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Spain seems like paradise on Earth, however it could actually nonetheless be jarring to maneuver there from a distinct nation. All of the sudden, you take a look at life via a very completely different lens. What was as soon as acquainted is now very completely different, whether or not you’re going to the grocery store, consuming dinner, interacting with strangers, or just strolling down the road.
Journey and tradition content material creator Katie Boggs, lately moved to Spain from america. In a collection of well-liked movies on TikTok and Instagram, she shared her greatest tradition shock moments, and we wished to share her finest insights about Spanish life with you.
Bored Panda reached out to Katie, and she or he was variety sufficient to inform us all about what impressed her to maneuver to Spain, what she loves essentially the most about life there, and what can inspire everybody to begin touring themselves. You’ll discover our full unique interview together with her under!
Extra information: Instagram | Linktree | TikTok
Many individuals fall in love with Spain and surprise what it might be wish to dwell there
Picture credit: Susanna Cama / pexels (not the precise picture)
Katie Boggs lately moved to Spain from america. She created a collection of movies the place she shared her high tradition shock moments
Picture credit: katieboggs_
She opened up about some extra cultural variations in a follow-up video
Picture credit: katietheguiri
“My title is Katie, I simply moved to Spain from america two weeks in the past, and I’m coming at you with tradition shocks. The most important tradition shock for me has positively been adjusting to the consuming schedule right here. In america, I’m used to consuming dinner at round 5 or 5:30 proper after work, and right here, proper after work, you eat lunch, and you then don’t eat dinner till 9 or 10 pm, which is loopy to me.”
Picture credit: katietheguiri
“The subsequent factor I seen is that it’s fully normalized to depart your canine alone in public simply tied to a pole or one thing whilst you’re buying, and nobody will hassle it. That’s actually loopy to me. And final however not least, the emphasis on social interplay right here is unbelievable. You go to a espresso store right here or a cafeteria, and persons are really sitting there and speaking to one another, they usually’re not on their laptops, they usually’re having fun with their meal. That may by no means occur in america. You go to Starbucks and everybody’s on their telephones and laptops. It’s loopy.”
Picture credit: katietheguiri
In one other clip, Katie broke down simply how inexpensive life in Spain will be
“I’m going to interrupt down all of my prices a month to indicate you the way completely ridiculously livable it’s. Lease: 325€, utilities: 30€, meals for one month: 150€ (and I sort of spent loads on meals in comparison with my pals, in order that’s saying one thing), telephone invoice + Wi-Fi: 27€, health club: 30€ a month, one singular bus experience is 40 cents. I additionally get breakfast out each single day and it’s actually inexpensive to do this. I get a sandwich with tomato and tuna (don’t knock it till you attempt it, it’s actually good). After which I get a café con leche, which is virtually like a latte. Each morning, the entire is 3.30€. 3.30€! You possibly can’t even get a espresso, you may’t even get half of espresso for that in america.”
Picture credit: katietheguiri
“I’m in Granada and a glass of wine is costing me 3€. And the factor about Granada is you get a tapa with it totally free. So what my pals and I’ll do no matter we need to exit is we’ll get three glasses of wine and that comes with three tapas, which just about is dinner. You’re actually spending 9€ on three drinks and dinner. And the wine doesn’t make you hungover as a result of it doesn’t have all these components that america has. I additionally solely work 14 hours every week, yeah. Now that’s not regular to Spain, it’s simply with this system I’m with. I’m strolling all over the place, it’s all the time sunny outdoors. To not point out that everybody’s actually so pleasant. The celebration life is so a lot better. To not point out, they received siestas, come on.”
Picture credit: katietheguiri
“One of the best ways I’d describe dwelling on this nation is that you just really feel like a human being. Every part shuts from 2 pm to five pm each single day so everybody can go residence and loosen up, eat a meal, take a nap. Most issues are shut on Sundays. So that you all the time have that time without work to simply relaxation. There are fruterías on each single nook the place I actually get all my vegatables and fruits for the entire week for like 6€, they usually’re wonderful high quality. I can not stress sufficient when you’ve got the chance to come back to Spain and simply expertise life right here. Whether or not it’s simply short-term or long-term, do it as a result of it’ll change your life and your perspective.”
Picture credit: katietheguiri
You possibly can watch Katie’s full viral video about tradition shocks proper over right here
@katieboggs_ Siesta= Key to happiness #fyp #foryou #spain #cultureshocks #usa #unitedstates #eeuu #espana ♬ authentic sound – Kacie Rose
In the meantime, right here’s her full video about the price of dwelling
@katieboggs_ #sew with @lanna 🌻 beloved this video and wished so as to add my expertise! #spain #anticapitalism #costoflivingcrisis #america #costofliving #americanineurope ♬ authentic sound – Katie the Guiri
Katie opened as much as us about what impressed her to make the transfer to Spain
We had been very curious to search out out what impressed Katie to journey to Spain within the first place. She was completely satisfied to share her story with us. “I really took a visit right here on my spring break final 12 months. I used to be visiting my finest good friend who was doing her masters in London and we determined to do a random weekend journey to Malaga. She picked it as a result of she had seen an Instagram video about it, I didn’t know ANYTHING about Spain. We had been there for 3 days and by the second day, I used to be in love. With every part. The tradition, the solar, the meals, the friendliness, the language, the style,” she instructed Bored Panda by way of e-mail.
“I had a good friend who was instructing English up north in Zaragoza and I messaged her asking how she did it and she or he despatched over this system (NALCAP). I utilized 2 days later, downloaded Duolingo, and moved residence for the summer season to save cash. I practiced Spanish each day on Duolingo and watched films and TV in Spanish regardless that I barely understood a factor. Now, nearly precisely a 12 months later, I communicate Spanish and dwell right here and I really like each minute of it!”
In accordance with Katie, it took her a couple of months to get used to life there as a result of it was so completely different. She identified that, for one, the tempo of issues in eating places and elsewhere is far slower. In the meantime, locations shut loads. “On Sundays, most every part is closed, in addition to each day from 2-5 pm for siesta. There is also a language barrier and it took some time to get accustomed to the Spanish approach of claiming issues as I discovered textbook Mexican Spanish which is a tad completely different. I additionally needed to adapt to the loopy consuming schedule right here. They eat lunch late at like 2-3 pm and dinner is 8-10pm!” she shared with us.
For Katie, the largest upsides of transferring to Spain had been the superior climate (“it’s sunny nearly all 12 months and it hardly ever rains”) and the slower tempo (“issues are so chill”). She lives within the south of Spain and located that the persons are extremely pleasant. However there are much more execs in comparison with the US!
“The structure is BEAUTIFUL right here and I really like the Spanish Andalusian-style buildings. I really like love love that I can stroll all over the place and the meals high quality is INSANELY higher right here. Additionally, a glass of wine right here is like 3 euros, so I see my pals far more as a result of it’s so inexpensive to go get drinks on a random weeknight and catch up. Individuals listed here are additionally extra chill. They don’t overschedule themselves like People, so whenever you need to plan one thing with somebody, it’s extra of ‘Hey, wanna seize tapas tonight?’ ‘Positive!’, as an alternative of ‘Hey, wanna seize dinner someday this week?’ ‘Sorry I’m SUPER busy however I can do 3 weeks out at 5 pm on Thursday.’”
Picture credit: Enrico Perini / pexels (not the precise picture)
“One of the best vacationers glide and expertise every part with open arms”
Nevertheless, we had been additionally to listen to what Katie misses about life within the US as properly. She stated that it’s largely the meals. “I miss the excess of choices of meals decisions from all completely different cultures,” she stated. “We do Japanese, Chinese language, Mexican, Thai meals all SO MUCH BETTER [in the US] than right here [in Spain]. I additionally miss sure issues just like the air con and heating (typically it will get actually sizzling or chilly contained in the buildings right here). I additionally actually miss iced espresso. And American pancake breakfast. I largely miss the meals.”
Bored Panda additionally wished to get Katie’s ideas on how somebody who’s by no means traveled earlier than may get used to occurring extra journeys. “I used to be additionally scared to begin touring due to cash and security. Nevertheless, I can inform you I barely have cash now and I journey ALL the time. European journey is fairly low cost as a result of transportation right here is so low cost (Ryanair flights for 30 euros) and the buses and trains right here rock. The most costly half is the airplane ticket abroad,” she shared some suggestions.
“My recommendation is to analysis and plan stuff earlier than as a result of then you may skip strains for large sights and in addition you’ll have heard issues to keep away from earlier than you come. Come ready with a conveyable charger, medication, hand sanitizer, and every part you can probably consider ‘simply in case.’ Analysis town you’re going to and the potential vacationer traps and keep away from them and actually, don’t simply persist with the massive apparent cities like Paris or Madrid as a result of these are ALWAYS the costliest and normally my least favourite.”
Katie urged everybody to maintain an open thoughts about completely different cultures and to not count on every part to be like in america. “Oftentimes, my pals will go to me and be upset when sure meals gained’t be out there or the air con isn’t on or individuals don’t act as pleasant and my response is, ‘What do u count on? It is a entire completely different nation!’ One of the best vacationers glide and expertise every part with open arms!” Make sure you observe Katie’s Instagram and TikTok for her freshest movies.
Picture credit: Anastasia / pexels (not the precise picture)
Spanish is without doubt one of the hottest languages on the planet, so that you’ll be better off should you study it
For us, Spain is the embodiment of gorgeous nature, nice climate, recent meals, and pleasant locals. Spain has 47.8 million individuals dwelling there, in comparison with the 333.3 million within the US. In accordance with ‘Finest Diplomats,’ round 53 million People communicate Spanish, of which 41 million are native Spanish audio system and 12 million are bilingual.
Nevertheless, Rosetta Stone places the variety of US Spanish audio system at 57 million individuals. Spanish has 496 million native audio system around the globe, making up 6.3% of the worldwide inhabitants. This quantity is even larger after we contemplate the variety of whole audio system, standing at a stunningly spectacular 595 million.
It’s the second most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese language and the fourth most spoken language general, after English, Mandarin, and Hindi. Most Spanish audio system will be present in Mexico, the US, Colombia, Spain (naturally!), adopted by Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
The EF English Proficiency Index states that the Spanish have ‘average proficiency’ in English abilities. El Pais studies that 27.7% of all Spaniards say they will communicate the language.
So, should you plan on touring or transferring to the nation, it might make sense to study at the very least some primary phrases in Spanish. You possibly can’t depend on luck that somebody you discuss to goes to know English.
In the event you do your finest to study the language, not solely are the locals seemingly going to be friendlier with you, however you’ll even have a far richer expertise when you may perceive what everybody’s saying. A core a part of journey and journey means opening your self as much as new experiences. And meaning embracing the tradition, language, meals, and way of life.
In our expertise, the easiest way to study any language is to observe it in real-life conditions. Apps like Duolingo and applications like Rosetta Stone are fantastic, to make sure. Nevertheless, we personally see the largest progress when we’ve got some native audio system to information our approach.
In brief, whenever you’re studying any new language, it actually helps to have a growth-oriented mindset. Make errors—and many them! That’s how we study.
And don’t be fearful of speaking to the native audio system and locals even should you solely know a couple of shaky primary phrases. It’s the willingness to attempt that basically counts! Apart from, it’s an incredible feeling whenever you apply one thing you’ve discovered in actual life.
Picture credit: Carlos Mazorra / pexels (not the precise picture)
In the event you’re fully new to journey, begin off by taking very small journeys after which constructing as much as larger adventures
On the time of writing, travel-grammer Katie has 17.3k loyal Instagram followers who take pleasure in her movies about life in Spain. She additionally has 49.2k followers on TikTok. Katie offers everybody a recent perspective of what life within the nation is absolutely like. And it’s all very relatable for anybody who has traveled to the European nation, whether or not they had been a vacationer, an alternate scholar, or a working skilled.
Nevertheless, removed from all people has the braveness to journey overseas. Whereas we discover journey fantastic, some people daydream about adventuring close to and much however get overwhelmed with stress when they give thought to all of the potential issues that would go improper.
Beforehand, Bored Panda spoke about stepping outdoors our consolation zone with Keith O’Hara, the founding father of The Irish Highway Journey. “Being ‘too busy’ is rarely an excuse to place off having fun with life, but it’s a lure many people plummet head-first into, whether or not or not it’s because of monetary or work commitments. Usually, you simply want to begin small,” he instructed us throughout an earlier interview.
He recommended creating a listing of journey objectives that you just’d ideally love to satisfy sooner or later. Within the meantime, you may work as much as them by setting your self extra reasonable journey locations, when it comes to money and time. “ You’ll (hopefully) begin to see the advantages of those ‘baby-step’ journeys. Then, when the time is correct, make that ‘predominant’ journey,” he stated.
Solo journey can also be an possibility. Despite the fact that it’d sound intimidating, you may nonetheless do it. Take into account what the worst-case state of affairs may be: it’ll most likely by no means occur.
“Be enthusiastic, however be educated about your vacation spot. Perceive, at the very least at a really excessive stage, the ins and outs of the place you’re touring to and take time to grasp any dos and don’ts,” O’Hara shared some spot-on recommendation for all vacationers. “For essentially the most half, simply embrace all of it—one of many joys of journey is experiencing individuals, locations, meals, language, and tradition. Soak all of it up.”
Right here’s what some web customers needed to say after watching Katie’s clips
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