Excerpts from Klay Williams’ Letters from Madrid, Spain:

Preparations—Whose trip is this, anyway? The preparation period was not a big deal for me, but for others it was pure chaos. As the week of departure rapidly approached, I was purely calm, relaxed and just taking it easy. However, that was not the attitude of my family members, friends and loved ones. For me, it felt like an ordinary school year. Therefore, I went by myself to purchase the necessary items, of course more than usual, because of study abroad. As I walked into my home, bringing in bags and bags of stuff, my mom went berserk. She said, ¨Klay, why did you go without me? ¨ Of course, I am thinking to myself, ¨Because, I am a grown man¨. (I didn’t say this out loud.) She began to go through my bags and discuss our plans for the next day, which included returning items. The next day we went from mall to mall, market to market and warehouse to warehouse. After two hours, I was ready to get on the plane and leave. My mind had been at ease before my mom started doing ¨The mom thing¨. Shortly after noon, my mother’s cell phone rang and it was my godmother. She wanted to know about this and that and I was starting to become annoyed. After this phone call, several other people began to call our cell phones. I was really becoming impatient.

Attitude adjustments: At the airport, I kissed my parents and my sister goodbye. I felt in control, but as I glanced back, my parents were starting to cry. I reminded myself of my mission and of the journey ahead. I did not want to break down and show emotion. The plane ride was absolutely fun with all of my friends from K. It was a great experience. When we arrived in Madrid, we got our suitcases and met our host families; that’s when the frustration began.

For two weeks, I was ready to go home. I made my mind up. I told my friends that this was not for me and that I was going to go home by week three. It was so hard to immerse myself in a different culture and try to adapt while speaking a foreign language. The first week, I could not understand my host family. It was terrible. However, I did not cry. I told myself to be strong. Because of my relationship with God, when I was lonely, I talked with Him. He has been my strength through any hard times that I have experienced.

After three weeks, I had control over my situation. I told myself that I was going to be here for six months, so I need not be miserable. I reminded myself of the privilege of being in Europe. I told myself that this was one of the best experiences that I would ever encounter in my life. I began to talk more and more to my host family. I started to walk around and talk more to people. My trip started to turn around!

After going to a Spanish ballet, to bullfights, movies and discotecas, and after traveling around the country a bit, I have to say that I have adjusted to Spanish culture. I am completely happy with my life thus far. You wonder why I am doing so well? I have a good optimistic attitude about Spain and its culture. I attribute this to my own determination, but also to the strength that I receive from Jesus Christ.

At this present moment, I am about to go to pick up tickets to go to Majorca, an island east of Spain. I plan to relax on the beach, read and chill with my friends. I am in Spain for a reason. God would never place me anywhere that I shouldn’t be.

My family and friends are great. I love the phone calls, emails and letters that I receive, and for the support of my friend Esther Choi. My loved ones are also responsible for a successful visit thus far.

Ups and downs: I struggle every day with learning to live in a new place. Sometimes I really feel like an outsider. On one occasion, I felt as if I were being cheated out of money in a restaurant. Of course, the waiter did not speak English and I could not explain to him that he was overcharging us. We tried and tried, but it did not work, so we were all out about 10 euros apiece. I was very upset, because I think he knew what he was doing. He even smirked after we left. We were trying to find an employee who spoke a little English, but to our surprise, no one did.

On another occasion, I was having a bad day. A couple of my K college friends and I wanted to go to the park and have have a cup of coffee. It was a very good idea! We went to a café nearby and I asked for a hot chocolate. My other friends ordered café con leche (coffee with milk). The waiter came back with our beverages, but I did not have hot chocolate. It was more of a hot chocolate pudding. I looked at him like he was crazy. I said, ¨No, I want American hot chocolate¨. For five minutes, I forgot that I was in Spain. I felt really bad. My friends told me that I needed to be more conscious about what I say. It was evident that the waiter was offended. I realized that I had made a mistake. It was not the end of the world, but I need to remember to be more sensitive to the culture here.

I did have a good experience sometime after this, however. I went to a store called Corte Ingles. It´s like a Marshall Fields department store. My friends were trying to ask for directions to a specific place. However, the receptionist could not understand them at all. I am usually the nervous one, but I took charge and she understood everything that I said. After our conversation, she said, ¨Good job! Your Spanish is great!¨. Of course, I blushed, but I felt like I was starting over, with a clean slate.

Breaking into the culture, making friends: I really wanted to involve myself in other activities, besides going to school, in order to interact with other Spaniards. I wanted to try to fit in, and live as a Spaniard. So, I decided to play a sport. Yes, Dr. Solberg, I am on the basketball team for my university. Every practice is a challenge, but I have to admit that it is a lot of fun. The guys on the team laugh at me every day, but they do help me. Of course, at K College, we do not learn sport terms for basketball, etc., so I am learning new things everyday. There is a gentleman on the team named Dani. He is a very nice guy who wants to learn English. So, I came up with a cool idea. I told him that, if he emails me in Spanish, I will email him back in English. But what is even more cool is that he is coming to visit me next summer!

A philosophical moment: I have learned that each experience is what you make it. Here, I have realized that if I stay in my room and never come out nor try to ´test the waters,’ I am never going to successfully immerse myself in this culture. We all have to know that we are going to mess up sometimes, but once we make a mistake, apologize and move on, I believe that the Spanish are accepting and forgiving. We cannot be afraid to ´kiss the culture´.