BECAUSE it is located in the Iberian Peninsula and it hugs the Mediterranean, Portugal already offers five natural features which lure tourists in from other parts of cold Western and Northern Europe. The first feature is the relative warmth of the place with temperatures reaching as high as 18 degrees Celsius.

The second feature is some of the beaches splashed along the 1,793-kilometer Mediterranean coastline are nudist ones but if you one has inhibitions to strip in public, then he or she can easily head off to remote beaches. Just make sure that you are not alone since these outskirts are not usually patrolled by lifeguards. The third feature is the very yummy and equally nutritious Mediterranean seafood. Along with their Spanish cousins to the south, the Portuguese enjoy eating their seafood fresh from the catch.

It’s not a surprise if one sees delivery vans queuing in fish ports waiting for the fishermen’s catch for the day. The fish are immediately delivered straight to the restaurants’ kitchen to be cooked in varied ways. The fourth natural feature in Portugal is skiing at the mountains every winter. Along with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, a Portuguese winter tends to be very cold with temperatures reaching as low as -3 degrees Celsius. People are advised to don layers of clothing during this time. One’s shirt would eventually become his underwear. The fifth Portuguese feature is of course the culture of the place which is equally vibrant with the rest of Europe’s.

Western and Northern Europeans who have decided to stay here for good don’t make decisions overnight. They have stayed here at least two weeks during summer and another two weeks during winter. There are lots of factors to consider before eventually settling here. One is cultural assimilation. One must first undergo a crash course in acquiring Portuguese as a second language. It is not a difficult language to learn because it shares lots of features with its cousin, Castilian. And if one is studying Portuguese in a language school here, the institution has prepared an immersion program for you – meaning, you will be living with a native Portuguese family during the whole six months of the program. During this period, you will eat what your host family is eating and you will view whatever Portuguese TV series they’re viewing. Altogether, it is one enjoyable moment getting along with a foreign family and crashing down a Babel-like situation.

The Portuguese family will tour you around the city where the language school is located (choose Lisbon for being the Portuguese capital, it has a lot of sights to offer). Of course, the expenses that one eventually incurs are charged against his or her tuition. In turn, you will also have to share your language with your host family for they are also likewise enthusiastic to learn your native tongue. Another reason for staying in Portugal before settling here is getting a feel of the country. During summer, you will find lots of noisy teenagers heading by the beach and gyrating to the tunes of house or techno music. But during winter, all of them are gone and all roads lead to the ski resorts by the mountainsides.