Road trip to Oviedo - Spain culture shocks

Join us on a road trip from Madrid to Oviedo, Asturias, as we talk about some of the culture shocks of living in Spain 01:50, feeling comfortable communicating in Spanish 10:28, some pros and cons of working in Spain 13:40, and some things that we still hard to get used to about living in this country 15:27.
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[@uaujuan]

It's funny because he is so adapted that he speaks his own language like a Spaniard would do.

[@Blackdawn80]

I live in the US and have been to Spain 5 times within the last decade or so. Oviedo is always on the list and the drive from Madrid up is just amazing.

[@bryannoriegamiguel9192]

you can avoid the toll if you go trough Pajares you can take the road near to La Madalena, it is a national road with lot of trucks and the trip will be longer but you will save the money if you don't mind the extra time

[@ahoraya1047]

Probably Brian now thinks more in Spanish than in English...

[@rayvogensen2983]

I don't get the connection betweeen the title "Spain culture shocks" and your drive on a beautiful, modern highway. What is shocking about that? If would be shocking if you had to travel on donkey back on a dirt path. That toll road, the AP66, starts just outside of León and it is very expensive, in my humble opinion, It was a very expensive road to build having to make a lot of long tunnels and bridges. The alternative, national road N360 , goes over the spectacular Puerto de Pajares and is much more beautiful, although it is a lot slower. If I weren't in a hurry, I would definitely take it. The great thing about Spain is that you can drive all the way to León from Madrid and only pay toll going through the Guadarrama Tunnel, which you can also avoid by going over the top el Puerto de los Leones. I drive from Vigo to Madrid and only pay toll, if I want, at the Guadarrama. I can also drive from Vigo to Sevilla on a fantastic highway, with no traffic, and pay no toll. I was expecting much more from this video. We learned almost nothing about Spain or even the drive. Twenty nine minutes just chatting about jobs and working hours disappointed me.

[@skeptigal8899]

Ray Vogensen The scenery and roads in the north of Spain are lovely. I found the engineering of the tunnels and bridges to be very impressive. If I had family or a job in the north of Spain, I’d relocate in a heartbeat.

I'd like to hear Brian's take on "Spanish"/Castilian colonisation of Catalonia (and imperialist attitude) being him native to the decolonised part of Ireland.

[@ignaciol154]

Hablas del Condado de Barcelona? Ese que pertenecía a La Corona de Aragón? fckg hick

You both are conflating and confounding the effects of the intermarriage between aristocratic and royal dynasties with the voluntary and consensual association of populations: _‘It is unbelievable how deep-rooted these vicious ideas of hegemony, domination, and oppression are even among the most distinguished contemporaries._ […] _He condemns the demands of the Catalans and the Basques for independence,_ […] _He does not want “Spain to let go the work of centuries in one generation.” However, this work was not an achievement of the peoples concerned; it was the result of dynastic intermarriage. Is it right to object to the claims of the Catalans that in the twelfth century the Count of Barcelona married the King of Aragon’s daughter and that in the fifteenth century the King of Aragon married the queen of Castile? Sr. Madariaga goes even further and denies to the Portuguese the right of autonomy and statehood. For “the Portuguese is a Spaniard with his back to Castile and his eyes on the Atlantic Sea.” Why, then, did not Spain absorb Portugal too? To this Sr. Madariaga gives a strange answer: “Castile could not marry both east and west at one time”; perhaps Isabel, “being a woman after all, ... preferred Ferdinand’s looks to Alfonso’s, for of such things, also, history is made.” Sr. Madariaga is right in quoting an eminent Spanish author, Angel Ganivet, to the effect that a union of Spain and Portugal must be the outcome “of their own free will.” But the trouble is that the Portuguese do not long for Castilian or Spanish overlordship. Still more amazing are Sr. Madariaga’s views on Spain’s colonial and foreign affairs. Speaking of the American colonies, he observes that the Spanish monarchy organized them “faithful to its guiding principle-the fraternity of all men.” However, Bolivar, San Martin, and Morelos did not like this peculiar brand of fraternity. Then Sr. Madariaga tries to justify Spanish aspirations in Morocco by alluding to Spain’s “position which history, geography and inherent destiny seemed obviously to suggest.” For an unbiased reader there is hardly any difference between such an “inherent destiny” and the mystical forces to which Messrs. Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin refer in annexing small countries. If “inherent destiny” justifies Spanish ambitions in Morocco, does it not in the same way support Russian appetites for the Baltic countries and Caucasian Georgia, German claims with regard to Bohemia and the Netherlands, Italy’s title to Mediterranean supremacy?’_ - Ludwig von Mises. *‘Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War.’* _Yale University Press (1944) pp. 15-17_

FYI, the King of Great Britain had a dynastic claim to the title of King of Ireland and therefore, to the Crown of Ireland. That didn't prevent Ireland from becoming a British colony.

[@rsnankivell1962]

Con todos los respetos, sigues diciendo aún más tonterías...

​@@rsnankivell1962, not an argument. BTW, why should I care about the alleged opinion of a random troll on the Internet?

[@rockber]

haha, Brian has a totally Spanish accent.

[@coffermartin77]

rockber Brian Irish ☘️?? If that’s an Irish accent,I’m Michael Collins.

[@richardweiss4167]

not at all Spanish, pure Irish, unlikely to learn how to speak English like a Spaniard in Spain, that would be more feasible in the UK and Ireland.

[@danielsierra4672]

Spanish accent and spanish look

[@LuisGonzalez-gb4uh]

He ends every sentence with a Spanish "no?"

[@ishabrown]

He has a Spanish/Irish accent

[@victorsanjorge6536]

I love when foreigners discover northern Spain for the first time. Like, they have an idea in mind about what is Spain, and once they set foot on the north is like "what? is this actually Spain?". Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Euskadi are awesome

[@coffermartin77]

Víctor Sanjorge Galicia is boring. Enough said.

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@coffermartin77 ??

[@andym28]

En que manera?

[@robinpelletstovesuk9194]

And if you do not restrict the immigrants arriving there more and more it will become a dump like UK !!

[@skeptigal8899]

I love the north of Spain, and Oviedo is well worth your time. Their food is really good, especially the cachopo.

[@skeptigal8899]

Owneador1337 I can imagine that the quality of the cachopo varies quite a bit depending on the restaurant, but ours was really good, and served with rabbit gravy! I’ve also had fabada, and it was delicious. I think the charcutería produced in Spain is just as good, maybe better than Italy. I’ve been to Spain 5 times, and thinking about the food makes me want to plan another trip. I think there’s a jamón ibérico calling my name :)

[@octaviomartinez2935]

Oviedo is the birth place of my grand father, and great grandparents, my grandfather immigrated from Oviedo to Cuba during the civil war, I became a Spanish citizen through the law of historical memory, my grandfather was a very large land owner in Oviedo, thank you for your videos they r very informative n helpful, me n wife r considering a second home in Spain.

[@chanyeolswife5235]

I dream to go live in the north of Spain. Asturias and Cantabria are the 2 most beautiful places of Spain.

[@ashenone3050]

so check basque country ( north spain)

[@ashenone3050]

@@jblondon1327 u are wrong , this terrorists that u are talking about were E.T.A , spain has been dealing with terrorism for more than 40 years , they dont exist anymore , and is more like catalonia is to spain what n ireland is to britain except there arent terrorist on catalonia , how do i know? im from valencian community , we speak catalonian and we live in eastern spain and i can say that euskadi is amazing and their language is the oldest in all europe

[@coffermartin77]

Better than Galicia.

[@ashenone3050]

@@jblondon1327 so , a british guy is saying a spanish guy how is actually spain right? seems legit

[@coffermartin77]

JB London You’re a nob head! Both my parents are Galician but I’m 100% born and raised. That does not mean I’m Anglo. Far from it but my language is English with Spanish being a distant second. All that non-sense you said about the Basque Country was total crap. We are in 2019,not 1980. I actually worked and lived there for six months and had no problems. The Basque Country have the best cooks if not food in Spain. Galicia and Asturias have good produce and a few signature dishes but lag behind the Basque Country overall. Stuart and Brian came to Spain 🇪🇸 because of their Spanish girlfriends(and other reasons) but that makes a world of difference in Spain. They have more reason to live there than I do.

[@davedogge2280]

I've heard great things about Oviedo, great food, great tapas and nightlife. I thought Brian was Spanish ! I was shocked when his Irish background was declared and I have no problem understanding original Irish movies i.e. The Commitments, I went Down, Waking Ned etc I'm Spanish but i lived in England for 30 years so I know what I'm talking about ! btw those stews are called "pucheros" I think and sometimes bars have them in the back room for staff and you have to ask especially for a portion, although i think 'up north' in Spain it's out in display.

[@davidj.2878]

In Asturias there is not tradition of tapas:/

[@oracolul1]

My brother in law lives there with his family for over 10 years now. I love that city.

[@coffermartin77]

Sergiu Barbu Great food in Oviedo and reasonable prices if not cheap.

[@rachelmiller7525]

Why do these people keep saying Expats, not ex-pats they moved to a country, not of their birth, they are immigrants, they immigrated. Does it make them feel better because somehow ex-pat doesn't sound like I couldn't make it in my home country because those immigrants are poor?

[@luispfuertes5477]

If you come to Asturias here is a list of food I think is way better than the not so typical cachopu: Fabes Escalopines al Cabrales Pote asturianu Pitu Caleya Chorizu a la sidra Criollos Arroz con Leche Frixuelos I suggest you to visit the eastern part of Asturias (Conceyu Cangues d'Onís) and buy cheese from Asturias, Gamonéu, La Peral and Cabrales are amazing. Obviously I like cachopu, but "onde ten unes bones fabes..."

[@elkinhuertas2137]

The biggest complaints are what are hard coded in our Hispanic culture from Spain to my home Colombia and through Latin America we are like this during the holidays. It’s fun for us and it’s part of us, I don’t think we can really relax it. We all hate it as kids because of the formality but as an adult we grow to respect. The complaints just reminded me of myself and other Hispanic kids when we were younger lol

[@ionelpetran8006]

Hola, from Bunbury,WA.

[@rociober.3539]

Thanks It is great to watch you travelling to my town Oviedo.

[@tobikrutt]

Very interesting video. I've visited Spain a couple of times and I love the country, but I've been only in the central/southern areas. I have several Spanish language exchange partners and they tell me I have to visit the north next. I was happy to hear the comments about how long it took him to speak Spanish comfortably. Although I have not had the opportunity (yet!) to live for an extended time in a Spanish-speaking country, I've been studying Spanish now for 3-1/2 years, and the timing of the progression of my language learning is pretty comparable to his.

[@marcoalberts8841]

Nothing wrong with formality. It serves to maintain or even elevate the value of a culture, opposing banality or by all means, descent into the abyss...!

[@sivedan]

I was surprised to see from the road you are travelling in, that the north of Spain is pretty barren also, with a few exceptions, most of the landscape you went through, looks like Arizona....BARREN...

[@ivanpm644]

Not really. This video shows the northern part of the Meseta, which is the huge (and dry) plateau that covers most of the Iberian Peninsula. Once you cross the mountains limiting it to the north you enter in the so-called Green Spain (regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria or Euskadi), with a totally different landscape.

[@omnidani]

Enjoy fabada asturiana, sidra and cabrales cheese!!

[@potownrob]

omnidani QUESO MANCHEGO Y JAMŌN SERRANO!!!!

[@jackcaselles1180]

Spain Speaks! It would be nice if you spent more time with the camera facing outside.

[@emmettmcintyre9607]

I was lucky to have worked in Oviedo a few times. I dont have the words to describe what a lovely little city it is.

[@jambroqc]

As far as your conversation goes, there's nothing shocking about Spain. Being nicely dressed during some occasions is not shocking at all nor having extended lunch with your friends- albeit very nice traditions.

[@richardweiss4167]

and obviously it took 21 yrs to have the level of Spanish he now has - we never stop learning

[@BardoSanOfficial]

This dude is definitely Spanish haha. Really solid Irish accent tho props for that

[@terencemagee]

No formal Christmas in the Basque Country, they´re very informal though not surprising as they´re experts in eating and drinking any time of the day, any season, any festival!

[@santiagonavesgomez8332]

Happens to all migrants we get all culturally confused

[@barnichua]

The joke is that at least half of us who celebrate christmas like this, with all of its dates, are not religious people or simply atheists, disliking massive consumption, and therefore having a love/hate relationship with christmas feasts.

[@ivantopalov7839]

"Sleeping with the dictionary" - that alone makes the video worth watching :D

[@pedromartinojeda]

I thought he was spanish!

[@javierlav]

It is interesting as there should be a concept for people who have lived and worked in different countries. I have and my best friends are usually people who have lived in different places I find them easier to talk to and have more things in common.

[@antifugazi]

In Spain they say no when they mean yeah

[@1234smileface]

Brian's accent in English sounds partially Spanish now

[@ian-hm6cx]

Nettie Reynolds english is the language lmao

[@Ulysses1707]

Nowadays Christmas in the UK and Ireland kicks off in early November.

[@shinyshinythings]

Same in the US, the store and public decorations go up as soon as the Halloween decorations come down. Here it’s all about shopping.

[@bryannoriegamiguel9192]

the 2 hours break I think is more common in the south I'm from Asturias and the common break it is one hour or 30 minutes if you want

[@elenar4709]

I think it depends on the type of work more than the region, if your company has to deal with the public, be it sales or any kind of service other than banks, you are doomed to the divided work day no matter where you live, which sucks, specially in winter when your whole day is gone at work :/

[@georgependarbes5898]

Thank you for the this informative video. Almost €14 the toll. Too expensive. ⛔🙈🙄At least the Public Healthcare System is superb.👏👏👏

[@elenar4709]

It is too expensive, you can take the free road instead but it's up the mountains, beautiful but often really foggy in parts, and it's a worse road with quite a bit of truck traffic, the toll road is a much faster and easy drive.

[@bluceree7312]

Usually tolls are a lot less than that, around €2.

[@JK-rt7br]

why do people put thumbs down? I mean it's exactly what it says on the tin a paddy and an oz headed north (sorry i called ya kiwi on another comment I was drunk that night) .... thanks for the video ... hard beat the picos

[@svetlanapatsch2565]

YOU KNOW, it’s so annoying how many times he said “you know” 🤣 so typical for Irish 🍀

[@Luszin]

Is the Asturian spanish the same like in Madrid, Barcelona or is it very different?

[@Orcollectum]

at least you saw snow.

[@highflyerpotatoe602]

Wow he really speaks very clearly. I'd have never guessed he's Irish.

[@richardweiss4167]

your Irish friend Brian doesn't look at all tanned, look at his hands

[@Newvillasinspain]

Very Informative channel 👍 Greetings from a wet Torrevieja at the moment.

[@brianhoran1298]

hey brian go bac to your dub twang man

[@ahoraya1047]

There is a long history of Irish un Spain

[@janetlombardi2314]

Great keep the videos rolling Stuart

[@herbolarilamenta]

I like this kind of videos. Brilliant!

[@magicogonzalez8465]

1:51 21 años en España y todavía no has aprendido a conducir.. Vas sólo por la autopista y no te hechas a la derecha para dejar meterse al tipo de la furgoneta.... Bueno, bastante que ya sabes ir por el lado bueno

[@josemanueld5413]

magicogonzalez8 querrás decir no te Echas (sin h) a la izquierda (no a la derecha). Pero sí se echó a la izquierda si te fijas, que veo que no antes de criticar

[@magicogonzalez8465]

@@josemanueld5413 toda la razón sobre mi desastrosa escritura. Además de las incorrecciones que tú bien señalaste, querría añadir que no pretendía reñir a nadie.. De hecho, ayer por la noche me sonaba a broma, y leyéndolo ahora no. Por cierto, no, no se echa a la izquierda. ¿no ves que la furgoneta tiene que frenar frena?... También es posible que justo en ese momento viniera alguien adelantando. Si te parece bien borro el comentario. Un saludo!!

[@josemanueld5413]

magicogonzalez8 No pasa nada. Es verdad que la furgoneta tiene que frenar pero no sabemos si venía alguien por la izquierda que le impedía cambiarse de carril.

[@PlanetImo]

I enjoyed your convo!

[@robnorris4770]

We have an expression here, “Junuary”, because it can snow in June.

[@lrdkuzco]

Asturias is Spain and the rest is conquered land hehe.

[@cHernandez6449]

You know,you know,you know, you know

[@josemanueld5413]

I noticed too lol

Do you know why the north of Spain is so different from the south? Because they're not the same country.

[@coffermartin77]

It’s the same country,don’t you worry.

@@coffermartin77, so what are the "Basque Country" (País Vasco") or the "Valencian Country" ("País Valenciano"), alternative names for the same country? What's Portugal? Was the Roman Empire or the Austro-Hungarian Empire a single "country"? Are Northern Ireland, Wales ("País de Gales") and Scotland the same country as England? What's Ireland, one country, two countries? Is Puerto Rico a separate country or part of the United States "country"? What about Belgium, one single country?

[@rsnankivell1962]

Con todos los respetos, dices muchas tonterías...

@@rsnankivell1962, not an argument. BTW, why should I care about the alleged opinion of a random troll on the Internet?

[@coffermartin77]

Zephyr López Cervilla Ha Ha! Spain 🇪🇸 might have a lot of regions with different languages and customs but they all share the same values and racially look pretty much the same. The only major difference to me is the Basque language which is not related to any of the European language groups known today.