While I have been here in Spain, I have noticed some interesting American impacts.
Like I have said before, I am in a small town in central Spain. Here, there isn’t a lot of English being spoken at all. Which leads me to feel surprised every time something American presents itself here.
The main thing that really surprised me is that all the music being listened to here is American music! No one here speaks English, but all they listen to is American music?? They might not understand what is being said but I guess America makes catchy music regardless of the language.
For example: You walk into any restaurant / bar and the music is ALWAYS popular American music (and in English). I have yet to be in a restaurant where the music is not American. Or when you drive somewhere in a car, they listen to radio stations that only play American music.
I’m not sure why this shocks me so much? But I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard any Spanish music since I’ve been here and I’ve been here for a month now.
Also, on my first day at the school, I asked my students what their favorite songs or singers were. The only answers I got were of American artists. Here they especially love Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Cardi B and Jonas Brothers, just to name a few.
And oddly enough Old Town Road is an epidemic here too. I thought I would be getting a break from that song when coming here…. but apparently I was wrong.
And on a similar note, I asked the student what their favorite TV shows / movies were and their answers were all American as well. People here love Stranger Things, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Pretty Woman, etc.
Another American influence is another interesting one… stores here sell so many shirts with American cities or American universities printed onto them.
Or at least what they think are American universities ….
Who do I tell / complain to that “California State Los Angeles” and “San Diego National University of California” do not exist?
They got UCLA right though…
And there are also plenty of quotes on shirts which you can tell have been translated from Spanish to English and don’t quite make sense. Like this “Being a queen is so much hard” shirt.
I mean… I kinda like it but the grammar is all wrong.
Coming here, I was surprised to see all these American influences and the popularity of American music and television.
It is a nice little reminder of home but still kind of strange.
Anyways, I need to go pick out an outfit for today… what should I wear? A “Being a queen is so much hard” shirt or a “San Diego National University of California” sweatshirt….. hmmm decisions decisions.