The 'cultural socks’

The first cultural shock I experienced happened because of a pair of colourful socks. In Spain, especially in the South, bright colours, plunging necklines and leopard prints are as common as sweet breakfast and tapas. However, in other countries, they stand out on the same way that the combination of socks and flip flops do in the Mediterranean coast.

Thus I, southern Spaniard, was wearing colourful socks with bright read hearts on them, in a ´hygge´ get-together with locals in Copenhagen. I was happy to follow the Nordic custom of removing my shoes, thankful because I do not suffer from smelly feet. Besides that, and unlike in previous occasions, this time I had chosen two of the same colour, and more importantly, a pair without wholes around the big toe!.

Therefore, my socks were surely not among my worries. This first experience abroad, enabled by a Erasmus scholarship, was making me feel a foreigner in Europe. I was feeling uncomfortable about many things; from my low level of English, to my limited understanding of Danish mentality, or my clumsiness while biking across Norrebro.

However, no-one asked me about Danish culture, and they made an effort to understand my babbling in English. The problem, surprisingly, was my love for colours. When I was starting to relax and feel less like an alien among that group of tall, blond, smiley people, one guy started staring at my feet. Then, he snapped at me: Why are you wearing that socks? Do you want everyone to look at you?

At first, I was perplexed and wondered what was wrong with my socks. Then, I noticed everyone else was wearing grey, white and black socks. In Spain, we don’t remove our shoes when entering others’ houses, and we do not get upset by people wearing colourful, even extravagant attired… or even by people actually somehow showing off. I would say that is tolerated in Southern European countries.

Moreover, should we find something weird, or annoying with the outfit of someone, we would probably cast a look with scorn, murmur a funny comment on the ear of a friend, or say something very indirectly to the person. What was I supposed to answer to such direct comment? I was completely disoriented.

This apparently insignificant incident made me reflect, and realize how many times I judged people from other countries based on superficial differences or stereotypes. From that moment on, I promise myself to stop behaving like the ´sock inquisitor´, and make an effort to meet people first. I am convinced that when this happens, the cultural barrier existent between different European people becomes truly feeble.

That is one of the reasons why I think Erasmus, Erasmus plus, EVS and other programmes are not only useful, but also necessary. Living abroad and feeling a foreigner in another European country is the only effective medicine again the pandemia of stereotypes and we-versus-them thinking. I wish everyonecould have their own ‘cultural sock’ shock experience.