Today, I landed in Barcelona, Spain, to kick-off a summer of
interning in international public relations. Obviously, being in a different
country on a different continent from what I’m used to, things here are a bit
weird to me. But, you have to understand that our world is a big place, and
people are raised in totally different cultures.
Here in Spain, and Barcelona especially, time runs slower;
the work day is shorter and work is done at a slower pace. Coming from the United
States, this is quite alien to me, because I’m used to work having set
deadlines and full 8 hour work days. Here, I already know I’m only working 5
hours a day at the most. Just because something is different from what you are
familiar with doesn’t make it bad or wrong, it just makes it different. Our
world history has a trend towards blindly rejecting that which is unknown or
different, but it’s our differences that make us unique and interesting.
Public relations is about relating to people, and knowing
the differences in different cultures can be the key to successful
communication. Traveling, studying, and working abroad are key for public
relations practitioners, because it will give them a sense of what makes up our
world. Rejecting the unknown is no longer an option, so to successfully communicate with the people of our world we must travel and understand them.
As I spend more time in Barcelona, I will blog more about my experience here.
Do you have any tips or suggestions about working abroad in public relations? We'd love to hear from you.
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