The following signs have prompted me to buckle down and write this blog entry:
1. Maddy wrote in her blog, so in order to keep up our deal, I must now do the same. And click on that link! Her blog is so great, especially this week. There's a lovely picture of a cute little piglet! Miss you Maddy =)
2. I was going to write this morning, but I decided to put it off (as usual) and go swimming instead. However, the pool was totally empty except for a man wielding a blowtorch. Apparently they were cleaning? I'm not sure how that works.... Anyway, I had to come home.
3. It's been over three weeks!
So here we go.
The weather is heating up down here and Christmas is on it's way. It felt sort of weird skipping Thanksgiving, but a good long webcam chat with my family back home was all I needed. As my host mom pointed out however, I did have turkey hot dogs for lunch that day (she doesn't eat red meat), so it was pretty much Thanksgiving here, too. Hmmm, not quite, Mom. But thanks for trying! I need at least one pecan pie and my Aunt Debbie's cranberry chutney before I can call it a Thanksgiving dinner.
Ok, so remember that party I went to where my history teacher performed with his band of fellow faculty? And remember how I had to leave early? Well, this paragraph is about why. The next day my cousin's Rotary Club was sponsoring a trip for about ten exchange students to go visit and tour Natura Cosméticos, a Brazilian cosmetics company that sells products all over Central and South America and France. It was a really fun trip! I wasn't all that interested in the cosmetics to tell the truth, but it was interesting to see how a major Brazilian corporation works. They put a lot of effort into maintaining their carbon-neutral policy and are extremely environmentally conscious. There are a lot of American companies that could learn a thing or two from Brazil! Anyway, it was a full day with lots of interesting info and some great time with my exchange student friends.
Hanging out with the exchange students is always a great mental exercise. Nearly all the Mexican students are already fluent in Portuguese, and about half of them speak English fluently as well. There's an Ecuadorean and an Australian student who have been here for nearly a year already, and they of course speak Portuguese very well. The Asian exchange students are having a really difficult time with the language and are getting by mostly by use of their English. The European and North American students are using a lot of English as well, but are learning to use Portuguese most of the time. Anyway, it's hard to remember who speaks what, because not everyone speaks English and not everyone speaks Portuguese either. I finally feel confident enough in my Portuguese to declare myself fluent (which is a major breakthrough!) so it's not difficult for me to speak either language, but it's just challenging to know when I have to switch my brain over. Then there's Danish, Chinese, and Spanish conversations going on all around me too. Such a language fest! So exhilarating! This is one of my favorite parts of being an exchange student: the huge confusion of languages. It makes me so excited to get to college and start studying more and more of them.
A couple weeks ago we surprised my friend Dora for her 19th birthday party. Her host parents invited some friends of hers from her school and neighborhood and I managed to get a few exchange students together to help blow up a bunch of balloons and get the party going before she arrived. I knew that Brazilians love parties and conversation and most things loud and disruptive, but I couldn't help but be a little scared for my life when Dora walked in the door and people starting shouting "Surpresa!!! Parabéns!!" at the top of their lungs amid flickering lights, flying confetti, bursting balloons, and-- to top it all off-- an air horn. Things carried on this way for at least 90 seconds. It may not sound like a long time, but you try it. See how you feel afterward. Seriously, I thought one good burst on the air horn would do the job, but apparently it didn't. The constant honking along with Dora's dad popping every single one of the balloons in the house made me feel like I was in the middle of a shootout in Time's Square. But the rest of the party was really enjoyable. I'm going to be living with Dora's host family later this year, so it was cool to see what their apartment was like. It's pretty spacious with a great view of downtown Santo André. Takehara and Elza, both of whom I already know pretty well, are really warm and smile a lot (like the majority of people I've met down here). Dora's host grandma made a beautiful cake that we cut about 2 hours after Dora got here. In Brazil, it's tradition for the aniversariante (birthday girl or boy) to give the first piece of cake to the person in the room that's most important to him or her. Dora circled the room nervously a couple of times before giving the first plate of cake to Takehara, greeted of course with more confetti and cheering. Thankfully, all the balloons had already been popped and the air horn had expired.
The following day (Sunday), Rotary had organized a get-together for all the exchange students in Guarujá, an island about the size of Anacortes off the Southeast coast of São Paulo State. We spent the day at a Rotarian's house on Guaiúba Beach, playing in the ocean, lying in the sand, enjoying the churrasco, and exchanging gifts with our secret pals. It was the first time in what felt like forever that I got to spend time with all the exchange students together! It was a great time with some really relieving discussion-- it was good to find out that I wasn't the only one missing my family during the holidays! I'm hoping to go to Santos for New Year's to spend some time with my exchange student friends there.
Let's see, what else has been going on around here? Oh yes, last weekend Bryan, another American exchange student from Arizona who's living in a neighboring city, spent the weekend at my house in Santo André. It's so fun hanging out with Bryan and talking about all the funny things we notice about Brazil. Most things I forget are strange until I'm hanging with an American and we compare it to our own culture. That didn't make sense, so I'm going to come up with an example. Grocery shopping. You know how everything seems to cost a certain amount of dollars and 99¢ in the US? Well, same thing here, except the currency is the Real (R$). And when something costs R$4,99 and you give them a bill of R$5, they don't give you your penny in change. Same thing goes the other way around. Something may cost R$20,03, but you give them R$20 and it's all good. I've gotten used to little details like that, but when I'm with Brian, we always think of the typical American reaction to things. What do you think John Doe would do if he didn't get his 2¢ back at the supermarket? Probably either complain at the service counter or pull out his shotgun and give a speech about liberty and personal rights. Things are a little more chill here in Brazil.
Anyway, on Friday night we went to Dora's non-surprise birthday party (Dora told us that in Taiwan it's bad luck to celebrate your 19th birthday, which combined with the Brazilian superstition that it's bad luck to celebrate a birthday before their literal birthday, called for an extra celebration). We all arrived at Petiscaria, a small restaurant and bar, at about 10:00 in the evening and didn't end up going home until 4:00 AM. Great fun! The next day, Sandra took Brian and I to see the Avenida Paulista with all it's Christmas lights in downtown São Paulo. Traffic was horrible, but the decorations were awesome! It helped me get into the Christmas spirit a little more, which has been hard to do in the 85º weather. The next day, the whole extended family surprised Sandra's aunt for her 81st birthday. Brian felt pretty out of place during the whole rowdy affair, but at least he had Dora for company-- we invited her to help her adjust to the family because she'll be moving into my place in February (I'll be moving into my friend Luis's family, and he'll be moving into Dora's. We'll all rotate again in April). She was definitely overwhelmed, but in a very smiley and cheerful way. Her Portuguese is coming along at a slower pace, so it's hard for her to keep up with all my talkative aunts and uncles. But she'll love them in no time. I already do! They keep asking me if I really have to move, and giving me suggestions on how to get out of it. I love them all so much that I'm considering faking a psychotic break so that Sandra can insist I stay with them since she's a psychologist. We'll see how it all plays out...
So all in all, I really feel settled in here. I wake up at night muttering to myself in Portuguese and it doesn't take a minute for me to remember where I am. I can answer the phone without worrying about not understanding whoever's on the other end. The heat is even becoming more and more tolerable. I don't know exactly what changes are happening in me, but I'm definitely not the same person I was when I left the United States. I keep trying to imagine myself walking my dog on the rocky beaches of Puget Sound, eating blueberry fritters at The Donut House with my friends at 3:00 AM, or just watching a movie with my mom while we slurp our favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate sauce, but it all just seems so foreign now. I'm starting to understand what Gary and Melissa told us about feeling culture shock when we get home. Being home will be such a great thing, but it will be a whole new adventure. Plus I can't wait to see all my friends and family! Keep sending me news of fun holiday get-togethers.
I love you guys.
Kevin
1. Maddy wrote in her blog, so in order to keep up our deal, I must now do the same. And click on that link! Her blog is so great, especially this week. There's a lovely picture of a cute little piglet! Miss you Maddy =)
2. I was going to write this morning, but I decided to put it off (as usual) and go swimming instead. However, the pool was totally empty except for a man wielding a blowtorch. Apparently they were cleaning? I'm not sure how that works.... Anyway, I had to come home.
3. It's been over three weeks!
So here we go.
The weather is heating up down here and Christmas is on it's way. It felt sort of weird skipping Thanksgiving, but a good long webcam chat with my family back home was all I needed. As my host mom pointed out however, I did have turkey hot dogs for lunch that day (she doesn't eat red meat), so it was pretty much Thanksgiving here, too. Hmmm, not quite, Mom. But thanks for trying! I need at least one pecan pie and my Aunt Debbie's cranberry chutney before I can call it a Thanksgiving dinner.
Ok, so remember that party I went to where my history teacher performed with his band of fellow faculty? And remember how I had to leave early? Well, this paragraph is about why. The next day my cousin's Rotary Club was sponsoring a trip for about ten exchange students to go visit and tour Natura Cosméticos, a Brazilian cosmetics company that sells products all over Central and South America and France. It was a really fun trip! I wasn't all that interested in the cosmetics to tell the truth, but it was interesting to see how a major Brazilian corporation works. They put a lot of effort into maintaining their carbon-neutral policy and are extremely environmentally conscious. There are a lot of American companies that could learn a thing or two from Brazil! Anyway, it was a full day with lots of interesting info and some great time with my exchange student friends.
Hanging out with the exchange students is always a great mental exercise. Nearly all the Mexican students are already fluent in Portuguese, and about half of them speak English fluently as well. There's an Ecuadorean and an Australian student who have been here for nearly a year already, and they of course speak Portuguese very well. The Asian exchange students are having a really difficult time with the language and are getting by mostly by use of their English. The European and North American students are using a lot of English as well, but are learning to use Portuguese most of the time. Anyway, it's hard to remember who speaks what, because not everyone speaks English and not everyone speaks Portuguese either. I finally feel confident enough in my Portuguese to declare myself fluent (which is a major breakthrough!) so it's not difficult for me to speak either language, but it's just challenging to know when I have to switch my brain over. Then there's Danish, Chinese, and Spanish conversations going on all around me too. Such a language fest! So exhilarating! This is one of my favorite parts of being an exchange student: the huge confusion of languages. It makes me so excited to get to college and start studying more and more of them.
A couple weeks ago we surprised my friend Dora for her 19th birthday party. Her host parents invited some friends of hers from her school and neighborhood and I managed to get a few exchange students together to help blow up a bunch of balloons and get the party going before she arrived. I knew that Brazilians love parties and conversation and most things loud and disruptive, but I couldn't help but be a little scared for my life when Dora walked in the door and people starting shouting "Surpresa!!! Parabéns!!" at the top of their lungs amid flickering lights, flying confetti, bursting balloons, and-- to top it all off-- an air horn. Things carried on this way for at least 90 seconds. It may not sound like a long time, but you try it. See how you feel afterward. Seriously, I thought one good burst on the air horn would do the job, but apparently it didn't. The constant honking along with Dora's dad popping every single one of the balloons in the house made me feel like I was in the middle of a shootout in Time's Square. But the rest of the party was really enjoyable. I'm going to be living with Dora's host family later this year, so it was cool to see what their apartment was like. It's pretty spacious with a great view of downtown Santo André. Takehara and Elza, both of whom I already know pretty well, are really warm and smile a lot (like the majority of people I've met down here). Dora's host grandma made a beautiful cake that we cut about 2 hours after Dora got here. In Brazil, it's tradition for the aniversariante (birthday girl or boy) to give the first piece of cake to the person in the room that's most important to him or her. Dora circled the room nervously a couple of times before giving the first plate of cake to Takehara, greeted of course with more confetti and cheering. Thankfully, all the balloons had already been popped and the air horn had expired.
The following day (Sunday), Rotary had organized a get-together for all the exchange students in Guarujá, an island about the size of Anacortes off the Southeast coast of São Paulo State. We spent the day at a Rotarian's house on Guaiúba Beach, playing in the ocean, lying in the sand, enjoying the churrasco, and exchanging gifts with our secret pals. It was the first time in what felt like forever that I got to spend time with all the exchange students together! It was a great time with some really relieving discussion-- it was good to find out that I wasn't the only one missing my family during the holidays! I'm hoping to go to Santos for New Year's to spend some time with my exchange student friends there.
Let's see, what else has been going on around here? Oh yes, last weekend Bryan, another American exchange student from Arizona who's living in a neighboring city, spent the weekend at my house in Santo André. It's so fun hanging out with Bryan and talking about all the funny things we notice about Brazil. Most things I forget are strange until I'm hanging with an American and we compare it to our own culture. That didn't make sense, so I'm going to come up with an example. Grocery shopping. You know how everything seems to cost a certain amount of dollars and 99¢ in the US? Well, same thing here, except the currency is the Real (R$). And when something costs R$4,99 and you give them a bill of R$5, they don't give you your penny in change. Same thing goes the other way around. Something may cost R$20,03, but you give them R$20 and it's all good. I've gotten used to little details like that, but when I'm with Brian, we always think of the typical American reaction to things. What do you think John Doe would do if he didn't get his 2¢ back at the supermarket? Probably either complain at the service counter or pull out his shotgun and give a speech about liberty and personal rights. Things are a little more chill here in Brazil.
Anyway, on Friday night we went to Dora's non-surprise birthday party (Dora told us that in Taiwan it's bad luck to celebrate your 19th birthday, which combined with the Brazilian superstition that it's bad luck to celebrate a birthday before their literal birthday, called for an extra celebration). We all arrived at Petiscaria, a small restaurant and bar, at about 10:00 in the evening and didn't end up going home until 4:00 AM. Great fun! The next day, Sandra took Brian and I to see the Avenida Paulista with all it's Christmas lights in downtown São Paulo. Traffic was horrible, but the decorations were awesome! It helped me get into the Christmas spirit a little more, which has been hard to do in the 85º weather. The next day, the whole extended family surprised Sandra's aunt for her 81st birthday. Brian felt pretty out of place during the whole rowdy affair, but at least he had Dora for company-- we invited her to help her adjust to the family because she'll be moving into my place in February (I'll be moving into my friend Luis's family, and he'll be moving into Dora's. We'll all rotate again in April). She was definitely overwhelmed, but in a very smiley and cheerful way. Her Portuguese is coming along at a slower pace, so it's hard for her to keep up with all my talkative aunts and uncles. But she'll love them in no time. I already do! They keep asking me if I really have to move, and giving me suggestions on how to get out of it. I love them all so much that I'm considering faking a psychotic break so that Sandra can insist I stay with them since she's a psychologist. We'll see how it all plays out...
So all in all, I really feel settled in here. I wake up at night muttering to myself in Portuguese and it doesn't take a minute for me to remember where I am. I can answer the phone without worrying about not understanding whoever's on the other end. The heat is even becoming more and more tolerable. I don't know exactly what changes are happening in me, but I'm definitely not the same person I was when I left the United States. I keep trying to imagine myself walking my dog on the rocky beaches of Puget Sound, eating blueberry fritters at The Donut House with my friends at 3:00 AM, or just watching a movie with my mom while we slurp our favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate sauce, but it all just seems so foreign now. I'm starting to understand what Gary and Melissa told us about feeling culture shock when we get home. Being home will be such a great thing, but it will be a whole new adventure. Plus I can't wait to see all my friends and family! Keep sending me news of fun holiday get-togethers.
I love you guys.
Kevin
My family having a nice Thanksgiving chat with me via Skype. Katie in front, my cousin Christine sitting in the chair, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Steve behind them, and my grandparents making their way in to see what all the fuss is about.
The view of Santo André from Takehara's apartment.
Surprise! Happy Birthday Dora! (Is she cowering?)
Our friends at Dora's party. Thumbs-up! Hahaha...
Guaiúba Beach on Guarujá
Friends! Dora (Taiwan), Arely (Mexico), Anne (Germany), and Brittney (Canada)
Some rainbowy tower on the Avenida Paulista. Cool, huh?
The Banco do Brasil building
The Banco Itaú building
Happy Birthday Tia Maria! We didn't have a "1" candle...
Baby Henry!!! He doesn't always look that scared, I promise.
7 comentários:
Ahhh Kevin I love it! I always get so jealous when i hear your beach stories, I have seen NO body of water for 3 months and a week now...i think i might have a heart attack when i travel to the south. a scream fest will be the least of my reaction. Anyways i talked to my mom on skype and she said everyone was asking when my next blog would be, i had been slacking for awhile (along with you) and i wanted to hear from you so i had to write one! haha. the pictures for me are the most frustrating part.
I REALLY want to talk on skype soon. I have been understanding a ton more. and able to respond with out thinking. I usually have dreams with at least a little spanish in it, but its usually a mix. and i wake up trying to figure out how to translate something haha. dude i'm like writing a whole new blog. oh! went grocery shopping with the fam today. totally bringing a camera next time. we get SO much stuff. it has to be documented. anyways sounds like you're having an amazing time. i want to come visit!!! and im gonna be so jealous of your tan! haha. CONGRATS on becoming fluent. I'm getting there ;) okay keep on keeping on. peace and love.
Hi Kevvy-
All of this sounds like so much fun!- I don't even know where to begin. Just know I'm thinking about you and excited about all of these great new adventures you are having. The pictures are great! and the new videos too... I love when you mutter Portuguese in the background- it sounds so funny and it's so cool that it's.... real? I'm looking forward to seeing first-hand all of these new transformations you speak of.
I love you and I miss you- Clara
Haha, that's some insane cleaning job with a blowtorch.
Loved it all. Great update =) Sounds like you're doing well... with all your beaches and swimming especially. There's a pool in my back yard but when it's about 30-40 degrees (fahreinheit) daily... I learned that when I was 7 and wanted to swim in October when it was barely 25 degrees.
Great pictures by the way. And congrats on fluency! Keep up with it and you could probably become a translator at the U.N.
I'm a lot better but I'm far from fluent. I understand nearly everything, it's my speaking that's a bit... not... great. You can say I've been cheating some because one of my friends in my group is from Wales and her first language is English... we've had a few conversations in English. She really helps with understand whats going on tho! And I can ask her how to say something in French and stuff. But at least there is one guy in my group in my class who is French... but you know how people are with speaking English with the native-English-exchange-student? He's finally cut back a lot though.. Definitely frustrating, that can be. And speaking is hard for me still but a LOT better. When I came I could barely get a coherent sentence out and when asked to translate a page for signing up for an American student visa for an outbound in Oregon from my club, I couldn't even explain "date of birth" right. Now I've translated about a page of my Canada presentation with little dictionary help, just reference of unsureness.
You're updating better than I am... I think it's been over a month now. So much has happened... I have 3 drafts but I never finish any because I'm either too lazy or I get distracted when I start. Then I couldnt get on my account for about a week of that because I forgot my email... when I ermembered it I forgot the password... I actually had to hack my own account, if that makes sense.
Apparently its supposed to snow here at Halloween... its been rain and overcast (yay for overcast tho! Dunno why I love it...) since Halloween tho. Then my family said something about it starts in January or February... confusing.
Well it's great to hear you're really enjoying Brazil and making the best of life there. Keep it up
I love you, too. :-)
Congrats on your bilingualness!! I'm very proud of you. In fact, so proud that I only have one thing to say:
VAI SE FUDER!
Currently I'm at home, and it's wierd. First, there is about a foot and a half of snow, which is the most I've seen here in 19 years. And secondly, home is just...odd. Definitely not the same culture shock feeling, but a little similar. I don't have a webcam on my parents' computer, and no wireless for my laptop, but we do have Skype (don't freak out - I added you on my mom's account.) So if I can't make it in to town sometime soon, and you have a free moment, we should do some Skyping. I hope your Christmas holidays are warmer than ours, and that you still miss us as much as we miss you!
Love always,
nia
so, surprisingly, i read the whole thing, and it sounds awesome there! brazil sounds super cool and i'm glad to hear that you're having fun. happy new year and post more often! :)
Kevin, hi! We sure do miss you! I have no idea what I'm doing so I hope this reaches you. First time I've tried to blog! Have you heard we have a baby granddaughter? Ainsley Grace Coleman was born on Nov 28th and she is totally gorgeous, of course! Sounds like you are having a tres magnifique time there! Can't wait to hear all about it. Lela
So, did you get one of the two or three comments I sent? I don't think I was doing it exactly right! Sorry.
L
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