by Meghan Link

I am just finishing up with my year abroad in Alcalá de Henares, a small city outside of Madrid. This year has been without a doubt the most life-enriching experience of my life so far, and I’ve learned a lot – and one lesson in particular is a completely new perspective on gratitude.

I’m from the UK, and I think most of us Brits tend to slag off our home country a lot. We’re very self-deprecating about our apparent lack of culture, cuisine and nice weather – all things that Spain seems to have in the bucketload. As a result, it seems like paradise on earth.

But although I’ve enjoyed this year, I can’t wait to go home. I think that Brits take the UK for granted because they’ve never known anything different, and so they don’t even appreciate the existence of those cultural aspects that I miss so much, for example being offered a cup of tea the second you’re invited into someone else’s house, or the stunning natural scenery. But you don’t notice these good things when you’ve never lived without them. We paint Spain as heaven on earth and the UK as a kind of rainy purgatory which must be endured until the brief taste of paradise in the summer.

That’s not the way I see it anymore. I’ve enjoyed Spain, but it’s not where I really belong. And that’s okay, because even though I don’t want to move here, being away from home for a long period of time has made me grateful for the many blessings I love in Scotland. And gratitude is vital for contentment.

This perspective is severely lacking in the West. We live in a consumerist culture which literally profits off of how disillusioned and unsatisfied we feel, constantly. But I’ve built a life for myself in a place which isn’t where I’d choose to live long-term. My year abroad has been a huge blessing for me because, by noticing the things which Spain lacks, my eyes have been opened to my real culture. I think we have so much to be grateful for, because the truth is that just like any other country in the world, the UK has its own unique, delightful quirks. Which I love.

My experience in Spain has taught me to slow down and savour the many, many good things around me – like the cheap coffee, endless sun, and night-time atmosphere. It’s taught me how taking steps outside of my comfort zone will always pay off, and how I am capable of so much more than I thought was possible – that I can, in fact, live away from the home which I love so much, and thrive. But most of all, I’ve now gained a perspective which I can always tune into in order to access gratitude. And whenever my circumstances are getting me down in the future, I can always take a moment to appreciate the fact that I am at home, in the place I love – when for so long that wasn’t the case. My hope is that this attitude continues throughout the rest of my life, all thanks to the experience of living abroad.