Friends from many nations

Sitting here in the sun, it is very clear to me just how people react differently to different nationalities in Europe.  The hotel where we are staying has a large proportion of tourists from Germany, and yesterday we met an English couple who were also staying near by.  Talking to the British in our Hotel, or in the resort, I have been struck by 2 very clear images.  1) People who speak the local language, in this case Spanish, (or who attempt to) get much better service and support from the locals than those who don’t. 2) I hate to say it, but the average holiday makers attitude doesn’t seem to change according to the passport.  Neither see the necessity to integrate – or to attempt to integrate whilst on holiday. It seems that both are more than happy to be herded around by the tour reps, into the various different activities, or to spend time in pubs and bars of our own nationality. 

The difference between a tourist, and some one looking to move long term, has to be significant.  Remember, whilst it is easy to over look various things as a tourist, it is not possible to do the same when you are a permanent resident.  We all need to be able to chat across the fences with out neighbors, or the post man, even if it is only about the weather.  As a resident you will need different services than tourists, from banking and administration, through to dentists and supermarkets.  As a tourist these are services that will just pass you by, as a resident, it is something you will need to understand and become part of.  This is why the language is one of the first things that you will need to either conquer or accept the limit you choice of locations to those with a large English speaking contingent, either because of the numbers of existing English speakers, or because it is in a tourist area.  This will also limit the types of people you mix with.  If you do not integrate, you will immediately limit your social network to a closed group.  This does not mean to say that if you fail to integrate you will not be able to make friends, just that the people you will make friends with will be people from the same country and back ground as you.  Now I can here you saying what’s wrong with that – and the answer is nothing, after all, anyone who has moved or lived abroad will tell you that you will probably only truly mix within the international groups, but by limiting yourself to the British or Anglophone speakers, you will not fully appreciate just how diverse the area you live in is. Learning the language will not only help you with local services, but will also make other peoples perception of you more open, and allow for better integration with other European nations.  Whilst you may initially question the value of mixing with the Germans, or Scandinavians, you will find that they are generally experiencing very similar emotions and problems with integration, but from a slightly different perspective.  Together you will find that across the international community, especially in areas with lower numbers of individual nationalities, that the different nations give you a wide variety of views for the same problems, and will actually boost your confidence, in that you will see that we all integrate at different paces, and with different priorities.

 As always you can drop me a line at andrew@andrics.com