Jay Honeck schrieb:
there are some basic differences as Europeans (not all, I'm generalising)
tend to be not so we-wee about sex etc, so we don't ask for a bathroom
(the bathroom is for taking a shower or brushing your teeth etc.) but for
the toilet (or other words to that effect). So there might come the
situation for your son where he is confronted with things in public he
might not see in the US like an openly displayed female nude breast in
advertising, nudity on TV before 8pm, breastfeeding in a bus, etc.

Thanks for the tips. I know Joe is hoping to see all those liberal European
women gallivanting around Spain with their breasts exposed -- but I told him
not to get his hopes up.

well, it all ends up in stereotypes (as you wrote below about spanish
men). Spain (hm, it depends heavily on the area where he is in Spain; it
is a rather small country in your terms, but it has many different
cultural areas, besides the differences living in a city or on the
country or close to the beach with heavy tourism) as a southern country
is for sure more relaxed than northern countries (compared to Florida
and states in the north) - it is (remember, I'm generalising!) a more
easy-living, taking it more relaxed, etc.
But there aren't Spanish girls walking around topless everywhere. You
might see that on the beaches (this is nothing really special beeing
topless at the beach). But there are also strict rules like for walking
into churches (don't do it with shorts etc.) etc..

Conversely, at the orientation meeting we attended the girls were told in NO
uncertain terms not to "dress like you do here" because Spanish boys have an
"interesting" idea of what American girls are like. In other words, they
think they're all "loose" because of what they've seen in Hollywood
movies...

as above, everybody loves to feed his stereotypes. What most see here is
what they 'learn' from the TV-soaps, and then many take it for ganted
that Americans are the same like the folks in TV-soaps. :-)
But the spanish climate for sure opens your mind and it is easier for
some close encounters (oh well, I remember some beach nights on a
Spanish beach ... hmmmm ... yummie ... those where the days ...).

One of the - IMHO - biggest differences between USA and Europe are the
topics of discussions (again, generalising, bear that in mind!):
in the USA it is OK to talk about:
- job, salaries, cost of your house, ...
and not so OK:
- family, health, religion, sex, ...
in Europe one does not want to talk about salaries, but it is easier to
talk about more private things. Also sex is seen more open minded. Don't
talk about politics if you don't really have a good knowing about
details and if you are good in real discussions, you easily may find
people who are fit in US politics. Talkink about politics is not a no-no
itself.
(So) it is harder to make friendship in Europe, but once you made
friendship it is a real friendship where you can talk about everything.

It might sound harsh, but the _stereotypes_ are this way: Tell your son
that he should not walk around as "hey, I'm American, you're nothing!"
but more as "Hey, I know you might have a bad picture about us
Americans, but I'm here to see and try to understand your point of
view". Hope you get the idea (he still can think whatever he wants, but
presenting him the other way makes these 2 weeks easier for him). And he
should try to speak Spanish, at least for a greeting and a good bye. He
might be offered a cheek for a welcome-kiss and/or a big hug. This might
be disturbing for him, especially after 20 hours or so en-route with
7(?) hours time difference.

#m