In my classes, I was surprised to find out that I was one of only a few Americans at my school (Españolé IH Valencia). My peers were mostly European, and Japanese. As expected, they were very intrigued to learn about American culture, so I took that as an opportunity to exchange culture lessons! Whether during our break between classes, within class (all done in Spanish here), while participating in a school activity, or while out and about, I was talking to as many people as I could to understand the people of Valencia, Spain, but also those around the world. I became acquainted with a Dutch man, and together we exchanged so many European and American culture lessons. I also met Germans, Ukrainian, French, Swiss, Chinese, and Japanese people in which I got to walk away with something from each of their cultures! It was interesting to understand their perceptions of Americans in comparison to reality, as well as my own perceptions vs. reality of their cultures. Being a soccer fanatic, I brought it up and almost instantly made connections with these people in which I opened the door to conversation about cultures. At first I did not know how to break that barrier, because we had to either communicate using broken English or our intermediate Spanish capabilities, but after trying out one thing that worked, I learned to run with it. Something as simple as the manners at the table was different, yet I adapted and loved every second of participating in their cultures. Most of my time with friends was learning about cultures from other countries than Spain, but it was when I did the school activities that I learned about the history of Valencia, the people, the art, the food, the architecture, and the lifestyle. The school offered activities everyday after school, some gratis (free) and some cost a little (but worth it!). When engaging with Spanish culture, I found myself needing to ask more questions to make sure I understood things correctly. I am so glad that I did ask though because they would let me know that they really appreciate it when a foreigner takes the time to understand why they do the things they do. I will get into the excursions in a different blog, but on my first day I went on a tour of the city, and to simply make sure I understood the history correctly allowed me to embrace the Valencian culture. Because just like we have multiple subcultures in America (for example, Nashville has a country culture), it is the same in Spain! The area of Valencia has a different culture than Barcelona and the Catalonia region, so make sure to ask questions because you are here to learn and grow as a person!
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