The Interview
One of my favorite assignments during my time in Spain has been interviewing my friend Lucia. As I mentioned before, I was paired with Lucia through the buddy program here at the UA, and we've spent a lot of time together since! Anyway, I chose to interview her because she has helped more than anyone with introducing me to the Spanish culture.
We did the interview over lunch one day. We met up at one of the various cafeterias on campus and chatted for a while before I berated her with questions. Basically, I wanted to know what her perception of the US was and how she perceived her own country. One of the things I've learned about Spanish people is they can be very self-critical. They definitely love their country, but will be the first ones to point out when something isn't right.
Anyway, one of the most interesting things I learned wasn't what she thought of her country or mine, but how our opinions differed so much. In her opinion, Spanish people are generally non-confrontational. They'll put up with a lot before they say anything, but they would really prefer not to argue at all.
This was interesting because my experience in Spain as a foreigner couldn't have been more different. Compared to the US, I viewed Spanish people as being extremely more open to confrontation. I've never had a Spanish person who had a problem with telling me what was up. During the process I went through to get my foreign identification card, I even had quite a few people yell at me for not understanding. Hearing what Lucia had to say about her culture made me think twice. Maybe what I perceived as loud and confrontational was really just normal for them. People can seem a little abrasive or loud at first, but once you show them you really do care about learning their language and culture, they'll respond with warmth and enthusiasm.
Among other things, we also discussed how much she'd love to visit the US, and how she thinks the biggest crisis right now in Spain is the unemployment rate and poor economy. I learned so much from her, and definitely recommend sitting down with a Spanish person sometime and picking their brain about how they perceive these cultural differences.
We did the interview over lunch one day. We met up at one of the various cafeterias on campus and chatted for a while before I berated her with questions. Basically, I wanted to know what her perception of the US was and how she perceived her own country. One of the things I've learned about Spanish people is they can be very self-critical. They definitely love their country, but will be the first ones to point out when something isn't right.
Anyway, one of the most interesting things I learned wasn't what she thought of her country or mine, but how our opinions differed so much. In her opinion, Spanish people are generally non-confrontational. They'll put up with a lot before they say anything, but they would really prefer not to argue at all.
This was interesting because my experience in Spain as a foreigner couldn't have been more different. Compared to the US, I viewed Spanish people as being extremely more open to confrontation. I've never had a Spanish person who had a problem with telling me what was up. During the process I went through to get my foreign identification card, I even had quite a few people yell at me for not understanding. Hearing what Lucia had to say about her culture made me think twice. Maybe what I perceived as loud and confrontational was really just normal for them. People can seem a little abrasive or loud at first, but once you show them you really do care about learning their language and culture, they'll respond with warmth and enthusiasm.
Among other things, we also discussed how much she'd love to visit the US, and how she thinks the biggest crisis right now in Spain is the unemployment rate and poor economy. I learned so much from her, and definitely recommend sitting down with a Spanish person sometime and picking their brain about how they perceive these cultural differences.
Comments
Post a Comment