The past week has consisted of shadowing various resourcers and consultants that range across all sectors that my internship has to offer, including: healthcare, commercial, hospitality, industrial, and retail. Alongside having the opportunity to visit different sectors across the company, my friend and I also had the chance to visit Barcelona, Spain this past weekend, which was full of sight-seeing, trying new cuisines, and just exploring the culture that Spain has to offer.
Our flight to Spain was originally scheduled to depart around 5:30PM that Friday, giving us plenty of time after work to pack my belongings, get through security, and make it onto the flight. However, we ended up with much more time than anticipated, as our flight was delayed by about an hour. As this may seem annoying to some, I was just so excited to visit this country that I did not mind what time I would arrive.
After about 2.5 hours of a semi-bumpy ride, I finally landed in Barcelona, Spain, where we then took a taxi from BCN to my hotel. Naturally, we were starving upon arrival, so after we dropped my belongings off in the hotel room, we went down to a local restaurant named Tosca Palau, which served a combination of Tapas, seafood, and much more. Tuna Tataki and roasted potatoes was my choice in the meal, and it absolutely did not disappoint. By the time we finished our meals, it was already 11PM so we ended up walking around the city for just a few more minutes until we eventually headed back to our hotel and relaxed until we fell asleep.
The next morning, we visited most of the typical sight-seeing spots like the Sagrada Familia, La Boqueria, and the Chapel of Lepanto, which all were so incredible to see in real life. You never fully can understand the scale of how big these massive structures are until you are standing right below it and looking straight up. To think that people built these structures by hand is honestly the most incredible part about them, not to mention the history and meaning each of those places hold.
My favorite part of this day has to be walking along Port Vell (the marina) and sitting in the grassy areas as I watch the sun go down after a delicious meal. Moments like that tend to make me realize how grateful I am for these opportunities to travel around the world and explore the everyday life of people who live and work in their host country. It has also made me reflect on what I would like to prioritize in my own future, including traveling more and taking more time to appreciate the life I have back at home as well.
Something that I would also like to note is that shopping is another level of amazing. There were so many stores that you could walk through and genuinely spend hours in. I bought a new pair of sunglasses and a pajama set from a local Barcelona company. The material is soft canvas, and it has that Spain-style print all over it. I am really glad I was able to find pieces that not only I really like, but that are also able to represent its country. Because of that, I will now be able to look at the items I bought, and remember the amazing time I had in Barcelona.
Moving back to earlier in the week, sitting with different employees, I would say the biggest communication difference is that the employees, and Irish people in general, tend to talk quite quickly and, in a way, slur their words together, which sometimes makes it hard for me to understand what they just said. Oftentimes, I will have to ask them to repeat what they said or asked.
Another thing that I had to learn was how they tend to make some situations very light-hearted and, in a way, be brushed off. I think this can be admirable in the sense that nothing, in the grand scheme of things, is ever that serious. Through that, I have been able to change my mindset regarding working in a professional atmosphere and realize that not everything needs to be too serious. Yes, it is important to be professional in meetings and other important situations, but communication is typically pretty informal. There would be times when they would tell me to go walk around or take a couple of breaks throughout the day, which I would not normally do. Nonetheless, as I shadowed about 10 different people, it was really nice to be able to see how their work life is, and personal, and how important it is to balance the two.