It starts with a huge cultural shock. Weather, people and culture change. Everything is different and strange because, as Caetano Veloso (a Brazilian singer and composer) says, "Narciso thinks everything is ugly except what is in the mirror ". However, once the Afoxé rhythm started playing, people could get a sense of Brazil. This culture interaction happened last Tuesday at the Welcome Reception at USP for Students from Abroad. It was sponsored by the International Cooperation Committee (CCInt), in the auditorium of the School of Economics, Administration and Accounting (FEA), USP.

Only this year, 152 new students from all over the world entered the University for a period of studies ranging from short term exchange programs (six months to a year) to entire courses.

The novelty of the country could be felt in the sometimes attentive, sometimes impressed looks of students. Small things that with time shall be incorporated as a part of Brazil are particularly interesting. With a strong accent, Ronan Govesin, from France, who has participated in an exchange program for two months as an Agronomy student at the “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture (Esalq), quickly points out the best of the country: "The best thing in Brazil is forró (a traditional Brazilian rhythm). There isn't any other dance similar to it. Forró is great!" But he also notices great disparities: "My view of Brazil has changed a lot, and is much better than the view I had before, in France. However, I have noticed that there is a lot of difference between the North and the South, of which I was not aware".

Each opinion is constructed by a subtle individual perception of each participant during the time they have been in contact with Brazil. Manuel Bolsinger, a German student in Brazil for the third time, attending Statistics classes at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics (IME) for seven months -, is bothered by the Brazilian lack of punctuality: "people here are very late. If you have an appointment in Germany, you are on time. Here in Brazil it’s not like that". On the other hand, Bolsinger doesn't hide his preference for the local food: "What I like most in Brazil are the ‘churrascarias’ (barbecue restaurants)". Other students find order in chaos. Diana Romero, from Colombia, recently arrived to study Administration at FEA and says: "What I found interesting here is that the city is much more organized than Bogotá, with more respect for rules".

Brazil isn't only the country of Carnival and “caipirinha” (a traditional Brazilian drink) for guests from abroad. Some students had different views of the country before coming: "in France they say Brazil is the country of inequality. I wanted to know how it was, and if what they said was true", says the French student Virginie Persohn, who has been studying Agronomy for two months at Esalq. For Fatuma Catherine Atieno Odongo, from Kenya, and in the third year of medicine at the School of Medicine (FM), this impression has been confirmed: "I don't like the way people see poverty here in Brazil. Most people ignore the disparity between the rich and the poor. In Kenya, for example, there are the middle and the lower classes, but there isn't as much disparity. It is much smaller than here".

While some are surprised by disparity, others are impressed by the cultural diversity in Brazil. Saori Osaki, from Japan, is spending 7 months in Brazil studying Brazilian Literature at the School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences (FFLCH): "It is very strange, because no one notices that I am a foreigner. The problem is learning Portuguese". The proximity with different cultures is recurrent in many nationalities: "People in Brazil look like those from Southern Italy. It isn't very different from my culture. I have found many people with Italian origin here. The Brazilian culture is very mixed", says the Italian Chiara Migliardi, who has recently arrived for graduate studies in Electrical and Production Engineering at the Engineering School (Poli). If there is proximity in culture, there isn't in transportation. Chiara jokes that she got shocked by the city buses. "It is very difficult to get on a bus. They are always full and take long time to arrive. It is a bit different from Italy".

The foreigner's eyes also confirm problems that we face everyday: "I don't like the violence here in Brazil. My country isn't violent this way", says Mirian da Silva Lopes, from Guiana, in the second year of the Ribeirao Preto Nursing School (EERP), with her classmates Eulália Delassalentho Martins Miguel and Ana Yara Assis Gaspar, from Angola. Helena Tavares, from Cape Verde, is in the third year of the Ribeirao Preto School of Dentistry (FORP) and says it is not only the violence that’s bad: "Another thing I don't like much are the parties. There are too many parties!", she jokes.

Objectives

Many students come to Brazil to get to know the country. Others want to experience the eccentricity expected from the Brazilian people, and others aren't very sure why they came. Claire Marsauche from France has been in Brazil for 8 months, attending Social Sciences courses at FFLCH. She came to be with her boyfriend, who was already attending an exchange program in the country: "My boyfriend was here in an exchange program and I also wanted to travel to a foreign country, so, why not Brazil?"

Others come with the same dreams that, almost a century ago, brought immigrants here: "There is something about to happen in Brazil in the next years. All around the world people talk about Brazil and China. They say Brazil will soon be among the three first economies in the world", is what Antoine Bagur expects. He has been studying Production Engineering at Poli for six months. Bagur also says that another aim in his exchange program was to become more familiar with Brazilian music, which he had already listened to in France.

Diversity and homesickness

With the experience of someone who arrived in Brazil in 1936 to work in the fields of Sao Paulo, professor Kokei Uehara, from the Engineering School, talked about his impression of the country, defining himself as "a Brazilian born in Japan". It was during his welcome speech that he emphasized the diversity of the Brazilian people: "There are few countries where, in each family, there are black, white, yellow, blue, red and green people. All colors, all races. In Brazilian families there are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist and Candomblé religions. It is a country where racial or religious wars will never happen. This is the spirit of this country. Once you arrive in Brazil, it doesn't matter where you came from. You are a human being, and, thus, you are welcome", ends the teacher.

As expected, at the same time that everything is new and curious, the distance from our roots brings many memories, as the president of the CCInt, Adnei Melges de Andrade, emphasized: "It is an honor for USP to host you. You have come thousands of kilometers to be away from your families and share months or years with us. I always think of the price that is paid. It is a good experience to spend some time away from home, getting to know new cultures, but the price is always high, it’s the price of homesickness".