August 21, 2007
"So long farewell, I have to say goodbye..."
My host mother came to visit me on my last days in Austria. We went to Vienna and spent three days there, where we were able to visit places like the opera house, the Hofburg (treasury), which holds the imperial jewels of the Hapsburg dynasty, and the Sisi Museum (a museum devoted to Empress Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie of Austria) which allows visitors to view the Imperial apartments as well as the silver cabinet and many others. The architecture of the buildings in Austria are definitely breathtaking. Walking in Vienna is like walking in a historical movie stage; it is impossible to walk a foot without talking pictures. After the three days, we caught a train to Salzburg. It is very hard to sleep during the train ride in Austria because the landscape is amazing. The mountains surround small valleys and the green vegetation is definitely very typical for Austria. Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria. It has a population of 150,269 inhabitants. For me - the perfect size. The four days I spent there, I could see myself living in this charming town and for sure I will come back to Salzburg. The highlight of my trip was definitely the Sound of Music tour. I actually ended up watching the movie after I came back from Austria.
After spending five months abroad, I was dying to come back home. I missed my life here and I was really looking forward to going to a 24 hour Wal-Mart (all grocery stores in Austria close at 7 pm, Saturday at 5 pm and Sundays are closed). I waited a week and then I traveled again, but this time the destination was South America (Brazil). I was able to spend three weeks with my family and also took the time to go the dentist, eye doctor and regular doctor to do a general check up.
School already started and in the past semester I was able to go to different places that I never imagined. It has been a great year and I am looking forward to graduation next May.
This is my last blog, but probably another international student will be blogging soon about her/his experiences at UNI. Make sure to check it out. I hope you like it. I want to say thank you to all the people who took the time to read my stories, I hope you have enjoyed them.
June 21, 2007
The Paradise
Last week I had the opportunity to go to Greece.
I went to the largest Dodecanese island called Rhodos (or Rhodes) in the Aegean Sea. The island is really close to the west Turkey shore. The capital city is also called Rhodes and it is the major economic, commercial, tourist and cultural center of the Aegean Sea. The island is very famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
A giant statue of the Greek god Helios, roughly the same size as today's Statue of Liberty in New York, stood for only fifty-six years until Rhodes was hit by an earthquake. Later on, the pieces were sold to a traveling salesman from Edessa.
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June 13, 2007
Indian Culture
Since I have been here in Austria I have learned lots of things about different cultures through my international friends. This is one of the advantages of being in contact with people from other countries. Even though I have never been to India, I have come to know different things about this fascinating culture.
Hindi is the national language but there 27 other languages recognized by the government. The second language is English. The food is very different than what I am used too. Indians use curry in almost every meal. The main dish for the northern Indians is rotis and for the southern Indians is rice. I have noticed that when the Indians eat among themselves, they eat generally with their hands but if they are eating with people that are not from India or in a restaurant, they eat with silverware because they do not want to make people uncomfortable. I asked my friend once, why they most of the time mix natural yogurt (called curd) with the food. He told me that because they eat spicy food first and the yogurt is to help with the digestion of the spicy food. The women wear saris (the dress that I am wearing, but this is not a daily sari it is more for parties and night time).
India is a democratic country with multiple religions. It is the 2nd most populated country in the world and the 7th largest one. The most interesting thing for me about Indian culture is the marriage ritual. Some families still practice arranged marriages but nowadays according to Indians marriage between two people is a sacred relationship. Popular marriages are arranged and some are love marriages, some are forced marriages. For example, the parent researches the girl and they get to know the character of the woman and once the parents like the woman they talk to their son about her and if he agrees, the guy’s parents will talk to the woman’s parents. If everything is fine, they talk about the future groom (background, education, economic status, how much he earns and everything). If everything is ok for both of them, the marriage is done.
April 18, 2007
Turkey
Spring break in Austria is in April and we had two weeks off from school. My friends and I decided to go to Turkey. We booked a package with everything included for one week. We stayed in a five star hotel, but a five star hotel in Turkey is not the same thing as a five star hotel in the US or Europe. The standards are a bit lower, I would say we stayed in a three or four star hotel. We got to Turkey around midnight and a bus came to pick us up, which was great because the hotel was more than an hour away from the airport. Actually, the hotel is located in Okurcalar, which is between Antalya and Alanya. There was a hotel chain in that area on the beach but if you leave the hotel there is not much to see.
March 22, 2007
Slovenia
After my wonderful weekend in Venice, I had the chance to go to Slovenia for a day. A history teacher in Klagenfurt asked all the international students if we wanted to go with his class to Slovenia. We had the chance to go to a former concentration camp on the way as well as to a beautiful waterfall hidden in the mountains. We left on Tuesday and came back on the same day around 7 pm. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to actually go to Italy, but we were able to see the mountains that divide Italy and Slovenia. We went to a small town called Kranjska Gora. This place is actually a ski resort and it is very famous for its competition. We went by bus to the top of a mountain where there is actually a restaurant with a beautiful view of the border with Italy but that day it was closed. Since January 2007, Slovenia is a new member in the European Union. The prices of things are listed in the old currency and in the new currency to help people understand the conversion. It was worthwhile seeing the landscape even though it was extremely cold. The view is indescribable, it is just breathtaking. The mountains and the snow give a feeling that you are at one of those places you see on TV. Austria is very well located and it is easy to go to other countries. I think I could not have asked to be at a better place that I am right now.
My roommate arrived the week after. She is also an exchange student who is from Chile and she will stay here for a year. She does not know German (she is in the first level) and her English is not very good, so we actually communicate in Spanish. She is a very nice girl.
Since I am not working here I have so much free time that feels weird. So I decided to take some gym classes. I am taking Problem Zone Intensive, Hip-Hop, Table Tennis and Mountain Bike classes. I think I am filling my time wisely!
March 7, 2007
Carnival in Venice
Saturday, February. 17th
I went to Venice with the other international students. It was the last carnival weekend and the place was packed. We left on Saturday at 10 am on a train to Venice. Because it was a large group we were able to get a good discount. This was the first time I stepped on a train in my life. We were on a cabin and some people were playing cards and others sleeping. On the way there, I was able to see beautiful mountains and villages. The landscape is amazing, especially in Austria because they have a lot of mountains; it is breathtaking.
It took us around 3 hours to get to Venice and for me it was eternity because I could not believe I was actually going there. I was anxious to see the city surrounded by water like they show on the Discovery Channel. Yes, it is the truth. A very romantic city which is easy to fall in love with. The architecture gives a special touch to this paradise so much so that I could not believe I could be in such a beautiful place.
Carnival in Venice is different from Brazil in the sense that in Venice, carnival is more like masked people dressed like old times with white wigs and long dresses. The theme was ballroom type and carnival in Venice is one of the oldest ones. In Brazil, people dress with costumes (e.g. Indians, clowns, witches etc.) and some just paint their body.
No cars are in the old part of the city. You can buy a day pass for the water bus (boat) or you can walk, the sidewalks are connected through a bridge with one other. There are also taxi options, which are the private boat and they go way faster than the waterbus. A Venice trademark is the gondola. There are so many of them….but they are very expensive, for example for 30 minutes it costs 80 euros. One thing that I noticed in Venice is the leather purses. They are not expensive and they are so charming and cute, definitely good quality. I almost bought one but when I was going to the stores they were already closed. I guess I will have to go back to get an Italian leather purse.
Since it was carnival, all the plazas had concerts. The songs played were a bit old but it was great to dance and watch people dancing ‘Para bailar la bamba”. Everything was over at 4 am but our train back was only at 8 am so we went to the train station and there were people everywhere, especially on the floor sleeping and waiting for their trains. I just could not sleep there so we when to the waterbus and we ended up falling asleep until the guy (at 7 am) kicked us out. SO we went to the train station and waited for another half hour for our train to come back to Klagenfurt. It was a wonderful experience and definably I will go back again to Venice.
PS. I found 20 Euros on the street in Venice!
February 13, 2007
Egypt, why not?
A week has passed and I am still getting used to this new place. The most difficult was the first days. I did not think I would miss home so much the way I did. Making new friends, figuring out how things work can be a bit stressful for someone. I really thought that because I am already an international student in the US, things would be easier. The first days are always the bad ones, the days that you ask yourself what I am doing here. After you get to know people and make friends, things get easier and I am fine now. I still miss home but I am not crying anymore. Culture shock is not easy to go through and will never be. It takes a lot of courage to live in another country, out of my comfort zone.
I am taking German classes right now. The bad thing about Europe is that everybody knows English and it is very hard to learn the language when people speak in English to you. I was downtown and I was lost so I asked in a pharmacy for directions and the guy started to speak to me in English, so that means I will need to make more effort to speak in German with them and do not take the easy way out. It is interesting that in South America (Brazil) not many people speak English as in Europe and I really do not know why.
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February 8, 2007
My trip to Austria
Finally the expected day came. Time to leave for my Study Abroad experience in Austria for the spring semester. It took me a while to pack my suitcases and I realized that a year ago, the airlines changed the weigh per suitcase from 70 pounds to 50 pounds. That difference does not seem much when you are traveling for a few days, but to live for 5 months or 1 year - it is a big change. I was very selective with the things that I took and I was a bit overweight. It came to a point that I just came with the basics for surviving through winter and summer.
The worst part of this trip was saying goodbye. Even though I already did a few times but I just cannot get used to it. Saying good bye to Nikolas was very touching and made me realize that next time I will have to do more thinking before jumping into an experience like this one.
I left Cedar Rapids at 4 pm, January 31 and my flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was delayed by an hour, causing me to miss my next connecting flight to Klagenfurt, Austria and now I had to wait 4 hours to get on the next flight. When I arrived in Frankfurt, since it is a big famous international airport, I was expecting a nice airport like the ones we have in the USA, but some areas needed to be remodeled.
Continue reading "My trip to Austria" »
January 26, 2007
My Father's Arrival
My father arrived 3 weeks ago. He just retired from the Brazilian Army as a Colonel and he decided to spend some time with us. This is the first time that he visited us, but he was in the USA in ‘96 when my oldest sister graduated from high school in Texas. My father does not speak English at all. For him to come by himself it was and it has been a challenge.
His adventurous trip started when his flight from Brazil got delayed. Due to this reason he missed his connecting flight in Atlanta. Communication was very bad because no one could understand him. He was kind of lucky in the sense that Portuguese is very close to Spanish and you can understand some words. The airline ended up sending him to the hotel to wait for another flight the next day. When he got to the hotel the service desk asked him for a $50 dollars deposit, but my father did not understand that, he actually thought he had to pay a fee or something to stay in that hotel. He said to them many times that he would not pay a cent because it was not his fault. After 10 minutes trying to communicate and make him understand what would just be a deposit and they would refund it back the next day, the front desk person found someone that spoke Spanish to make him understand that was okay.
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January 11, 2007
Winter Break
I had a wonderful break. I spent Christmas with Mrs. Martha, a lady from Peru, and her friends. For the first time I saw an upside down Christmas tree and I really liked it. After dinner we sat down in the living room and started to sing Christmas songs. Nikolas did a very good job singing; he was in a choir in high school so he was the only one that could actually sing. I had a good time.
Three days later Nikolas and I went to Texas to visit his family. We arrived in Houston and his father picked us up. The flight was not that bad because I was so tired and therefore slept all the way. Generally, when I go to airports I start to feel sick to my stomach and very nauseous and I know it is 100% psychological but I cannot control it. I hate to fly, yet I want to live in different countries. I know that does not make much sense but I cannot help it.
The day that we landed in Houston was the day that his mother’s side celebrated Christmas. I played that game where each person brings a present and if you like someone else’s present you can take it, but if it was already taken three times, you are out of luck because it cannot be stolen anymore. I took a huge flashlight but someone took it from me, then I chose a present from the middle. Nikolas got a pizza tray to cook pizza but his sister took it from him, so I asked him to take some Mary Kay products for me, which he did. After that when it was his aunt’s turn she took my gift and I went there and took the pizza tray from his sister. That was fun. We ended up with what we wanted.
While I was in Texas I also visited my host family that I stayed with when I was an exchange student in high school. She had another baby two years ago, Blake, since I did not go there last year, because my mother came to spend time with me here, I did not have a chance to meet him before now.
December 14, 2006
Being tested
The week before finals, International Services had a potluck. I ended up bringing the famous Brazilian desert, flan. The food was delicious and I actually had the chance to eat a sloppy Joe, which I had not eaten in so long. This is definitely an American dish. After lunch, we had the chance to exchange gifts with each other. We played a game that you can actually steal other peoples’ presents and since I liked mine so much I ended up stealing mine (I do not think this is against the rules, at least nobody mentioned anything about that).
Finals week finally came. I spent the weekend studying because I had five finals; two of them on Monday, two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. I did study for all the exams but when I’m actually studying I never know if it is enough, I never know if am I studying the right thing. On one of my economics exams, I thought I had studied the things that he would ask, according to other exams, but then I studied things he did not ask. Of course I had studied everything and I know I did a good job in answering all the questions, but the main problem is that all the questions are essays and I do not know if what I wrote is what he expects. On those exams it is just hard to know whether you got it right or not (it is not like a multiple choice exam). The best strategy for me is to get the highest score that I can on the first and second exams, because finals are accumulative and you have more than one, so the chance of getting a high grade is less than the other exams.
I am definitely glad to be done and I did the best that I could. I took Thursday off because I did not had much sleep the whole weekend and I need a day to charge my batteries to start working again. The grades will be posted on the 22nd and I will be waiting anxiously for the results.
November 28, 2006
Thanksgiving Day
It was nice to have extra days without worrying about classes and homework. Thanksgiving, this year for me, was unique. I was going to spend it with my host family buy my host father’s father was very sick and had to be taken to the hospital. After all this it was not a proper environment for have Thanksgiving while he was still at the hospital. Since some of my international friends did not have host families to spend the day with, we decided to spend it together. Everybody was in charge of bringing something and I ended up bringing the turkey. I have never cooked a turkey in my life before. It was a very interesting experience.
I did some research on how to cook a turkey and Linda gave me some tips. She said to leave the turkey in salt water overnight, then season and cook in a bag. I have a grill with a rotisserie so it would be a perfect opportunity to use it. I ended up doing a barbecue turkey because I did not know what else to do. It seemed to be something everybody would like. The thermometer got stuck when the barbecue sauce glazed on the top and I waited, waited…. I got tired of waiting and the turkey was getting crunchy and dark, so I decided to take it out. Nikolas was helping me cut the turkey, but it did not work very well since he was eating more than helping. I ended buying the gravy from Hy-Vee because I did not feel like getting the juices out of the turkey and making one. (it is kind of gross, but I know it taste good). Carlos wanted to have the dinner at his house, so everybody met there. There were 10 people and we had a blast.
November 14, 2006
My Weekend
I had a very good weekend. Besides having to work on Saturday, I went my friend’s house and watched a movie. There were about 10 people in his house. I rented X-Men, Click, and Drop Dead Sexy. Of course, my friend chose Drop Dead Sexy, but the movie was so boring that I felt like taking a nap. At the end of the movie I felt a bit embarrassed because I was the one who brought the movie……but after that I did not feel too bad because he was the one who wanted to see that movie. Everybody else wanted to see X-Men. By the way, the movie Click is very good, I really liked it. I ended up crying when he ……I will not spoil the movie.
On Sunday was the host family Thanksgiving potluck. My host family invited my sisters and I to go. It was very nice. I ended up taking a Brazilian flan, which was gone in a few minutes. The food was very good. I liked the desserts and the mashed potatoes with gravy. There is not such a thing like Thanksgiving in Brazil and the food here is unique. I really like this holiday because it is the only time I get to eat stuffing, gravy, casserole, etc. I do not know how to make any of these foods. If I had to take any main dish I would probably take black beans and broccoli with rice, but I do not think people want to eat this for Thanksgiving. After the dinner we had some entertainment. A violinist played music for us and after that a couple taught us the ballroom dance. That was very interesting. I had a good time. My host parents invited my sisters and me to spend Thanksgiving with them and I am really looking forward to eating a lot of stuffing, gravy and turkey. I am even going to try to cook a turkey on my own! I will let you know what happens.
October 31, 2006
Trip arrangements
Last week was the busiest until now since the semester started. I had four exams and the next week an exam and an eight page paper due. I also had an internship paper that needed to be turned in last week. Unfortunately, because of this I did not go on the Chicago trip provided by International Services. I really feel overwhelmed with school right now. I think most people do. It is nice to know that there is only a month and two weeks left until the holiday. My sister Karolina is going to spend Christmas in Brazil and Larissa, Nikolas and I will spend Christmas at the home of my host family in Iowa. Nikolas and I are going to Texas for New Years and spend a few days with his family and my other host family in Texas.
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October 12, 2006
Mid-terms
I cannot believe that it started snowing already. I think this year
it will not be a mild winter like the last one. It is already
halfway through the semester and I have a lot of things to study. Next
week I have four exams and it seems I chose the hardest ones for this
semester.
I just applied for the study abroad program to go to Austria. It was a
lot more work than I thought. There are a lot of forms and documents
that needed to be turned in. Definitely, the pay off is greater than
the work I have put in. The staff in Study Abroad have been really
helpful and gave guidance to make the process smoother. I am really
excited about living abroad. I just wish I could have known more
German than right now and be able to understand and speak the language.
Christmas is coming and I am still deciding what to do. I am not going
to Brazil in December because there are no affordable tickets left for
the end of the year. I will probably stay in Cedar Falls or I may also
consider the possibility of going to Texas this Christmas to spend a
week there (Nikolas’ family is from Texas).
October 3, 2006
My trip to Brazil
Due to personal reasons beyond my control I had to go Brazil. This happened to be my last day in my country after a week being there. We talk about culture shock when referring to foreign countries, unknown situations and environment. I have never heard someone talking about culture shock within their own culture.
When I was in Brazil everything seemed strange, yet familiar at the same time. Definitely, it is a different lifestyle from which I am not accustomed to anymore. People walking in the street and drivers driving so close to each other that I was always afraid of having an accident. The main thing I could not help noticing is that people invaded a lot of my personal space. It is strange to me when I think about it, because I used to be like this before. After a few years of keeping distance and following American norms, I could not help myself and let people get so close to me. They were coming to give me kisses on each cheek which is the Brazilian custom when greeting and I was stepping backwards and raising my hand to shake their hand. It was a really awkward moment. I felt like a fish out of water. One thing I could not stop to enjoy was the Brazilian food, fruits and the beaches.
This is my fourth year in America and during this time I have only been back to Brazil once before this. Coming back in such a short time really took me by surprise. I was not expecting to be back home that soon or to pack my luggage in a day. I was in one way happy to come back to Brazil because I missed my parents and relatives very much. Time passed by and you learn to move on with your life. Accepting the distance does not mean forgetting or feeling less for those who are so close to us.
During these years I went through culture shock, then understanding, acceptance and embracing the American culture. Years have passed by and without noticing I embraced customs and rituals that were strange and unknown at the beginning. American culture is as much a part of my daily life as are Brazilian rituals. There comes a time after being in a foreign country for so long that the line between them becomes blurry. It is like both cultures are part of my identity now, who I am. But the feeling of missing and thinking about my native country is constant.
September 14, 2006
Are you joking?
Last week the Northern Iowan campus newspaper, published an article about International influences in America. The articles can be viewed here
http://fp.uni.edu/northia/archives3.asp?ID=4961
I became aware of the article when members of the Student Government came to International Services to know the office position (opinion) about the article. I think some students went to the newspaper to complain about it. After I carefully read the first 3 columns I thought he was just joking but when I started reading the rest I got confused because the author used strong vocabulary to describe his impression towards international people. The connotations and adjectives were kind of astonishing and I got lost with the author’s intention. It became hard to distinguish between a joke or if he was for real. It is just interesting how some Americans read the article thought he was for sure joking (satire) while some international students did not get the joke and at the end of the article did not know what to think.
Personally I thought it was a very badly written article. If his intentions were to make fun of people that really think this way, I think he should have written in a way that people could identify as a joke. He clearly did not distinguish very well in his piece the boundaries between reality and satire.
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August 28, 2006
Classes started this Monday
Classes started this Monday. At first I was a bit nervous and worried about the amount of homework that would be assigned for each class. I was right. After the first week my calendar was full of homework and assigned readings. Summer was short in the sense of fun, but long enough to forget German I took last semester. Unfortunately, I did not travel anywhere this summer but I had a good time and met new people.
Yesterday I went to a baby shower. One of my friends is pregnant and I went to see her. This was actually the 3rd baby shower I have been to since I got here. I never went to any baby showers when I was in Brazil. I think it was because we moved around a lot due to my father’s career or because my mother felt that it was ok for me to stay at home. It is really hard to compare, culture wise, since I have never been to one in my country. There are some things which were surprising. I thought that the pregnant woman would organize her own baby shower and have people in her house, but apparently her friends are the ones in charge of the baby shower and is never held in her own house. It is just interesting that the pregnant woman, even though she is not organizing the baby shower, knows everything thing that is going on. I really thought it would be more like a surprise deal.
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