- People are very quick to establish that Catalán and Valenciano are two completely different languages even though they are pretty much the same. One girl asked me if I speak Valenciano and when I replied that I speak a bit of Catalán she immediately replied 'They are not the same!'
- Spanish bureaucracy is ridiculous! Even small things take forever and nobody at police stations seems to know what is going on. Oh and the NIE is a joke.
- Spanish people have no idea what personal space is. Even when I'm obviously backing away from one teacher at work, she insists on getting as close as possible and touching me all the time. One teacher even came up to me in the corridor and cupped my face whilst she asked if I was okay.
- The rules of teacher-pupil contact are very different. I've seen teachers touching pupils arms, backs and shoulders whilst moving them or speaking to them and pupils have moved my hair to see the tattoo on my neck and one even hugged me, which left me feeling like I would get sacked and possibly arrested considering I work in a high school.
- Spanish people will not rush anything. They do things at their own time even if there is a deadline which leaves me very stressed as I like to have things done asap and I hate people being late.
- The directness and bluntness of people when they are asking questions is definitely a huge shock too. I get ¿Qué quieres? a lot which seems very direct to me when I tend to say things such as ''please may I have...'' or ''would you be able to...''
- I can understand men when they're speaking Spanish much easier than I can understand women. I have no idea why though.
- London and Manchester are pretty much the only 2 cities people know so basically I come from Manchester now.
- The pupils seem to think that because I'm from England I know famous people. I can't count how many times pupils have asked me if I know Eminem or Kanye West.
- The pupils here can also go on strike and they have unions! Last week there was a three day strike for the pupils because of money going to private schools instead of public ones and because they changed the exam dates. The teachers also were very shocked to hear that pupils in England don't do that.
- The look of genuine shock on peoples faces when I tell them I'm a vegetarian or that I don't like Paella is hilarious. Also people do not understand what a vegetarian is at all, pasta with ham is NOT vegetarian despite the waiter trying to convince me it was and someone actually said to me that even though I'm a vegetarian I have to try some form of sausage because apparently I can't live without trying it.
- Spanish TV adverts are ridiculously long. The show isn't even on 2 minutes and there is 10 minutes of adverts and don't even get me started on the poor attempts at dubbing.
- Spanish people go all out for everything from a BBQ to the many many festivals they have. The school had a BBQ and despite there being only 20 or so teachers, there was enough food to feed 50. As for the festivals, I've only seen one, but I get the impression that all of them here are huge after one class couldn't believe that Bonfire Night is only celebrated for one night.
- The Spanish timetable takes some getting used to with the times that they eat their meals and the fact that everything shuts up for siesta and nothing is open on Sunday.
- I seem to have become VERY patriotic even though when I'm in England I'm really not patriotic at all. This has included me reading all the news about the Scottish vote, joining in a conversation whenever I hear the words 'Inglés' or 'Inglaterra' and generally defending England whenever someone says anything about my country.
- I stand out like a sore thumb and people seem to know I'm English even before I've spoken. Whilst walking through the town where I teach the other day, someone who I'd never seen or spoken to before actually said 'hello' to me when I passed them on the street. Also because I'm pale and burn easily, people keep asking if I've been to the beach because I 'have pink cheeks' and telling me that I need to use sun cream.
- I miss the cold. I do have to admit I complain a lot and shockingly it is usually about the weather. Although 25+ degrees everyday in October isn't normal, especially from someone who lives in the North of England. I miss the cold and even the rain.
I do have to point out that I am not criticising Spanish people, it's just their culture is a huge shock and it will take some getting used to.
