I was learning about cultural differences on a daily basis from the beginning of my study abroad experience on September 3rd until my departure from Seville on December 23rd. Learning outside the classroom to such a great extent was undoubtedly one of my favorite things about living and studying abroad. Given that I have lived in the US for twenty years now, my environment does not challenge me as it did in Seville, Spain. Each day I was learning something new whether that was a new phrase, a new nonverbal form of communication or a new lesson from my Andalusian art history course. Throughout my journal entries I mentioned several times about how the Spanish mindset and way of life is almost the polar opposite of the U.S’ way of doing things. For this reason, there were many moments where I was struck by a cultural difference between my host culture and my home culture. While abroad, I identified what I valued about the Spanish culture that I could bring into my life at home in the US, and discovered what US tendencies I wanted to drop. 

    One of the biggest cultural difference AHA moments that stands out to me, and one that I will carry for the rest of my life was in an “intercambio” session with University of Seville students. This intercambio session summarized all of the cultural differences that I was experiencing into one simple phrase that I later journaled about. The phrase goes: “Los estadounidenses viven para trabajar, mientras que los españoles trabajan para vivir” or in english “Americans live to work, whereas Spaniards work to live”. I vividly remember my gasp when this phrase was mentioned aloud as the topic of the day's intercambio discussion. Nearly each and every cultural difference that I had experienced in my study abroad semester, had to do with the meaning behind this phrase. 

     Essentially, Spaniards work because they need the money to survive, not because their lives revolve around their occupation. Work plays a small role in the life of Spaniards in comparison to the life of a person from the US. In the US, I commonly hear people state their profession within a couple seconds of a formal or informal introduction. This is not something that I saw in Seville. In the United States people commonly prioritize work and will do anything to “climb the ladder” in their profession, even if that means sacrificing time with friends or family. Common phrases in the US including “workaholic”, “work yourself to death”, and “work around the clock” all reflect this quintessential American “live to work” mindset.

    At the beginning of my study abroad experience several elements that underlined the Spanish “work to live'' mindset really frustrated me. For example, waiters and waitresses would not come to tables unless you flagged them down as they commonly talked with their friends during work hours or prioritized themselves above the customer. This phenomena was intertwined with yet another cultural difference, salaries. In Spain and in many other European countries, waiters are paid a living wage and do not rely on tips for their salaries. Whereas in the US, waiters are paid as low as $1 per hour and rely solely on tips for their income. Therefore in the US, it is common for your waiter to walk the guests through the menu and check in on the guests multiple times throughout your meal after serving the table. The U.S. tradition of  having waiters work for tips reflects the fast paced living style in the US. Given that waiters want to make as much money as feasible, this means that they have to seat and serve as many customers as possible. Therefore, it is customary that after eating out in the US, you do not spend significant amounts of time remaining seated. This idea baffled Spaniards when we discussed the topic of service industries in the US versus Spain. In Spain, once you secure a table, it is customary to remain seated with friends and chit-chat for hours on end. The general rule of thumb that my orientation guide taught us was that after about 3-4 hours you either need to purchase another item from the restaurant, cafe, etc. or leave. People in the US would never think to sit and socialize at a restaurant for 3-4 hours at a time as this would be seen as disrespectful to the restaurant. This practice also is not seen in the US given the fast paced environment where people tend to prioritize work over relationship building. 

     Additionally, given the infamous Spanish siesta, stores shut down midday, making it difficult to pick up anything that I needed after class. When stores were open, workers did not have the generous customer-centric personalities that are ingrained in so many corporate cultures around the United States. Workers tended to be quite frank, direct, and straight to the point. Even the way Spaniards picked up the phone reflected this very direct attitude. The phrase “dime” was used, which translates to “tell me”. Although I found all of these cultural differences to be infuriating to begin with, by the end of my semester abroad I couldn't picture life any other way. Things about the “work to live” culture that at first would irritate me, I grew to love and appreciate. This very relaxed and direct form of business, is due to the fact that there are many things that Spaniards value above their occupation, most importantly, spending quality time with family and friends. 

     It is likely that in many cases, Spaniards do not place extreme importance on their occupations given that many Spaniards simply do not have an occupation to begin with. My host family for example, only was receiving income from CIEE for hosting me. Therefore, my host mother and father were nearly always in the apartment spending time with each other, their parents who came and visited, or their son once he returned from school. As I learned in my European Economy course while abroad, Spain has one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU. Given the decades of double digit unemployment, Spaniards have chosen to prioritize other things above their work, which is a luxury rather than an expectation. 

     Spaniards seemed to have much stronger bonds with their families and friends given the amount of time that the Spanish workforce allowed them to socialize and strengthen relationships. For example, workers receive extended lunch breaks so that they can go home and eat lunch each day with their families. My 14 year-old host brother and other children in grade school, would come home every school day to eat with their families. I witnessed in many accounts of how Spain truly has a “family-first” attitude. It made me frustrated at how so many American perceive Spaniards as “lazy” after learning about this beautiful Spanish mindset. I believe a much better perspective to look at the Spanish way of life is that Spaniards put work on the back burner so that they can spend their life the way that their heart desires. As my professor summarized it, “we only have one life to live and it should not be wasted by us working it away, rather, it should be spent with loved ones”. Post-Elon when I am in the workforce and hopefully later begin a family of my own, I will strive to bring a little piece of Seville into my life by not “living to work” like the culture in which I live.