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MyUNI Student Diaries
MyUNI Student Diaries

Cultural Encounters:
From the Sand to the Snow



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.


I have been in the USA for almost 4 years and what I at first thought was strange became part of my daily life and with time I just embraced the culture as my own. It is even hard to think about the things that I thought were strange but seeing my father looking at things and making remarks about the differences in culture, makes me remember how it was when I got here.

 
Two weekends ago my host family took my father to visit the Amish. It was a very interesting experience. I thought he would be amazed to see the Amish but he was not, he was fascinated by the snow removal truck more than anything else. That day was the first day we had snow in a long time and he really liked it.

 
Having him around is like having an exchange student because he thinks everything is strange here but for me is like “home”.


 
Claudia's MyUNI
Claudia's Photo
From Brazil to Iowa

Claudia is a senior majoring in both Public Relations and Economics. Two of her sisters have joined her at UNI. Claudia works in the International Services Office, and also was an active officer in International Student Association and intramural sports. She loves horseback riding, table tennis and cheering for the Panthers.



Recent Posts:


August 21, 2007

"So long farewell, I have to say goodbye..."


June 21, 2007

The Paradise


June 13, 2007

Indian Culture


April 18, 2007

Turkey


March 22, 2007

Slovenia


March 7, 2007

Carnival in Venice


February 13, 2007

Egypt, why not?


February 8, 2007

My trip to Austria


January 26, 2007

My Father's Arrival


January 11, 2007

Winter Break


December 14, 2006

Being tested


November 28, 2006

Thanksgiving Day


November 14, 2006

My Weekend


October 31, 2006

Trip arrangements


October 12, 2006

Mid-terms


October 3, 2006

My trip to Brazil


September 14, 2006

Are you joking?


August 28, 2006

Classes started this Monday


August 17, 2006

Little Moments


August 14, 2006

International Services Office


August 2, 2006

Now or Never?


July 18, 2006

Table Tennis Competition


July 9, 2006

Saying Goodbye


July 6, 2006

Holiday!


June 28, 2006

Sturgis Falls Celebration


June 22, 2006

Differences between American and Brazilian Culture


June 11, 2006

Culture Shock


June 4, 2006

Ready for Monday


May 30, 2006

My 1st day in the Orientation Staff


May 26, 2006

A little bit about myself





The students postings are representative of their views on life at UNI, and are not necessarily the views of UNI.