Spain vs. Britain

[Taken from my blog: http://madridmemories.wordpress.com/].

Hi everyone! I realise I haven’t written a blog post in aaaages – since I last posted, I’ve opened my Spanish bank account, found a flat, got an Erasmus card, got a travel card, enrolled at university, done work/assignments for uni here, found and joined the local Shorinji Kempo (martial arts) club, been out-out, and of course explored Madrid! So a lot has happened, and instead of detailing all of these, I’m simply going to make this blog post a (maybe slightly rambly) list of differences that my friends and I have noticed between Britain and Spain, and my preferences!

Queuing

Britain: queuing is one of our strengths. We stand behind the last person in the queue and we wait. Queue-jumping is greeted by tutting.

Spain: In banks and other queue-related places, it’s normal to enter the building and announce that you want to be next in line by asking “¿quién da la vez?” or “¿quién va?” (“who’s next?”). Although it can be daunting at first, it seems rather an efficient system because you can then sit down or have a wander, knowing that your place in the queue is reserved without you physically having to be in it.

Preference: Spain

Manners

Britain: Kind of linked to queuing is the manners/ politeness issue.  Back home, “please” and “thank you” are the “magic words”.

It’s instilled in children that it’s “rude to stare”.

If you want to get past someone, you say “excuse me”.

Spain: There is a lot less plea-making and thanking. I still can’t quite say to a shopkeeper “dame una bolsa” (“give me a bag”) without internally wincing at my lack of magic words, but here, it’s a much more acceptable phrase, and is more of a request than an order. I have heard that being too polite to Spaniards can make them think you’re being sarcastic/making fun of them, so I’ll just have to stick with internal wincing.

It seems to be totally fine to stare at someone you find interesting in any way.

I think I’ve worked out that if you want to get past someone, you can absolutely just move them out of the way.

Preference: Britain

PDA

Britain: At home, I see the occasional public display of affection, but it’s usually quite moderate affection.

Spain: So much PDA! Spaniards don’t hold back when it comes to showing affection. I won’t describe some of the things I’ve seen on the metro, as it would verge on NSFW, so you can imagine how much more extreme it is than in the UK. This isn’t just young people, either, but I guess it’s nice to see that the spark is still there in older people’s relationships.

Preference: Britain

Meeting people

Britain: Depending on the social context, usually a handshake or awkward “hi” and *semi-wave* will do the trick.

Spain: Maybe one of the reasons that Spaniards are OK with PDA is that they interact on a more intimate level than Brits from a young age. Meeting new people often involves kissing on the cheeks – one on each cheek, left then right (the order varies from country to country).The good thing about this custom is that, as long as you’re not in a professional setting, and as long as you’re not two men (society’s rules, not mine), you don’t have to decide whether to go in for the handshake or not; you just go for the kisses. Sometimes, though, I wonder how much time Spaniards would save if they didn’t kiss each other every time they meet.

Preference: Britain

Going out (to clubs)

Britain: Before coming to Spain, I was accustomed to pre-drinks at someone’s house at about 9 or 10pm then going to a club at about 11pm-ish. The night ends at club kick-out time – 2 or 3am – cheesy chips are consumed, and it’s time to go home.

If you order a vodka and coke, you get a shot of vodka (measured out) and the rest of the glass coke.

Generally people dress according to the establishment (for Southamptonites – I’m talking about the difference between Jesters and Oceana).

Spain: It’s normal to get to a club at about 1 or 2am. They stay open until about 6am, which kind of makes sense because then you can just go home when the metro re-opens. I’m still not quite sure how people manage to get to uni/work after nights like these, though!

If you order a vodka and coke, you get the vodka free-poured into the glass, to about half-way up, and a small bottle of coke for you to mix yourself as you go (there’s not enough room in the glass for all that vodka AND the whole small bottle of coke). They seem to be a lot more generous with the alcohol here. A friend asked for a vodka and lime, expecting lime soda/ some lime cordial with the vodka. The club didn’t seem to offer this, so used lime liqueur as the mixer. I suppose it’s good value for money…?

Dress code seems a lot more relaxed and free here. I’ve seen people wearing black tie attire and others wearing casual (even trackies) clothing in the same place with no problem.

Preference: Spain

Hot chocolate

Britain: this is a drink made of milk/water/chocolate powder.

Spain: this is hot chocolate. Basically a cup of melted chocolate. Which can be AMAZING but if you just wanted a cosy hot choc, it might be necessary to ask for Cola-Cao (their famous brand of powdered chocolate).

Preference: Spain

In some cases I prefer the Spanish way; in others I prefer Britishness. I expect this will probably change throughout my stay here, and preference one way doesn’t mean that there aren’t pros and cons of both cultures!

¡Hasta luego!