Differences in College Life

Colleges don't have dorms and students don't really go away to college, they usually live with parents or relatives and commute. College is also WAAY cheaper here. At the public law/economics/business university that houses our study abroad program, tuition is 700 euro (about $1000) a year. (We are paying upwards of $8000 for one semester here, grr!) Also, the job market in Spain is awful and most people live with their parents until they're at least 25, and staying at home until 30 is not at all uncommon. Since college is cheap, lots of people go, but even with an advanced degree as an architect or engineer, young college graduates may not make more than 1000 euros a month.

However, very few students work until they're finished with school. Our Spanish teacher said that she didn't get her first job until she was 22 or so. Spanish students spend a lot of time going out, and often stay out late at bars, but don't really hang out at home since not many have their own apartments.

Relationships are also very public, people are always making out on the metro or on the street. It would be gross in the U.S., but a girl told me that people will think something's weird if two people are dating but their friends never see them touching or making out with each other.

Drinking, of course, is much different. Spain does have a legal drinking age, 18, but I've never seen it enforced. Bars, clubs, and restaurants don't card. Wine is very cheap. It costs about 1 to 3 euro a bottle, and comes with lunch at the cafeteria at school. Even though drinking is commonplace, being drunk isn't cool or acceptable like it is in the U.S. People go out all night partying, but would just think you're an idiot of you drink so much that you lose control of yourself. It's certainly a change from U of Iowa.