One of my goals in Spain is to meet as many Spanish people as possible so that I can practice my Spanish (and my Galician, or gallego). This will also help me to integrate myself into the community more effectively because I am putting forth the effort to interact with others who I have never met before. As I have made an effort to get to know the people in my community, I have also needed to adapt to a lot of Spanish social customs.
I go to as many social events as possible, because Spanish people socialize in a different way from most Americans. For example, when you enter and leave a room in Spain, it is common courtesy to say "hello" and "goodbye" to every person in that room every time you are leaving or entering for the first time. In addition, if someone offers you something (such as coffee or some food in the teacher's room at my school) or invites you out to coffee, a meal, or to their house, you never turn down the offer, no matter polite you might think you are. You always accept an invitation or offer like this unless you already have a prior commitment.
In the same way that I am interested in learning more about the people around me, Spanish people are also interested to learn more about the people they talk to and interact with.
