We just came back from Barcelona, Spain, recently after a short vacation. I love it, with all its culture, architecture and history. My son has his soccer fix, having the chance to train with a local soccer school, and then an invite to go back to train with their base team. My daughter has a blasting time visiting all the different places, including the chocolate museum, the porcelain shop, the paper shop, and more. For us the adults, the concert with Flamingo dance and music is perhaps one of the most memorable outings. Surprisingly (or not), the only thing the kids ask to do twice was to go feeding pigeons in Plaça de Catalunya. I suppose kids have their own perspective of what fun is, and it can be this simple pleasure that delights them.
As I've lived and worked in different countries and cultures, and I've been to Barcelona in the past, I don't find the idea of relocating to Spain that foreign to me, particularly since Barcelona is such a nice city. There are a few things that were new to me though.
Some years back, when I first visited Barcelona, I was a student on tight budget. I went with a few friends, and we mostly walked around to admire the city. Everything was expensive to us, and we found the cheapest place to eat was, paradoxically, MacDonalds. Yes, it's a totally wasted opportunity to be in a city with rich gastronomical treasures, and we're eating Big Mac and soda. You could say that we're genuinely tourists since we hardly expose ourselves to the culture. We couldn't afford to.
Situations have changed. We're more established now, and I would admit that when you don't count the pennies, a lot of opportunities open up to you. This time around, we sampled various restaurants and local food. We went to different museums and places. We could pick and choose what we want to do, and wouldn't have to worry about budget issues. It's rather liberating, in more ways than one. I have not realized how late the Spaniards would start their day, how late the lunch hours (2-4pm) and dinner hours (8-11pm) are. Ridiculously (or not, on our first day, when we were walking around, I almost passed out with little food in my stomach, trying to wait for a favorable restaurant to start serving. Catalans in Barcelona are mostly a friendly people, even though in general, no one above 40 years of age can speak a word of English. I must admit too, that I'm partial to Spain, as compared to other continental European cities like Berlin. I have said to myself, when I get back home, I need to make arrangement to start learning Spanish. :)
I find it rather surreal too, albeit seeing empty storefronts scattered here and there, and with graffiti everywhere, that daily lives seem so normal. This is in spite of the very dire financial news coming out of Europe (and more recently, Spain), with one bank bailout after another. Somehow, mentally I can't seem to reconcile the news with my observation. Some says Spain is still in denial which probably has some truth in it. I sure hope Spain would come out ok.
Some go further, in arguing that the way of life in the larger Europe is in peril, ranging from the concept of the cradle-to-grave welfare state, to its culture and more leisured way of life (as compared to, say, the American way or Chinese way), to its standing in the eyes of the world, and its political structure. Europeans (perhaps with the exception of the Germans) are looking to the Chinese for bailouts, perhaps through the possibility of the Chinese buying up assets in Europe. Although most everyone has been saying for years now, that the more socialist concept of welfare state in Europe is untenable, it's precisely the European way of life that the rest of the world admire the continent most. For Europe to auction off its prized assets and mortgage away its way of life, it's little surprise that the younger generations (whose unemployment rate is outrageously and stubbornly high) who are feeling the pinch most, are coming out in strong protests, both literally and politically.
I grew up in Asia and I live/work in America. I live the motto in which, as Americans would have it, you live to work. This is in contrast to the Europeans, in which they work to live. There are times when I realize that I can't slow myself down to appreciate things more. (Trust me, when you're high-strung all the time, it takes time to unwind and slow down, if at all possible). I find myself tucked between enjoying being busy all the time, and immersing in the leisure stroll on some unknown street, sipping coffee or whenever I feel like it. In a place like America or Asia, where there's no such thing as job security, one has to constantly watch out for opportunities, and to scramble to shore up assets and plan for the future. That's because no one is going to watch your back. We hear all the time, that by the time our generation is ready to retire, Social Security would have been bankrupt; so, don't count on it. I never intend (or like) to rely on government handouts anyways, even though it's Social Security which is something that I have earned in my working years. Medical costs are always a concern since one critical medical condition can bankrupt you.
All these are in contrast with the welfare state where the government safety net provides much coverage, and general populace would not have to do all these worries. No wonder they can - or have been able to - relax and rest easy.
But now, all these are going to fade away because the governments of these welfare states suddenly realize that they can't really afford to provide all these social safety net; not in its current shape or form anyways. Does it really help to protests against austerity that would chip away not only the social safety net, but even pension and government jobs, as the Greeks do? Does it really help either, to continually vote against any parties into government? I highly doubt that as well. No political party can magically make debts go away. With the Germans fully in control of the reins of Euro (and with good measures), there won't be loose monetary policy to flood Europe with cheap money and credits. Countries like Greece and Ireland and Spain and even France are stuck between a rock and a very hard place.
What is there to do? I don't think anyone has the answer. ECB (and Germany) has been trying to slow the crisis, hoping that somehow magically the economy will start growing again. (That's the same hope that the Fed in US and Washington have had as well.) Three years on, I wonder if it'll ever come.
As to the storied European way of life, it'll probably never be the same again. I hope it won't disappear for good. I love Europe, the old one.
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