there are peoples and especially adolescent girls with eating disorders in Europe but it doesn't seem to be as common as in the U.S. I saw this infographic and the fact is that Americans consume the most and spent the least amount of money, relatively, on food. Add our sprawling walking-unfriendly cities and Hollywood to the mix...
3. Customer service: Unfortunately, customer service is practically nonexistent here. The hours of service are inconvenient, the quantity is awful, and of course the quality is lacking.
Let me explain about my Bancaja experience. Every time I visit the branch of Bancaja where I opened my account, it amazes me how incompetent and unfriendly the bankers are. First of all, there is usually only 1 teller and there's a line of about 10 customers waiting. Secondly, each person working at Bancaja seems to tell me something different every time I go there (you do qualify for the under-26 account with no fees, you'll be charged maintenance fees until you get your residence card, you do not qualify for the under-26 account with no fees, etc). I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say that I have to get myself prepped, mentally, for going to the bank because it can be a test of patience and determination. Another time, a customer was yelling at the teller and the teller yelled right back to him. It doesn't even matter who was right or wrong (in this case, both had their points) but this just shows that what is law in the U.S. -"The customer is always right"- does not exist in Spain.
Take another example- let's say a restaurant. Generally all over Europe tax and tip are included in your meal. The plus? You don't end up paying 30% on top of what your food cost. The minus? Horrible service. I don't mean that all waiters are rude, because I've had good experiences. But on the whole, the fact that tip is included means that there is no incentive to serve customers with respect or with even a smile.
4. Religion: For being so intensely Catholic in history, Spain is quite areligious- people (especially middle-aged and young people) seem on the whole indifferent about religion. It's just not something that concerns them, nor a topic that surfaces so much in politics. I guess that's because I'm used to the U.S., where we have much more diversity and extremes. Religion is extremely important to some people yet extremely unimportant to others, and despite of the Freedom of Religion we have a hard time agreeing on any issue where religion has influenced the way people think.
5. Racial diversity: What can I say, I miss the diversity of California! Sometimes I travel and the local people say, "Oh, my country is very diverse! There's quite a few people from X country and immigrants from Y." Yes, globalization is increasing racial diversity everywhere but it's hard for me to consider a place diverse when 90% of the population is of the same origin. I guess after living in Los Angeles for 4 years, it's hard for another city to compare. Also I do have to admit that even if Spain seems racially homogenous, Valencia itself has a 14% population of foreigners, the majority of which from Latin America but also others from the rest of Europe, Africa, and Asia. (Just for comparison, 40% of the population of Los Angeles doesn't have a US passport. In terms of diversity, that's not even counting the second and third generation that probably make up more than half of those who are considered American.)
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