SPAIN - BARCELONA

I am currently doing my semester abroad in Barcelona. During the first month of my stay abroad I was able to observe many new things in the daily life. The Spanish way of life is characterized by nonchalance, inner peace and temperament. Nothing stresses out a Spaniard. A way of life to which I could partly get used to.

I already was able to experience this lifestyle during the first week of my semester abroad. For me in Austria it is quite normal to come to an appointment on time or be there even earlier, but not so much in Spain. At the first lecture I have had at my university the lecturer came half an hour late and ended the class one hour earlier. The same as when we had the exam, the teacher came 20 minutes late. All the students were very confused and panicked that the exam would not take place or that we were all in the wrong room. I would never have thought that that Spanish way of life would still apply to a university setting.

Unlike me and my friends from Central Europe people get up much later here and start their day later. Usually, they get up at about 9.30 to 10.00 a.m. during the week. Even the supermarkets only open at 9.00 a.m. but are also open longer. Daily life here is all a bit later. The dinner is about 10 p.m. It is common here to have a big dinner with traditional Spanish food like paella, patatas bravas, pimientos de Padron, jamon, tortilla de patatas, croquetas and pan tumaca. In a restaurant you order many different types of tapas (as I described before) and share them all. I usually eat at 6 p.m. so this is very late for me, but in general I like to order different tapas with my friends, so you can try out different types of dishes.

This kind of social behavior is also expressed in nightlife and party style. People meet at about 11 to 12 p.m. for botellon (before the party) at a bar and drink together. The most common drinks are beer, sangria and red wine with coke. After that they go to a club. The Spaniards are not stressed, so the clubs fill up only at about 2 to 3 a.m. Hence, they come home from a normal party night at about 6 to 7 a.m. As a student you get easily used to this kind of night life during the weekends.

I would say that Spanish people are more open to chat than most other European cultures. The Spaniards are friendly and welcome strangers with open arms. You get to know other people very fast. Whether you are alone on the beach or on the bus strangers approach you and have a nice conversation with you. They communicate very emotionally, passionately and are very bubbly. They are also usually in a very good mood and you always have something to laugh about. But most employees in a grocery store or bar can not speak English. So, it is good to know some Spanish vocabulary in order to communicate.

I have to say that I partly really like the way they live here in Barcelona. I think they have a better work-life balance, and they don’t get stressed out very quickly. They enjoy life to the fullest and take Sundays as a day off weekly. Because the Spanish people are so open minded you feel at home very fast and get to know new people quickly. But on the other hand, I couldn’t get used to just living each day without a fixed routine and starting a day that late. When returning home, I will try to adapt a better study/work-life-balance and be more open minded in my day to day life to meet new people.