How To Look Like An American 101, by Brooke Adamchak

Back in the United States people tend not to really care about their looks and the way they are dressed before leaving their house. Most people like to wear workout clothing or clothes that are just simply comfortable. For example, a lot of people like to wear sweatshirts and sweatpants together and call it their outfit for the day. But if you were to do that here in Seville you would most certainly get all types of looks by everyone that you pass because people here in Seville like to look presentable. When I first arrived in Seville I remember that a goal of mine was to blend in with the crowd. By wearing the right style of clothing and dressing up the same way like everyone else. From what I have personally seen, it seems to me that everyone wears either jeans, business shirts, pants with stripes or a tile pattern on them, casual dresses, plain colored sweaters along with a heavy jacket because it is “cold” (65 degrees Fahrenheit) and all the women wear some type of style bootie shoe or heels while men wear sneakers or dress shoes. 

No matter how hard I try to blend in, I still catch people looking at me due to my poor choice of attire. At this point, I have given up trying to blend in with the crowd and just wear what I want and also comfortable in. I came the conclusion that most Spaniards can tell right from the first glance if you are an American. So instead of blending in, I figured I would share the process of how to look like an American. Here are some simple steps that you need to know in order to look like an American in Europe!

Step 1: Wear any type of sneaker that you own that has a brand like Nike, Under Armour or Adidas

Step 2: Wear either long or short yoga leggings or a pair of sweatpants that has some type of sport name or college written on it. Something along the lines like this.

Step 3: Find any type of shirt or jacket that clearly says what college you attend or like. For this picture, I choose a soccer jacket to show off what sport I play, what school I go to and the brand name because why not advertise more! Now it is known that I am an American college student-athlete.

Step 4: Put it all together and what do you get?

The PERFECT outfit that just screams out “I AM AN AMERICAN!” Well, there you have it, folks. If you ever want to travel to Europe and let people know that you are not from around there, all you need to do is dress up like you are a college student ready to go to do a workout and BAM the locals will know that you are most certainly not from around here. If you want to top the look off, all you need to do is add a backpack to the outfit and then you will also look like an American tourist!

Restaurant Culture Shock by Ryan Sklar

As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry for nearly four years, I would consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about this particular subject. For this reason, I was really astonished upon my arrival in Seville once I observed the cultural differences between the US and Spain within restaurants and cafes. First, tipping is a practice that is essentially nonexistent here, and when people do tip, it is hardly ever more than spare change. Meanwhile in the US, a server’s wage is almost entirely dependent on their tips since they are paid an hourly below the federal minimum wage. Consequently, servers in the United States have a very volatile income, opposed to those in Spain who have a stable salary. Next, Spanish waiters seem to have a lot more control when it comes to the employee-consumer dynamic. They take great pride in their occupation and seem to be treated with respect. On the other hand, servers in the US seem to be at the mercy of their customers, often being talked down to and treated very poorly. I believe this particular difference can be attributed to the fact the US culture has a more individualistic mindset than that of Spain. While diners in the US feel they have some control over their server since they decide their tip, diners in Spain don’t possess this form of power. Lastly, the pace and atmosphere within restaurants is considerably different between the two countries. As a result of the slower pace of life, it is not abnormal for guests to spend hours at a restaurant in Spain, and you would certainly never see a server rushing guests. In the US, restaurants strive to serve as many guests as quickly as possible in order to maximize profits, resulting in a fast-paced and often chaotic environment. Undoubtedly, restaurants in Spain and the US operate in quite distinct ways. Therefore as a server myself, when I go out to eat in Seville I have to remember to take a breath and relax while enjoying the surprisingly slow-paced atmosphere that seems so foreign to me. No matter how hard I try though, I still can't seem to dismiss the idea that I am always obliged to leave a tip, and continuously find myself leaving a few euros when I dine out, a server’s dilemma I suppose.

Aggressive or Direct? Spanish Communication, by Liz Dohrn

After living for quite a while in Spain, I've come to notice that Spanish communication styles tend to be a lot more forward than what I am used to. For example, when walking into a shop, I'm used to being able to just browse for a little while before the store owner finally asks, “How can I help you?” In Spain, however, I’ve noticed that store owners will notice you immediately (especially if their shop is empty) and start with, “Dime.” It’s less roundabout than what I am used to and-for a lack of a better term-blunt. Shop owners get right to the point and ask what a person needs in their store before going to help them.
This trend seems to continue with regular conversation. When talking about “sensitive” subjects, Spaniards seem to get right to the point. If someone is fat, they’ll just call them fat. If they think a government leader is corrupt, they say so. Even the men when trying to catcall or flirt with ladies on the streets will say exactly what they want from the ladies rather than trying to “woo” them first. A foreigner may find this style very aggressive. Instead of treading lightly or being careful about other’s sensibilities, a Spaniard may instead just broach the topic immediately and continue on from there. A lot of Spaniards may even talk over one another to try and get their opinions in. Though this seems aggressive to many outsiders, I believe this communication style is more direct rather than “aggressive”. A majority of Spaniards simply wish to get to the point of the conversation so that they can either best help you or figure out what you would like to say. They don’t spend extra time on formalities.
Some may wonder why does this happen? Why is it so much more common for Spaniards to speak so directly? It could be because of the type of culture they live in and how their language functions. Spain as a whole is a blend of an individualistic and collectivist culture. While it definitely leans more towards individualism, the collectivist aspects come out with Spaniards focus on family. Because of this focus on family along with the individual, Spanish culture tends to be more informal on the whole. Instead of putting a barrier between oneself and the store owner, a store owner may instead treat you like a friend and use the informal version of you, tú. The fact that Spanish as a language has this distinction between the informal and formal language makes it easier for a speaker to get across their intent. Thus, Spanish communication isn’t “aggressive”. Rather, it’s simply a more direct style of speaking that focuses on getting to the heart of the conversation rather than muddling through pleasantries.

“Gordita” Culture Shock, by Cassie Olszewski

As a student studying psychology and a lover of travel, I am well aware that people from other cultures will interact differently than what I am used to in the United States. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for what I would encounter when living in Spain for five months. From differences in fashion to sleep schedules, I knew I would have to be open-minded and understanding when trying to embrace these differences for my time abroad. However, when my friend had invited me to dinner with his host mom in February, I was terrified. I do not speak much Spanish beyond “no hablo español” and “café con leche, por favor” so the thought of sitting at a dinner table with a woman who I was told was “opinionated”, “strong-willed”, and “loved to talk about politics” made me uncomfortable to say the least. In America, we tend to avoid confrontation by never talking about controversial topics (in person) and always trying to please the people around us rather than saying what is on our minds. Perhaps it is due to the individualistic ways on the United States; we all know we are different and chose to interact solely with goals in mind without having to know the specific values and beliefs of our companions. Therefore, if a conservative and liberal have to interact to get a job done, they would ignore their beliefs for the time being and focus on their work. Or if a wife asks her husband “does this make me look fat?” he would obviously say “of course not!” whether or not it was true. I instantly knew this dinner would be awkward, based on the cultural divide and language barrier, but I did not expect it to be the first thing that happened as I walk in the door.

My friend studies Spanish education and has been my translator for most of this trip but I do know enough words to make sense of what people are saying without knowing every detail. He said he had shown his host mom a photograph of me from the summer in shorts and a tank top. So when I walked in the door in “hibernation mode” wearing layers of all of my sweaters to keep warm, his host mom made the comment (in Spanish) “Oh, she looks larger in person!” To which my friend replied “Yeah, she is taller in person” but no, she did not mean “alta”. “No, ella es más grande” was said a few times and I know enough Spanish to understand she called me fat as soon as I walked in the door, my friend’s roommate even laughed uncomfortably. This experience was lighthearted and funny, though, and not meant as an insult. She then went on to give her opinion about how “chubby” or “gordita” women are the most attractive, make the best wives, and whatnot. So, it was intended as a compliment, not an insult like my American cultural ideals would lead me to believe. In the United States, that would probably be the most offensive thing to say to a young woman, but in Spain it turned into a compliment with a side of culture shock.