Differences between Spain and the U.S.

I have only been here a week, but already I am noticing some key differences between the way things are done in Spain and the United States and as I do not have much new and interesting things to say, I think I will list them here:


1) There are NO non-smoking policies as far as I can tell.  Everyone smokes, they do it often, and they do it in your face.  It is probably the only thing I absolutely can't stand here.  It is very accepted, especially at night-time and whenever I come back home I immediately feel like I want to shower, hang my coat outside to air, and throw all my clothes in the wash (and sometimes I do)!

2) The night-life here lasts until the wee hours of the morning.  At Geneseo it lasted until about 2am, 3am at the latest (and that was considered extreme).  But here, it is almost embarrassing to go to bed before the sun comes up on the weekends.  When I got back from Gijon, Aubrey and I walked home to the sunrising and there were still parties and dancing going on when we left.

3) While I am talking about night-life, that too is much different than in the United States.  College students in the United States go crazy with drinking once they get to college, But here the drinking age is 18 so it is not such a big deal for kids to be doing something "risky."  So, the nightlife as a result is much more focused on dancing, meeting people, and just hanging out.  I like it here a LOT better.  It is just more relaxing and "grown-up" if I can use that term.

4) Classes do not start until ten minutes after the time they are supposed to.  Ironically, these is consistent across the board and teachers are always exactly 10 minutes late (so why they do not just change the start times is beyond me haha).  For me it is great because I always think the walk from my house is 5 minutes when it is actually 15 minutes.

5) Everything here is considered "5 minutes" away.  If you ask someone for directions they will tell you it is 5 minutes in that direction, and 30 minutes later you are still hauling your butt up a hill with no sign of your destination.  Not of course that that has EVER happened to me :)

6)  Oviedo is the cleanest city in Europe (or so they claim).  They have street cleaners all the time, special machines for picking up gum, and people sweeping their front stoops a couple times a day.  As a result, though I am living in a city of 250,000 people, it still feels smaller and less dirty.

7)  Everything here just looks cooler.  Many of the pictures I have posted on this blog are just of average buildings like hotels or office buildings.  To paraphrase Eddie Izzard: we have the history over here, and it is all over.  

Anyway, that's all for now folks.  I am fighting a cold and need to go shopping for the week.  Hope you all are well!