“It’s Really Crazy To Me”: American Goes Viral Sharing Her Culture Shocks In Spain
Interview
Spain sounds like paradise on Earth, but it can still be jarring to move there from a different country. Suddenly, you look at life through a completely different lens. What was once familiar is now very different, whether you’re going to the grocery shop, eating dinner, interacting with strangers, or simply walking down the street.
Travel and culture content creator Katie Boggs, recently moved to Spain from the United States. In a series of popular videos on TikTok and Instagram, she shared her biggest culture shock moments, and we wanted to share her best insights about Spanish life with you.
Bored Panda reached out to Katie, and she was kind enough to tell us all about what inspired her to move to Spain, what she loves the most about life there, and what can motivate everyone to start traveling themselves. You’ll find our full exclusive interview with her below!
More info: Instagram | Linktree | TikTok
Many people fall in love with Spain and wonder what it would be like to live there
Image credits: Susanna Cama / pexels (not the actual photo)
Katie Boggs recently moved to Spain from the United States. She created a series of videos where she shared her top culture shock moments
Image credits: katieboggs_
She opened up about some more cultural differences in a follow-up video
Image credits: katietheguiri
“My name is Katie, I just moved to Spain from the United States two weeks ago, and I’m coming at you with culture shocks. The biggest culture shock for me has definitely been adjusting to the eating schedule here. In the United States, I am used to eating dinner at around 5 or 5:30 right after work, and here, right after work, you eat lunch, and then you don’t eat dinner until 9 or 10 pm, which is crazy to me.”
Image credits: katietheguiri
“The next thing I noticed is that it’s completely normalized to leave your dog alone in public just tied to a pole or something while you’re shopping, and no one will bother it. That’s really crazy to me. And last but not least, the emphasis on social interaction here is incredible. You go to a coffee shop here or a cafeteria, and people are actually sitting there and talking to each other, and they’re not on their laptops, and they’re enjoying their meal. That would never happen in the United States. You go to Starbucks and everyone’s on their phones and laptops. It’s crazy.”
Image credits: katietheguiri
In another clip, Katie broke down just how affordable life in Spain can be
“I’m going to break down all of my costs a month to show you how absolutely ridiculously livable it is. Rent: 325€, utilities: 30€, food for one month: 150€ (and I kind of spent a lot on food compared to my friends, so that’s saying something), phone bill + Wi-Fi: 27€, gym: 30€ a month, one singular bus ride is 40 cents. I also get breakfast out every single day and it’s literally affordable to do that. I get a sandwich with tomato and tuna (don’t knock it until you try it, it’s really good). And then I get a café con leche, which is practically like a latte. Every morning, the total is 3.30€. 3.30€! You can’t even get a coffee, you can’t even get half of coffee for that in the United States.”
Image credits: katietheguiri
“I’m in Granada and a glass of wine is costing me 3€. And the thing about Granada is you get a tapa with it for free. So what my friends and I will do whatever we want to go out is we’ll get three glasses of wine and that comes with three tapas, which pretty much is dinner. You’re literally spending 9€ on three drinks and dinner. And the wine doesn’t make you hungover because it doesn’t have all these additives that the United States has. I also only work 14 hours a week, yeah. Now that’s not normal to Spain, it’s just with the program I’m with. I’m walking everywhere, it’s always sunny outside. Not to mention that everyone’s literally so friendly. The party life is so much better. Not to mention, they got siestas, come on.”
Image credits: katietheguiri
“The best way I would describe living in this country is that you feel like a human being. Everything shuts from 2 pm to 5 pm every single day so everyone can go home and relax, eat a meal, take a nap. Most things are shut on Sundays. So you always have that day off to just rest. There are fruterías on every single corner where I literally get all my fruits and vegetables for the whole week for like 6€, and they’re amazing quality. I cannot stress enough if you have the opportunity to come to Spain and just experience life here. Whether it’s just short-term or long-term, do it because it will change your life and your perspective.”
Image credits: katietheguiri
You can watch Katie’s full viral video about culture shocks right over here
@katieboggs_ Siesta= Key to happiness #fyp #foryou #spain #cultureshocks #usa #unitedstates #eeuu #espana ♬ original sound – Kacie Rose
Meanwhile, here’s her full video about the cost of living
@katieboggs_ #stitch with @lanna 🌻 loved this video and wanted to add my experience! #spain #anticapitalism #costoflivingcrisis #america #costofliving #americanineurope ♬ original sound – Katie the Guiri
Katie opened up to us about what inspired her to make the move to Spain
We were very curious to find out what inspired Katie to travel to Spain in the first place. She was happy to share her story with us. “I actually took a trip here on my spring break last year. I was visiting my best friend who was doing her masters in London and we decided to do a random weekend trip to Malaga. She picked it because she had seen an Instagram video about it, I didn’t know ANYTHING about Spain. We were there for 3 days and by the second day, I was in love. With everything. The culture, the sun, the food, the friendliness, the language, the fashion,” she told Bored Panda via email.
“I had a friend who was teaching English up north in Zaragoza and I messaged her asking how she did it and she sent over the program (NALCAP). I applied 2 days later, downloaded Duolingo, and moved home for the summer to save money. I practiced Spanish every day on Duolingo and watched movies and TV in Spanish even though I barely understood a thing. Now, almost exactly a year later, I speak Spanish and live here and I love every minute of it!”
According to Katie, it took her a few months to get used to life there because it was so different. She pointed out that, for one, the pace of things in restaurants and elsewhere is much slower. Meanwhile, places close a lot. “On Sundays, most everything is closed, as well as every day from 2-5 pm for siesta. There also is a language barrier and it took a while to get accustomed to the Spanish way of saying things as I learned textbook Mexican Spanish which is a tad different. I also had to adapt to the crazy eating schedule here. They eat lunch late at like 2-3 pm and dinner is 8-10pm!” she shared with us.
For Katie, the biggest upsides of moving to Spain were the awesome weather (“it’s sunny almost all year and it rarely rains”) and the slower pace (“things are so chill”). She lives in the south of Spain and found that the people are incredibly friendly. But there are even more pros compared to the US!
“The architecture is BEAUTIFUL here and I love the Spanish Andalusian-style buildings. I love love love that I can walk everywhere and the food quality is INSANELY better here. Also, a glass of wine here is like 3 euros, so I see my friends way more because it’s so affordable to go get drinks on a random weeknight and catch up. People here are also more chill. They don’t overschedule themselves like Americans, so when you want to plan something with someone, it’s more of ‘Hey, wanna grab tapas tonight?’ ‘Sure!’, instead of ‘Hey, wanna grab dinner sometime this week?’ ‘Sorry I’m SUPER busy but I can do 3 weeks out at 5 pm on Thursday.'”
Image credits: Enrico Perini / pexels (not the actual photo)
“The best travelers go with the flow and experience everything with open arms”
However, we were also interested to hear what Katie misses about life in the US as well. She said that it’s mostly the food. “I miss the surplus of options of food choices from all different cultures,” she said. “We do Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Thai food all SO MUCH BETTER [in the US] than here [in Spain]. I also miss certain things like the air conditioning and heating (sometimes it gets really hot or cold inside the buildings here). I also really miss iced coffee. And American pancake breakfast. I mostly miss the food.”
Bored Panda also wanted to get Katie’s thoughts on how someone who’s never traveled before might get used to going on more trips. “I was also scared to start traveling because of money and safety. However, I can tell you I barely have money now and I travel ALL the time. European travel is pretty cheap because transportation here is so cheap (Ryanair flights for 30 euros) and the buses and trains here rock. The most expensive part is the plane ticket overseas,” she shared some tips.
“My advice is to research and plan stuff before because then you can skip lines for big attractions and also you will have heard things to avoid before you come. Come prepared with a portable charger, medicine, hand sanitizer, and everything that you can possibly think of ‘just in case.’ Research the city you’re going to and the possible tourist traps and how to avoid them and honestly, don’t just stick to the big obvious cities like Paris or Madrid because those are ALWAYS the most expensive and usually my least favorite.”
Katie urged everyone to keep an open mind about different cultures and not to expect everything to be like in the United States. “Oftentimes, my friends will visit me and be upset when certain foods won’t be available or the air conditioning isn’t on or people don’t act as friendly and my response is, ‘What do u expect? This is a whole different country!’ The best travelers go with the flow and experience everything with open arms!” Be sure to follow Katie’s Instagram and TikTok for her freshest videos.
Image credits: Anastasia / pexels (not the actual photo)
Spanish is one of the most popular languages in the world, so you’ll be at an advantage if you learn it
For us, Spain is the embodiment of stunning nature, great weather, fresh food, and friendly locals. Spain has 47.8 million people living there, compared to the 333.3 million in the US. According to ‘Best Diplomats,’ around 53 million Americans speak Spanish, of which 41 million are native Spanish speakers and 12 million are bilingual.
However, Rosetta Stone puts the number of US Spanish speakers at 57 million people. Spanish has 496 million native speakers around the world, making up 6.3% of the global population. This number is even bigger when we consider the number of total speakers, standing at a stunningly impressive 595 million.
It is the second most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and the fourth most spoken language overall, after English, Mandarin, and Hindi. Most Spanish speakers can be found in Mexico, the US, Colombia, Spain (naturally!), followed by Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
The EF English Proficiency Index states that the Spanish have ‘moderate proficiency’ in English skills. El Pais reports that 27.7% of all Spaniards say they can speak the language.
So, if you plan on traveling or moving to the country, it would make sense to learn at least some basic phrases in Spanish. You can’t rely on luck that someone you talk to is going to know English.
If you do your best to learn the language, not only are the locals likely going to be friendlier with you, but you’ll also have a far richer experience when you can understand what everyone’s saying. A core part of travel and adventure means opening yourself up to new experiences. And that means embracing the culture, language, food, and lifestyle.
In our experience, the best way to learn any language is to practice it in real-life situations. Apps like Duolingo and programs like Rosetta Stone are wonderful, to be sure. However, we personally see the biggest progress when we have some native speakers to guide our way.
In short, when you’re learning any new language, it really helps to have a growth-oriented mindset. Make mistakes—and lots of them! That’s how we learn.
And don’t be scared of talking to the native speakers and locals even if you only know a few shaky basic phrases. It’s the willingness to try that really counts! Besides, it’s a great feeling when you apply something you’ve learned in real life.
Image credits: Carlos Mazorra / pexels (not the actual photo)
If you’re completely new to travel, start off by taking very small trips and then building up to bigger adventures
At the time of writing, travel-grammer Katie has 17.3k loyal Instagram followers who enjoy her videos about life in Spain. She also has 49.2k fans on TikTok. Katie gives everyone a fresh perspective of what life in the country is really like. And it’s all very relatable for anyone who has traveled to the European country, whether they were a tourist, an exchange student, or a working professional.
However, far from everybody has the courage to travel abroad. While we find travel wonderful, some folks daydream about adventuring near and far but get overwhelmed with stress when they think about all the possible things that could go wrong.
Previously, Bored Panda spoke about stepping outside our comfort zone with Keith O’Hara, the founder of The Irish Road Trip. “Being ‘too busy’ is never an excuse to put off enjoying life, yet it’s a trap many of us plummet head-first into, whether it be due to financial or work commitments. Often, you just need to start small,” he told us during an earlier interview.
He suggested creating a list of travel goals that you’d ideally love to fulfill in the future. In the meantime, you can work up to them by setting yourself more realistic travel destinations, in terms of time and money. “ You’ll (hopefully) start to see the benefits of these ‘baby-step’ trips. Then, when the time is right, make that ‘main’ trip,” he said.
Solo travel is also an option. Even though it might sound intimidating, you can still do it. Consider what the worst-case scenario might be: it’ll probably never happen.
“Be enthusiastic, but be educated about your destination. Understand, at least at a very high level, the ins and outs of where you’re traveling to and take time to understand any dos and don’ts,” O’Hara shared some spot-on advice for all travelers. “For the most part, just embrace it all—one of the joys of travel is experiencing people, places, food, language, and culture. Soak it all up.”
Here’s what some internet users had to say after watching Katie’s clips
Alright, let's be real: 325€ rent only if you share an apartment and only in the cheapest place like Granada (to the tune of 600 to 900 for A ROOM in Madrid or Barcelona). The rest of the expenses are realistic for a person in a shared apartment, but what she's not saying is that as an English teacher who can't get into the public system (her US qualifications won't mean s**t here), her salary is around 900-1100€ a month IF she's lucky. Sounds manageable, right? Not really. Dental care isn't covered by the public health system, so you don't want to have a cavity, let alone something worse. And as soon as she does one of those lovely weekend getaways she's literally penniless until her next paycheck, because travelling IS expensive even in the cheapest fashion, for a magre 1000€/month salary. The housing problem is real, the salaries are low and anyone expecting some Vicky Cristina Barcelona kind of life is gonna be disappointed. Be advised that as non EU citizens, working permits are not a breeze, and be ready to deal with a level of bureaucracy you've never experienced before, in the words of every American friend l have here. Btw, things only close at siesta time in smaller places in the south due to the heat, the rest of the country has a longish lunch break but that is starting to vanish because we, like everybody else, want to finish earlier and leave earlier. It's a cultural change that's pretty much already implemented in bigger companies and will take some time to seep into smaller businesses.
To conclude: l like living here (I'm Spanish), but things have got rough over the past 15 years, after the 2008 economic crisis, and the flocks of digital nomads who want to experience the Mediterranean way of life, plus the greed of AirBnB owners are pushing locals into a nearly impossible situation with a VERY serious housing crisis that's comparable to your standard NY cost of life issues.
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Glad someone else noticed that. Like wtf was she confused about? The type of fish? It sitting out in the heat? Them not being lined up prettily? XD
Load More Replies... Living in Europe is different, and very different in every single European country. The common denominator is the multi-party political system, in which every vote is immediately influencing the outcome and the basics in Social Care (being poor, have a lowest wage job, kids, health, lost job and many more). As an expat, you will have difficulties in participating in this. EU citizen can do till a certain extend, Europen non-Eu can do too, for some countries have separate agreements between countries. If you are not sent out by your employer, be aware that education certificates and diplomas are not of the same value as home. Sort this out with the consulate before leaving. Depending on what you are looking for, you might find a nicer, more affordable spot in Europe. Do not be misled by Tiktok-influencers: Be aware of that we all work very hard here and have families and daily chores, in case you plan to have a sort of working holiday.
Not just every country - every "next valley" - is likely a different culture - since the Neolithic, literally. Once in Switzerland I got far enough back that the hotel wouldn't cash my American Express travelers check- they'd never seen one. Had to leave my backpack there, get on a cog railroad to the next town down the mountain - where the bank - about 4 feet wide - laughed at those foolish peasants up there- all in good fun! But- different- always.
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Oh the easy life an American has when moving to Spain...and the ignorant observations. These Americans remind me of that Emily in Paris nonsense, they are so disconnected to the world, real life, real people of all sorts of economic, social backgrounds....they live the easy, privileged white expat life in other countries, sometimes in poorer countries around the world and complain about silly things. That's all.
Actually, America is very diverse. We are a nation of immigrants from many different countries and religions. And, if you knew anything about America, you would realize that white people or specifically, privileged white people as you so eloquently put it, are not as economically advantaged as other groups.
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This is such clichéd BS! paradise my a**e. Unemployment is rife (highest in EU by far, see link below), salaries are rubbish, workers’ rights non-existent. I lived in Spain (Valencia and Barcelona) for 32 years so I know what I’m talking about. https://www.destatis.de/Europa/EN/Topic/Population-Labour-Social-Issues/Labour-market/EULabourMarketCrisis.html#:~:text=Unemployment%20rates%20in%20EU&text=Data%20ranges%20from%202.6%20to%2011.5.&text=End%20of%20interactive%20chart.,%25)%20and%20Greece%20(25.0%25).
Workers' rights are enforced routinely and if not you have the right to sue the company. I should know, as l'm suing one rn for wrongful termination. It's gonna take ages, but eventually I'll have it done. There are very sensitive issues, like firing someone during pregnancy or during a sick leave, that don't fly here. Don't know about your specific case, but here we know what our rights are depending on the type of contract we're under.
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Sounds like initial enthusiasm over something new, she won't live that cheap long term. Also 'whatever this is' - never seen fish before?
She's relaying the differences. She knows there are going to be differences. She's telling us about them. I thought it was obvious.
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Where you living Katie? I've lived in Spain 30 years and have seen those rent, food and bus prices. I agree Spain is definitely better than most other countries but you don't need to exaggerate its good points to get a point across.
I'd leave her to spend another 3 years to share again. There are a few inaccurate information... The supermarket example is Lidl (German), the dog situation is common in many countries in Europe. Siesta happens only in the south of the country, the rent is because she is sharing the flat, etc, etc.
I swear videos like this are just propaganda to make the US look bad. People that make these types of videos are always foreigners who only ever see the surface level, never any of the underlying issues these places have. People seem to think only the US has difficulties, when obviously that is far from true. Some difficulties are the same, like the cost of living, others are different, but no place is this perfect paradise they seem to think it is. Can only imagine how many people are gonna try to move there now after seeing this and how much more problems that's gonna cause for the natives.
It seems things are getting tougher all over, for all of us unfortunately. I still feel lucky to be here though. There are certain things I will never have to go through as a woman here, as opposed to many other countries.
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325 in rent? Just how many people are you sharing with hija mía? In Madrid I spent 1100€ monthly in the single cheapest flat I could find less than an hour's walk away from work. Under the table, of course. In Zaragoza, where I live now, it's 650 plus commodities. Secondly I have worked with several forigners over the time and the siesta thing has gone from a mildly amusing misconception to not being funny anymore. Many small businesses who don't hire many employees and are placed in mostly residential areas where there aren't buyers at anytime, they close at lunch to basically manage their own family life and find time to do the necessary things for living. Also also, the thing about people socialising at cafeterias it that here it is often an intrinsically social activity, people aren't on their devices because you go "a tomar un café" with your friends and colleagues to disconnect and chat. For many it is not part of their alone time, we make a different use of cafeterias.
Another interesting thing is that she is living in Granada. Many of us in the "north" ( it's funny to find out what some Andalusians consider the north of the country) also have a mild cultural shock when travelling south. Spain is wildly more varied than most Americans and Britons think. And of course it's sunny, it's Granada 🙄 Go live in Santander for a year and tell me how she likes the weather there and where her summer paradise went.
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The rent sounds out of proportion low. The supermarket pictures??? The plastic-bag bread is super-processed. (Why doesn't she buy it from a bakery instead?) The pastry section is no picture to be proud of. Again, buy from local bakers. The fish? It's fish, what's the big deal?
What do people do to dogs in USA? I take my dog most places with me but I can't take her in the supermarket so I leaver her ties in the shade if it warm with water.
Depends where you are, but often just the same. In the pampered parts of the coasts you can find air conditioned kennels outside stores that you can rent by the hour 😂
Load More Replies... Granada is the same size as Buffalo. Believe me, you can rent a shared apartment in Buffalo for $325. Or in just about any other similar sizes city in the US you can rent a room for not much more than that. Your minimum wage nets about $30,000 which compares favourably to the 12,000 Euros Pittsburgh rare suggests is reasonable.
There are countless youtube channels about this. If you are interested, try to google it. I know only of some who live in Germany. „My merry messy life“ is a family of 5 from the US, Antoinette Emily is from NZ, Life in Germany is from Canada (her German is really good! Her videos are in english though), „Hayley Alexis“ is your typical American from the way she speaks. Not over the top though. „Type Ashton“ is VERY informative! Those videos are the best! For guys I have: „rewboss“. He is british, then „NALF“ who played American Football in Germany, „TreyDaze“ is of mixed ancestry, „Oshando Johnson“ is from Jamaica, and the most popular right now for all: „Uyen Ninh“ from Vietnam. Her sketches deserve an Oscar!
London seems like a tres cool place to live until after a few years reality bites.
Be interested to see how she finds a job and gets a residence permit being a Third Country National ... asking for a friend
Then again the us of the world's foemost economy. Spain is at best an also-ran. Living in a second or third world country, of course the cost of living is less.
Yeah the weak don't make it in America. Adios, don't let the el pomo hit you in the culo on the way out.
Weird how I just read an article about how the Spanish are getting fed up with all the tourists. If you like it so much, emigrate. Both countries will be happy that you did.
So… if someone is a poor Hispanic person who was born in Los Angeles and can’t afford to move anywhere else because their wages suck, they should “STFU and GTFO”? Wow. No wonder you like a “red-state” city. SPOILER: the wages suck in A LOT of cities, including Los Angeles. It’s not “fashionable” to be from there, either. I’m not sure where YOU’RE from, but I’d love to know.
Load More Replies... Alright, let's be real: 325€ rent only if you share an apartment and only in the cheapest place like Granada (to the tune of 600 to 900 for A ROOM in Madrid or Barcelona). The rest of the expenses are realistic for a person in a shared apartment, but what she's not saying is that as an English teacher who can't get into the public system (her US qualifications won't mean s**t here), her salary is around 900-1100€ a month IF she's lucky. Sounds manageable, right? Not really. Dental care isn't covered by the public health system, so you don't want to have a cavity, let alone something worse. And as soon as she does one of those lovely weekend getaways she's literally penniless until her next paycheck, because travelling IS expensive even in the cheapest fashion, for a magre 1000€/month salary. The housing problem is real, the salaries are low and anyone expecting some Vicky Cristina Barcelona kind of life is gonna be disappointed. Be advised that as non EU citizens, working permits are not a breeze, and be ready to deal with a level of bureaucracy you've never experienced before, in the words of every American friend l have here. Btw, things only close at siesta time in smaller places in the south due to the heat, the rest of the country has a longish lunch break but that is starting to vanish because we, like everybody else, want to finish earlier and leave earlier. It's a cultural change that's pretty much already implemented in bigger companies and will take some time to seep into smaller businesses.
To conclude: l like living here (I'm Spanish), but things have got rough over the past 15 years, after the 2008 economic crisis, and the flocks of digital nomads who want to experience the Mediterranean way of life, plus the greed of AirBnB owners are pushing locals into a nearly impossible situation with a VERY serious housing crisis that's comparable to your standard NY cost of life issues.
Load More Replies... Glad someone else noticed that. Like wtf was she confused about? The type of fish? It sitting out in the heat? Them not being lined up prettily? XD
Load More Replies... Living in Europe is different, and very different in every single European country. The common denominator is the multi-party political system, in which every vote is immediately influencing the outcome and the basics in Social Care (being poor, have a lowest wage job, kids, health, lost job and many more). As an expat, you will have difficulties in participating in this. EU citizen can do till a certain extend, Europen non-Eu can do too, for some countries have separate agreements between countries. If you are not sent out by your employer, be aware that education certificates and diplomas are not of the same value as home. Sort this out with the consulate before leaving. Depending on what you are looking for, you might find a nicer, more affordable spot in Europe. Do not be misled by Tiktok-influencers: Be aware of that we all work very hard here and have families and daily chores, in case you plan to have a sort of working holiday.
Not just every country - every "next valley" - is likely a different culture - since the Neolithic, literally. Once in Switzerland I got far enough back that the hotel wouldn't cash my American Express travelers check- they'd never seen one. Had to leave my backpack there, get on a cog railroad to the next town down the mountain - where the bank - about 4 feet wide - laughed at those foolish peasants up there- all in good fun! But- different- always.
Load More Replies... Oh the easy life an American has when moving to Spain...and the ignorant observations. These Americans remind me of that Emily in Paris nonsense, they are so disconnected to the world, real life, real people of all sorts of economic, social backgrounds....they live the easy, privileged white expat life in other countries, sometimes in poorer countries around the world and complain about silly things. That's all.
Actually, America is very diverse. We are a nation of immigrants from many different countries and religions. And, if you knew anything about America, you would realize that white people or specifically, privileged white people as you so eloquently put it, are not as economically advantaged as other groups.
Load More Replies... This is such clichéd BS! paradise my a**e. Unemployment is rife (highest in EU by far, see link below), salaries are rubbish, workers’ rights non-existent. I lived in Spain (Valencia and Barcelona) for 32 years so I know what I’m talking about. https://www.destatis.de/Europa/EN/Topic/Population-Labour-Social-Issues/Labour-market/EULabourMarketCrisis.html#:~:text=Unemployment%20rates%20in%20EU&text=Data%20ranges%20from%202.6%20to%2011.5.&text=End%20of%20interactive%20chart.,%25)%20and%20Greece%20(25.0%25).
Workers' rights are enforced routinely and if not you have the right to sue the company. I should know, as l'm suing one rn for wrongful termination. It's gonna take ages, but eventually I'll have it done. There are very sensitive issues, like firing someone during pregnancy or during a sick leave, that don't fly here. Don't know about your specific case, but here we know what our rights are depending on the type of contract we're under.
Load More Replies... Sounds like initial enthusiasm over something new, she won't live that cheap long term. Also 'whatever this is' - never seen fish before?
She's relaying the differences. She knows there are going to be differences. She's telling us about them. I thought it was obvious.
Load More Replies... Where you living Katie? I've lived in Spain 30 years and have seen those rent, food and bus prices. I agree Spain is definitely better than most other countries but you don't need to exaggerate its good points to get a point across.
I'd leave her to spend another 3 years to share again. There are a few inaccurate information... The supermarket example is Lidl (German), the dog situation is common in many countries in Europe. Siesta happens only in the south of the country, the rent is because she is sharing the flat, etc, etc.
I swear videos like this are just propaganda to make the US look bad. People that make these types of videos are always foreigners who only ever see the surface level, never any of the underlying issues these places have. People seem to think only the US has difficulties, when obviously that is far from true. Some difficulties are the same, like the cost of living, others are different, but no place is this perfect paradise they seem to think it is. Can only imagine how many people are gonna try to move there now after seeing this and how much more problems that's gonna cause for the natives.
It seems things are getting tougher all over, for all of us unfortunately. I still feel lucky to be here though. There are certain things I will never have to go through as a woman here, as opposed to many other countries.
Load More Replies... 325 in rent? Just how many people are you sharing with hija mía? In Madrid I spent 1100€ monthly in the single cheapest flat I could find less than an hour's walk away from work. Under the table, of course. In Zaragoza, where I live now, it's 650 plus commodities. Secondly I have worked with several forigners over the time and the siesta thing has gone from a mildly amusing misconception to not being funny anymore. Many small businesses who don't hire many employees and are placed in mostly residential areas where there aren't buyers at anytime, they close at lunch to basically manage their own family life and find time to do the necessary things for living. Also also, the thing about people socialising at cafeterias it that here it is often an intrinsically social activity, people aren't on their devices because you go "a tomar un café" with your friends and colleagues to disconnect and chat. For many it is not part of their alone time, we make a different use of cafeterias.
Another interesting thing is that she is living in Granada. Many of us in the "north" ( it's funny to find out what some Andalusians consider the north of the country) also have a mild cultural shock when travelling south. Spain is wildly more varied than most Americans and Britons think. And of course it's sunny, it's Granada 🙄 Go live in Santander for a year and tell me how she likes the weather there and where her summer paradise went.
Load More Replies... The rent sounds out of proportion low. The supermarket pictures??? The plastic-bag bread is super-processed. (Why doesn't she buy it from a bakery instead?) The pastry section is no picture to be proud of. Again, buy from local bakers. The fish? It's fish, what's the big deal?
What do people do to dogs in USA? I take my dog most places with me but I can't take her in the supermarket so I leaver her ties in the shade if it warm with water.
Depends where you are, but often just the same. In the pampered parts of the coasts you can find air conditioned kennels outside stores that you can rent by the hour 😂
Load More Replies... Granada is the same size as Buffalo. Believe me, you can rent a shared apartment in Buffalo for $325. Or in just about any other similar sizes city in the US you can rent a room for not much more than that. Your minimum wage nets about $30,000 which compares favourably to the 12,000 Euros Pittsburgh rare suggests is reasonable.
There are countless youtube channels about this. If you are interested, try to google it. I know only of some who live in Germany. „My merry messy life“ is a family of 5 from the US, Antoinette Emily is from NZ, Life in Germany is from Canada (her German is really good! Her videos are in english though), „Hayley Alexis“ is your typical American from the way she speaks. Not over the top though. „Type Ashton“ is VERY informative! Those videos are the best! For guys I have: „rewboss“. He is british, then „NALF“ who played American Football in Germany, „TreyDaze“ is of mixed ancestry, „Oshando Johnson“ is from Jamaica, and the most popular right now for all: „Uyen Ninh“ from Vietnam. Her sketches deserve an Oscar!
London seems like a tres cool place to live until after a few years reality bites.
Be interested to see how she finds a job and gets a residence permit being a Third Country National ... asking for a friend
Then again the us of the world's foemost economy. Spain is at best an also-ran. Living in a second or third world country, of course the cost of living is less.
Yeah the weak don't make it in America. Adios, don't let the el pomo hit you in the culo on the way out.
Weird how I just read an article about how the Spanish are getting fed up with all the tourists. If you like it so much, emigrate. Both countries will be happy that you did.
So… if someone is a poor Hispanic person who was born in Los Angeles and can’t afford to move anywhere else because their wages suck, they should “STFU and GTFO”? Wow. No wonder you like a “red-state” city. SPOILER: the wages suck in A LOT of cities, including Los Angeles. It’s not “fashionable” to be from there, either. I’m not sure where YOU’RE from, but I’d love to know.
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