When planning a trip to another country there is a lot to keep in mind. If you have never been out of your own country it can be quite different when you arrive somewhere else. Almost every country has differences from your own. It's a good idea to research about the place you plan to visit before you actually go there.
Spain and the United States have a lot of differences. One of the major differences would have to be the spoken language. In Spain Spanish is the primary language and English is in the U.S. One tip I have is to purchase a book that can help with easy common phrases you might need. The Easy Spanish Phrase Book is a good choice. It offers 770 basic phrases for everyday use.
Currency is another difference between the countries. The euro is used in Spain while the dollar is used in the U.S. One euro is equivalent to a little over a dollar. A good suggestion is to use a currency converter before you go so you have an idea what you are paying for everything. The exchange rate is always changing so make sure you check right before you go to get the most accurate results.
The time difference between the two countries can be quite hard to get use to. The time difference from Chicago, IL to Madrid, Spain is 7 hours. Other areas in the countries can give or take a few hours depending on where you may be. A tip I have is as soon as you arrive at your destination start going off the current time. This may mean you loose hours of sleep or have to try to sleep earlier than normal, but in the long run you will get adjusted more quickly.
There are plenty of other little differences between the two. Spain has a parliamentary monarchy while the U.S. has a federal democracy or in other words a constitution based federal republic. The U.S. is way bigger than Spain. Spain is only about twice of the size of the state of Oregon. There are even many more differences. These are just little things to keep in mind before planning your next big trip. With a little bit of research you will be on your way.
1 comment:
I loved this post and found it very helpful. You brought up a lot of good points that people don't always think about, like the time difference. It is definitely important to research the country you're going to before you go and you did a great job explaining why. I also liked how you linked to the language converter book and currency converter so people could go buy it right then.
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