Rotary Report October first quarter report from Brazil by Alex Pevzner
"Another day had in paradise "(German: another day in paradise), thanks to Rotary ...
early as the 20th August, I find myself here in the small town of Nova Friburgo "in the beautiful dream country, Brazil, the land in good mood, sambas, football and the infinite Summer, as some might assume erroneously, but also what has to be said, the land of the huge class differences.
For me every new day is here, as at the very beginning said, another day in paradise:
- On the way to school by a Palm Avenue in a beautiful old school building in which it, even when outside is very hot, always is refreshingly cool.
- At school with "new" Brazilian friends to read the time by one to entertain and sometimes even to listen and learn to spend J.
- After school in the 200 meters from the school house to an already prepared lunch, and then the whole day free time that I can fill with my favorite thing!
For me, as probably for most of the other exchange students who are with Rotary in Brazil or any other country in the world, an absolute dream! Even here at this point should I go for this unique opportunity to thank that I, as I would expect, several times while making my reports will be ...
After some problems with my visa, by the great use of several people, I sure scary am grateful, have been solved, were already the last day in Germany, which led the pack the last things and a lot of parting with it. The most difficult I Fiehl probably the last weekend before my flight because of this I spent a large meeting with all my friends, where I had to finally realize fully that I will not see me all these important people the next year. When they parted company here was then already cried and sobbed a little, which helped me but I'm completely on what was waiting for me to concentrate and the final farewell at the Frankfurt airport to stop crying. To be honest, I'm in the airport not only do not cry, but I was even exaggerated cheerful. Now when I think about it in retrospect, I realize that it's probably not that just easier for me was to take leave, but the special for my parents, crying for me the latter is sometimes seen as part of a year of separation is not necessarily encouraging.
When I made the last step in the boarding area, so that my family disappeared completely from view, I spuehrte suddenly a big chunk in my throat. I felt all alone and now verspuehrte loszuweinen abruptly after my "incredibly good mood," the wish. Fortunately was just in that moment, another girl, Johanna, who had also just been adopted by her family who would carry a red face and horrible weeping in the room and I concentrated on myself to comfort her, whatever I am comforted himself somehow.
After a fairly quiet flight, which most of us inbounds with sleep and spent Portuguese first attempts to speak with Brazilian neighbors came, even the morning with the first panoramic pictures from the windows of the aircraft. Before or rather us stretched a beautiful landscape that was beautiful from a variety of sizes and smaller mountains. Our series was a light Aufsaeufzen of "ohs" and "ahs" because that was zumnidest, for me, not quite what I expected to see: Nature, as we know them only from books and documentaries, was suddenly within reach close. But neither the jungle or the sea were in the entire visible Landstueck us to see.
In the early morning hours, around five Clock, landed we finally got in Sao Paolo after we feel from the windows of the immense city, at least roughly, for after a certain point, the edges of the city out of sight and you verspuehrte the feeling in a city to be landed without limits. There, I solved my first problem already independent practice in the foreign country or that would pose for next year, my homeland. The problem was that we were told just before we landed incidentally ensure that all passengers get to Rio de Janeiro in the fifty minutes that we stayed until the start of the next plane, their luggage and once again go through the check-in. Since this is virtually impossible in such a short time, I began in my head figure out what I should do first and how I would connect with my host family, which should pick me up at the airport in Rio, in contact. Luckily, I stated a nice floor employee who contact us directly awaited at the output from our aircraft, Portuguese and using hand signals that there is no reason to get excited and that my luggage is passed naturally to Rio without me by another check-in needs. Still slightly nervous, I sat in my plane after I had previously passed in haste by the other inbounds, and began to calm read. As the last passengers a German couple walked around the age of 50 years, the plane and sat down on the free seats next to me. After about ten minutes flying then I thought it no longer and asked where exactly in Germany and where they are because go. It turned out that their own children had also been all a-year exchange and that too at your home in Hamburg has several exchange students for a longer time, you had at home. For this particular trip we had Surprisingly, the same goal: the 180,000-inhabitant city of Nova Friburgo, "which is about 160 km from Rio de Janeiro in a valley surrounded by mountains. We spent the entire rest of the flight in the conversation about issues like the good and bad sides of a year exchange, the country of Brazil, and more.
When we finally at the airport Rio de Janeiro to the dock-landing, the tingling, increased in my stomach and did not want me too, until the moment in which my my "Aufnahmekommitee" in the arms closed, abandoned. Up until this very last moment were my neighbors and I are in Hamburg, which has helped myself pretty, because through them I had the feeling not alone to be on the road in an emergency can count on to help. I even have a sense the feeling that these two people already have a kind of first host parents were for me.
And then it was time, only a door and I would see my on me waiting, new host family with whom my only contact was earlier, the e-mail contact, and whose faces I had never seen before. However, this is not a major problem, since I came out as the only all passengers in a yellow Rotary Polo Shirt of the district in 1820 and had my host family for a few photos of me in my application-seen form, they also knew after whom they keep lookout. After only a few seconds, a man and two boys were aged about 17 or 18 years up to me and the man was beginning to be called on German welcome. The little thing that my host father speaks German had my Gastbrueder that it was that I had not written from Germany, to mention just forget. After all three had briefly introduced himself to me and I realized that I have from my new German-speaking host father, the older of my Gastbrueder Cristiano and a former German inbound from Bad Vilbel, named Felix Schwantje that was just for his summer holidays with his former host families to visit, was picked up, we went even to the car around in the direction of my "new home "to break. On the way I was ever a few sights, like the Jesus statue, the "Sugar Loaf" mountain, behind which the world famous beaches of Rio's "Copacabana" and "Ipanema" are, and not least the less beautiful at the airport early, "Favellas" and showed a lot about the history of the country Brazil, the state, "Rio de Janeiro and the city of Nova Friburgo told. In between every few sentences were Needless to questions about Germany, my family and myself pushed. When I finally pretty much about the history, climate, etc. Ekonomie had heard Felix began, all of his exchange year had already behind him, on me about my school, the Rotary Club and all that I expected it from his view to tell. Thus it was that the 1.5 hours vorueberging trip in seconds and we got to our apartment in the center Friburgos. My host mother received me as it is for a true Brazilian mother belongs with warm hugs and kisses on the cheeks and soon learned to I also host my younger brother Eriko, who because of the school was not at home, know.
mitlerweile I understand that for me, my family is the ideal example for a family that receives an exchange student, even if the ITS COMMENTS circumstances can not possibly appear Sun Although my host parents are separated from each other and I only with my youngest host brother Eriko and my host mother, Carmen live (my host sister already studied and is therefore living in Rio de Janeiro and my middle host brother has since 6:10 in the small town Halver in NRW-Germany), this family had already this first hug on my first day for me totally taken over the role of Famlilie here in this country. Of course, my relationship with my family in Germany a very different, as the to my local family, but that they are the ones who help me with my little "hiccups", for me at any time, despite their intensive everyday here and I like a full-fledged family member treated.
The family itself consists of the parents, who despite her divorce, an absolutely joyous community ROYAL relationship to each other and the three mentioned above, children. The oldest daughter, Caroline, is 19 years old. She was in 2001/2002 for one year in Denmark with Rotary and has started just after her return with her Ekonomiestudium in Rio, which is why they also there with his grandparents lived, and only once in two to three weeks, comes to visit to Nova Friburgo. Since she has already made itself experience of such an exchange she knows how I feel in some situations and is always willing to assist me with advice and, as far as possible. The middle son, Cristiano is 17 years old and the most active of the family. There is probably no single sport that you could not call his hobby. Fortunately we have here for about two weeks after my arrival, and before his departure made, so I had the opportunity to know another weird and nice to live joyful family member. The youngest, Eriko, is 16 years old and the only one of my host sisters, who during my entire exchange year will be here, and he will even leave next August for a year after Sweden. He is probably the quieter of the family, who prefers to meet up with friends at home and play computer games, but he, when you need him and asks him for something is always immediately ready for everything and let the what he was asked to do. My host mother is a trained Rechtsanwaeltin, but is currently only available as a swimming teacher doing business, which actually more her hobby, as is their job. Your entire rest of the time it spends to learn for tests, which would give her approval to work as a judge. It stands at four clock in the morning and goes to sleep about ten or eleven clock in the evening. The time between them they spent entirely with learning and in between work. I'm really sorry for you sometimes and I would like to somehow help her or at least make it a pleasure, but because we have a maid is not so easy. If I was in Germany, for example in such a case, the apartment tidy and a nice meal with perhaps a cake or something, these kinds of dessert would, so I have to think of something else can be, since both the whole flat always cleaned up, and the food always be prepared (at least a cake must of course also available for all in the kitchen, because you could even feel like verspuehren for something sweet). Of course, I've prepared a couple of German desserts Which, my family has enjoyed, but this is not such a great pleasure, as I would like to prepare them, I am incredibly grateful to them for everything.
My host father Arno seems to me to judge his temperament, more German than Brazilian, for he is very quiet and much more distance, as Brazilians usually are. This is probably because my host parents were both descended from German and Swiss immigrants. The grandfather of my host father came with his family in the 1830s with a further 400 Germans on a ship to Brazil, where an end to the green city of Petropolis, which is about 80 km away from Friburgo. This city, Petropolis, was later a summer Seat of government of the second Brazilian Emperor Pedro II, the great grandfather of my host father was later one of the few personal photographer of the imperial family. Today one can buy books with pictures of the imperial family to read to those in the corner is the name Otto Hees. His son brought out in the years from about 1895 to 1925 in a German newspaper Petropolis. From this newspaper my host father has some books in which all newspaper editions a year are collected. A few weeks ago he had lent me this so I could get a picture of the former "German" Brazilian newspaper. It was in itself very interesting and amusing in a real newspaper ads to: Wanted: Martin Schmidt, born 1863 in Hamburg / Germany, allegedly since November 1903 in Belo Horizonte. "Read, are printed multiple times in almost every issue.
My host father himself is the owner of a pig farm, which means that his job consists in the operation of the pig to conduct, for he has several employees who work there for him. Moreover, it is up to him the business part of the job to settle, so to find buyers to negotiate with them, good prices, etc. From this part of his life, but I get pretty much with nothing, because this farm is located on one, not known to me, place outside the city, where my host father spends only a small part of his time. He lives on the edge of own a farm located on a hill surrounded by wild forest. There, in about ten minutes drive from the city center, is a huge house that was built by the family itself some time ago. In this house before the divorce, all family members lived together, now my host father Arno lives there all alone. This villa is surrounded by a giant soccer field on land, large Grillhuette, countless fruit trees, wild birds and other wild animals that come from time to time from the forest.
We want to say my host mother, Eriko and I live in a fairly large two apartments in the very center, where I made my own room, the room was earlier Cristianos, for order was. Our house is located in the same street with my school, what it allows me to sleep a little longer in the morning and only five minutes before class, so at 7:25 to leave the house. Also, the central square, which is surrounded by shops of every kind, is located about five minutes from our front door, which allows us to-follow the entire event in the city out the window.
in January move I expected my family what I ever honestly do not wish to, because here in this family, I am well and here I want to spend really well all year, and it is of course also interesting to see how other families live, so you can compare multiple experiences. Either way I will stay with this family during my entire year here and I will try to contact them but still some way to show my gratitude.
What I must change during my entire year here, not the school I visit. The name of my school is "Anchieta". It is the largest of three known private schools in our city and has about 2000 students who are looked after from first to last, eleventh grade. The school building is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city and the Schulgelaende is impressive. On this plot there is a large Wildwaldstueck, where many hours are spent in biology, as you will by taken the course material can directly explain the basis of nature. Furthermore, five are sports fields, and a sports hall, an outdoor café and a neighborhood school's library there. All this is freely available to the students.
The building itself is very old and therefore has very high ceilings. Like the building, the equipment in the classrooms is quite outdated. If you imagine a picture of a classroom of about 1900 so it is almost exactly a classroom in our school have in mind. Each student sits at a single table, which is attached directly to a bank. In one class are located in about 30 to 40 students, told those at a university lecture as a teacher something on the board. Again as in the University There are no oral notes, but only the scoring in the written examination mark. For this reason, it is not a bit unusual for one or the other day just do not go to school and learn at home. However, one is in school, so it's like in a prison, because you can not leave the school building before classes end, except when it dismissed by the parents on the phone. At exactly 7:30 all doors are closed. On each door is a guard who is paying attention, that no unauthorized enters or leaves the school. Entering the school is so regulated that one first, if you come late, only after the end of the hour is pure and secondly, after the second hour of the last opportunity to enter the school. Who else comes later the same can at home are bleiben.Innerhalb the school, five coordinators, whose job is it to mediate between the teachers and students. However, they also come with responsibility to make sure no one skipped the class or offend in any other way against the rules.
Classes are held six times a week from 7:30 bis 12:50 clock. I go every day to school, but I write with the work yet, because I partly the subject matter and some do not have enough command of the language. However, I will after the holidays, so in February of next year, complete all work try taking notes. I am currently in
the second to last class, ie, as they say here, in the second year, which is composed of three classes. My class is counted as the more powerful and in my opinion is the nicest of all. I was both of the students, as well as the teachers received incredibly well and with great interest. Everyone wanted to talk to me or say hello to me at least. Very quickly I found friends with whom I am also a bit after class. Mainly have to do this in any way to exchange, whether it rebounds, the other inbound, outbound or classmates who have not made with Rotary, but in a different way exchanges are. Of course, I've also just Brazilian friends, but actually it does not matter what they all have made or will make, the main thing is that I've made friends with them now and we have fun together. With regard to the teaching subjects and the quality of teaching I can only say that the system is a completely different and you can compare it is not easy with the German. For example, here taken by mathematics in the penultimate year of the Matrix, combinatorics, etc., from which one begins to speak in Germany only in the university. On the other hand, music, sports and art is only in the younger classes, foreign language learning through continuous, but taught at a very low level. It seems to me personally, the German system of extensive and in general also be better, however, corresponds to the claim that the school system in Brazil anyway incredibly bad and you do not learn anything absolutely true.
After classes are more job opportunities for the students in the school exists. Apart from a computer lab with 30 computers with Internet access, which the students free of charge from Monday to Friday between 17:00 clock are available, there are known technical courses that meet the AGs in the German schools. Each school has such as a school team in almost every sport, to which the schools are always very proud and give each school a special cohesion. There are also signs, Theater, guitar, and also Ekonomiekurse. Certainly I have now left out many things, but the courses I mentioned are the most visited in the school.
After class, my employments mitlerweile already to some extent become part of everyday life for me. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I go to a one-hour training for Maedchenfussballmannschaft, Tuesdays and Thursdays I have guitar lessons, voice lessons. I wanted my hobbies also exercise further here, so I started with all these activities, but because I have made many new friends. It is clear to me that with each new thing I'm doing here, I meet other nice and interesting people and that I therefore try my time here should be designed as active as possible. A new employment is the fitness center, in which I go about three times a week. Fitness training is a kind of fashion in Brazil. At least four out of five people on the street regularly go into any gym to train. The fact that this employment is so popular, you meet many friends and acquaintances while training, which makes the exercises more of a anstraengenden Nebenbeschaeftigung at parties.
All these things come naturally admissions, celebrations with friends and the simple things, like reading, watching TV and listening to music, so all that you do something in between meals at home. Since I've also made more useful in some way to be me bring some of my friends for free at various things, such as speaking German and Russian, playing guitar and cook German dishes and Ukrainian. Regardless of the employment, I try to make the best of it and to have fun.
Monday night is yet another employment to those listed above do, namely, the Rotary meeting of my local Rotary Clubs "Caledonia", which is one of three in Nova Friburgo. The weekly meetings are held every Monday at 19:30 clock. Both I and the other exchange students from my club about every other week to go there. My counselor, Eduardo Sancho, is also the Youth Service Officer of the club and the Vice-Chairman our district 4750th Since I was when I arrived here, just a few phrases in Portuguese could say I was offered the same for me to present my first Rotary meeting here, which was five days after my Anfunft, very short and concise. Although very little I could say in Portuguese, it seemed to me both correctly a few sentences to say about me and me then ever thanks to short in my Rotary Club. I have the feeling that just talking to even the attempt from the start in the national language of the Rotarians was considered positive.
My relationship to the Rotarians in our club is very good. Both at the meetings, as well as a chance encounter on the street is welcomed, as almost always in Brazil, with two kisses on the cheek before and since the meetings usually ten to fifteen minutes after the program I'm talking more with one or the other Rotarians. This is partly to hear conversations as if we were already good friends for years, but this is again not unique in Brazil. I try for these conversations so remember to always talk the issues of individual Rotarians, perhaps again to be able to ask one or the other ineressante thing. Even with the allowance and payment is the Inboundtreffen of the district there are no problems, because my counselor personally takes care about us and our pocket money, for example, is always induced flow from him right at the beginning of the month. From
the other two clubs I was until now only in the city bearing the name of the RC "Nova Friburgo", whose president, Marcia, the wife of my counselors is Eduardo. This meeting was two weeks ago and the main talk of the evening was the Retrospect and the evaluation of last year by the rebound Cassio Spinelli, the first end of July, has returned from his exchange in Norway. What for me was very surprising was that at the meeting were devoted to the first 40 minutes before eating completely different issues that have been put forward by various Rotarians almost in each case about five minutes. After the meal, followed by a further 10 minutes oral presentation of the Rotarians and only then was that word Cassio, the actual "star" of the evening given. For this lecture were all provided beneficial in all but 10-15 minutes and include time for questions. Me and him this time seemed much too short to about all the experiences of a year full of impressions in a foreign country to report. This time, I personally would probably extend this to sum up what I want to Rotary in general, the sending and receiving the club and thanks not least many individual Rotarians and needs. The same presentation time, ie in about 15 minutes, is expected of us in our inbounds lecture about our country of origin. Again, it seems to me not right and even almost impossible any significant information about a country like Germany, whose history very extensive and must stand back in any case in so little time to present well and truthfully. I will one way or the best attempt to make it.
The new language, and my recent travels would like on my host father quote, who said to me shortly after my arrival that the first half year is there to learn the language well and the second, to travel and see the country . I agree with him this respect not quite, because it seems to me that a healthy mix of learning and travel related needs. You can not just say the entire first half of the exchange year is to learn the language and the entire second to travel.
The new language, Portuguese So in my case, clearly the key to the people and their culture. As long as this language does not control enough, you can enjoy not living in the land exchange to the fullest. Without the option to communicate in the language you always have a distance to the inhabitants of the country and has therefore more difficult to find new friends and solve problems of any kind to local self-employment or occur in the first place can be. Also on the travel, it is necessary ability to come to an agreement, but you also learn some new things on a trip, you need not at home and therefore not learn. It is for these reasons I have tried with the help of a Portuguese textbook, the new language still in Germany, even if only a bit, learn. Since I had previously with German, Russian, English and French speaking four languages Fiehl and I find the learning of a new, fifth language may not be as hard as maybe some other. For me and share the vocabulary of two types of words: those who in one of the languages I know are just as, or at least similar and those that are completely different from everything I know. This is the number of words from me zulernenden reduced naturally powerful. The grammar that you need for simple speech and writing is, in my opinion not that hard to learn. When I arrived here two months ago in Brazil I could already do reasonably understandable and even more or less understand what I was told in Portuguese. After about two weeks when my biggest problem was that everybody wanted to talk exclusively with me in English and I had to ask more and more time about me slowly, but speaking in Portuguese, I asked my host brother Eriko me a book, which I read about in a language known to me may have to give in Portuguese. As a result of this request I received from him the book "The Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien, which is one of my Lieblingbuecher and which I had therefore already read several times in English and Russian (the German translation seems less successful). Thanks to this book, I had the next three weeks eine sinnvolle Beschaeftigung waehrend des Unterrichts in der Schule, denn einfach nur stundenlang zuhoeren und versuchen etwas zu verstehen ist nach einer gewissen Zeit sehr schwer.
Auch wenn fuer mich dank der regelmaessigen recht einseitigen Schulbesuche und meiner vielen Hobbies bereits eine Art Alltag, der natuerlich immernoch von Neuem ausgeschmueckt wird, eingetroffen ist, war und ist fuer mich praktisch jedes Wochenende bis jetzt ein besonderes Erlebniss, denn meine Familie unternimmt, trotz des Stresses meiner Gastmutter, sehr viel mit mir und hat mich unter anderem schon zwei mal nach Rio, einmal in die oben erwehnte Kaiserstadt Petropolis und an viele andere Orte mitgenommen, von denen jedes einzelne mal eine detailierte Beschreibung wert waere. Da ich but so many other impressions of my time was here that I necessarily would like to report that I, like many other pick for my report in Germany about my year in Brazil. I hope that I will more than fifteen minutes will be available to them can make my life experiences as possible.
Again many thanks for this unique opportunity, which allowed me to experience this wonderful country closer to its population, language and culture.
have until the next report, your
Alex Pevzner
