#exchange student

So since I failed at posting during my study abroad I am going to attempt to sum everything up here. I hope this might be helpful for people who want to study abroad in Brazil in the future.

Disclaimer: This is written based on my personal experience which is of course affected by who I am (20-year-old, female, Austrian, introverted, straight, white,…) and the people I happened to meet and a million other small factors.

If you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to inbox me or send me a message.

Rio de Janeiro

I spent my exchange semester in Brazil or more precisely in Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro is without a doubt a city unlike any other (I have ever seen at least). My favourite thing about Rio is its diversity in both its population and the landscape. Rio really has it all amazing beaches, lush-greenness and a buzzing city. The city itself was probably my favorite thing about my exchange. I remember the first day I arrived and drove through the city to get to my apartment. I was fascinated by how the rich and the poor lived so close to each other and how there were 15 story buildings right in front of green hills and corporate office next to a beach.

Culture and People

The culture is completely different from anything I have ever experienced before. People in Brazil are so friendly it is shocking. Everyone seems to be open to have a chat and help you out. The one downside I found to this (as an introvert) while everyone is open to having a chat it can be hard to find real, solid friends. People tend to talk about hanging out or doing something but as you are talking about it both of you already know that it will never happen. So while in general, I cannot complain about people since they are very friendly to foreigners I have not made any real friends.

Language

However, not making friends might also have something to do with the fact that my Portuguese wasn’t really good enough to speak much when I arrived here and most people don’t really speak English. While it has improved greatly (especially my understanding of native speakers) I am still missing the practice to come up with words quickly enough to have a fluent conversation. Also, slang is still an issue while I have learned some of it there seems to be an endless amount of slang terms that I will probably never know (the fact that Brazilian Portuguese slang changes quickly and varies by region isn’t helping either):

Food

I have a love-hate relationship with Brazilian food. There’s some food I really enjoy but then there is even more food that I don’t particularly like. The food that I did enjoy seemed to get too monotonous quickly. In general Brazilian cuisine tends to be very much meat-based (being a vegetarian is still somewhat rare here) with carbs also playing a big role. As someone who prefers to eat a bit more plant-based and lighter it was a bit difficult to imagine eating a typical Brazilian diet every day. But of course, this wasn’t really an issue I just bought my vegetables in the supermarket and prepared them the same way I would have at home. But I did miss typical dishes from home and also Maki with avocado or cucumber (for some reason they only have sushi with actual fish here).

Money

Brazil is not as cheap as some other Latin American countries, especially Rio is quite expensive. I would say on average the living expenses here are as much as in other European cities (not London or Paris). The prices for food are pretty moderate with imported goods, of course, being more expensive. The metro is cheap compared to European standards and while it does cover much less area than the underground systems in most other major cities it really does take you pretty much everywhere that you’ll need to go. Uber is also surprisingly cheap. If you can split the ride it might just end up being cheaper than the metro ticket. My monthly living expenses without trips and rent were around: €500.

Housing

The rent prices vary greatly depending on the area you live in, however, in general, the standard of living is lower so even if you pay €500 a month the apartment might have all the necessities but often just doesn’t look as pretty (not an issue just something to keep in mind). I personally chose to live in an apartment in Ipanema which I shared with another girl from my university we paid about €500/month each. When choosing an area to live in you should keep in mind that there are areas that are not so safe. Personally, we booked our apartment on Airbnb but many people find theirs on facebook or upon arrival.

Trips

I managed to go on quite a few trips but getting around Brazil can quickly get complicated and expensive since it is such a huge country. If you have a place you already know you would like to visit I recommend booking the airplane ticket as early as possible the closer you get to the date the more expensive they tend to get. The cheapest airplane ticket I managed to get was about €70 (one hour flight, no checked bags). There are buses almost everywhere and they can be significantly cheaper however it is debatable whether you would rather pay €60 and drive for 14 hours or pay €150 - 200 and fly for 2 to 3 hours. For shorther distances buses are of course completely fine and you can book most of them online or buy a ticket directly at the central bus station.

Personally, I visited:

Paraty
Salvador
Belo Horizonte
Ouro Preto
Buzios
Blumenau
Curitiba
Porto Alegre
São Paulo
Petropolis

Education system

Like in many countries getting a good education in Brazil means getting a private education. Since my university had a contract with a private university that’s the kind of educational environment I experienced. Personally, education is a topic I feel quite passionate about or more specifically I feel quite passionate about the belief that education should be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible (I am not going to go in-depth here about why..). The Brazilian education system is built in a way that greatly advantages people who are more well off than the average Brazilian. I personally was not a fan of my university since I felt the entire thing was just this bubble that didn’t in any way mirror the Rio that I experienced outside of university. 

Society

I touched upon this briefly in the previous section. One of the most interesting dynamics about Brazil is the society. There seems to be this strange dichotomy were Brazilians are proud of the diversity of their population yet there is some kind of deeply ingrained, probably to a large degree unconscious (like in many countries), racism going on. People who are noticeably darker in complexion are mostly still part of the poorest of the population while the richest look astonishingly European and nothing is done to change this. Brazilians are proud of their diversity yet the order of their society still reflects one of the colonial times. (I am in no way saying that every Brazilian supports the way things are. This is more a reflection of the politics going on in the country which are unfortunately corrupt to a large degree so we cannot exactly consolidate the current societal state with the actual opinion of people)

Touristy things + Leisure time

Now for a lighter topic. There is plenty to see in Rio and when I say plenty I mean a lot as in I didn’t even manage to see everything that I wanted to see. I plan to make a more comprehensive post on places to see in Rio (well-known ones and some not so well known). Leisure time is to a large degree spent outdoors on the beach, hiking, or at parties. One disadvantage of Rio is that it is a quite outdoorsy city so when it rains there aren’t many options for entertainment.

Party and dating culture

Parties here are a lot more spontaneous often happening on the street in front of university buildings. They are also a bit wilder it is quite common for one person to make out with several different people a night and it is almost unheard of that someone doesn’t drink alcohol. Dating culture from what I experienced (which is admittedly somewhat limited) is very relaxed. Casual relationships are extremely common and break-ups are usually quite pragmatic. At the same time, the macho culture is still a bit more prevalent than in many European countries. As someone who is introverted and doesn’t really enjoy casual relationships or just dating for the sake of dating it wasn’t my thing but each to their own.

Conclusion

Would I want to live here forever? No. Did I really like the experience? Yes. Brazil is what I like to refer to as an “extrovert country”. So as an introvert it can be quite exhausting to navigate the social life here even more so than in european countries since people here are very talkative and open. However, this was a thing I was prepared for and since it was a dream of mine to got to Brazil one day despite that I can’t say that I didn’t have a great time and that it wasn’t worth it. I definitely see myself coming back to see more of the country. I simply personally enjoy the openness for a short period of time but it would probably be too much for me to live like this for the rest of my life. I am also quite thankful to have been born in a european country with free education, pretty good public health care, less corruption and overall more stability. Still I would not ever tell anyone NOT to go to Brazil, or Rio especially. I like to think of Rio as the bad boy of cities. It might be a little dangerous or more uncomfortable than others but it’s just so pretty, fascinating and mysterious you can’t help but fall in love. 

If you get along super well with your hostfamily, consider yourself blessed. If not, that’s where the deep problems start. I gathered this from others/personal experience. It can be this way, but it doesn’t have to. Really depends on hostfamily.
At the beginning, you have the guest status. Your hostfamily (let’s focus on the hostmother) is polite to you and accepts that you need time to adapt. It is when you leave that status that it hits you like a punch in the stomach. You are starting to being criticized for everything that you do. How you eat, speak and stand. Selfdoubt begins and puts everything in question you did over the past months. Your hear things like “You do this always wrong”. When she stops sugarcoating her words. You are shocked because it’s the first time you hear this. Now tell me: What happens if your whole personality is the reason? What happens if you’re being told you need to change to make this work?
How can an introvert become an extrovert and vice versa?
I don’t happen to know the answers but I hope to find them along the way.

Please don’t forget to say Itadakimasu before and Gochisosama deshita after meals. And yes this includes breakfast. It’s better to say it one time more than not at at all.

First of all, I didn’t hit anything in Kyudo. 0. Luckily, it was just a training tournament. I’m just gonna do it better next time.

But what really gave me the rest: A “friend" just wrote me she can’t go with me with the bike to school for a while (?!) because her’s is broken. Sorry but I don’t believe this bullshit. I’m sure I’ll even see her with her bike this week. I would be way more grateful if she just told me that she didn’t want to, instead of this bullcrap. Saw it coming. Well. Shit happens

It’s an Amusant Park and a Waterpark. We (the exchange students,some parents, returnees and other YFU people) didn’t go to the waterpark, though. I wish we had because it’s so hot here -.- Well, it was raining, so it wasn’t too bad.

Here’s our ticket:

I don’t know why ‘Peter Rabbit’ stands there. I didn’t really notice any kinds of these theme in the park.

It was raining and so we didn’t get to ride as much as we wanted to :/

The best was probably the water splash ride, after this, you were literally soaked with water. There were raincoats sold, though.

Still wet :D  awkward face

It was really fun with all the exchange students there, and if some of you guys read this, feel free to message me^^

PS: Nagashima stands for long island, because it’s literally just an island. Other than that amusent park, there wasn’t much there.

The white roller coaster is (was?) the longest of Japan. We rode it, but my head really hurt after it  >.<

View from the Ferris wheel

Tommorrow. Things didn’t go well with my hostmother and last week wednesday, my hostfather told me I would change next week wednesday. Quite honestly, I wasn’t really shocked. I’ve called YFU a few weeks back to tell them things weren’t going great.

I’ll be changing to a YFU worker. Met her a few times. From what I’ve heard, she has a big family (her kid(s?) are living there too). I’m nervous, but in kind of a good way. I’m not the first exchange student she has hosted, so she will bring up more patience for my situation I think ^^’ Oh and it’s in Nagoya, which will be pretty cool. School will be the same, though. Have to go with train and bus, but thats fine^^

So anyway, don’t know how I will do it with the internet yet. Would you like me to queue some things? I did a lot of stuff over the summer I could post. ?

I’ve been extremely busy with the last months in Japan I didn’t have time to edit photos or write the blog! I’m leaving Japan tomorrow morning for Seoul and I will fly back to Finland on Monday… But do not worry! I will update the blog even though I’m back in Finland since there is still photos to be shown and stories to be told!

As for now I wanna go back home but at the same time I don’t… I’m going to miss some of the people here and expecially all the freetime activities!! ;A; I will write about my feelings later on too. Right now I’m at the airport waiting for my flight… I managed to pack even though it was pretty hard. OTL I’m gonna miss Japan…

So I came to Japan in august and since then I’ve lived in a dorm. It is the smallest and oldest of the dorms but I don’t know what is the exact number of people living here… Under 100? The first floor has rooms for men and the 2nd floor is for women. We both have our own toilets, shower rooms, laundry room and a kitchen. The lounge for everyone is on the 1st floor and computer room on the 2nd floor. I live with another girl in the same room but there is couple rooms that have only one person.

How is it to live in a dorm like this? Well I have to say that in a way it took some time to get used to it but then again I had set my brain that ‘this is the way I live now so live your life like you used to’. The hardest part has been getting used to not being alone. This year has been totally opposite to my last year in my Finnish student apartment when I was mostly alone and there were days I didn’t say anything outloud for a few days… except the cashier at a supermarket. But I like being alone, though maybe not that alone… Because of that it took some time to actually get used to having someone else almost all the time in the same room as you. The good thing is that I got perfect roommate for my first semester that we even spent the winter holiday together and we have been roommates in spring semester too. She is quiet just like me, likes kpop and Asian dramas, and we go to sleep around the same time! :D We get along well~ One of the best things is that she doesn’t snore when she sleeps!!! I can’t sleep when it’s noisy, no matter what the noise is so it was a miracle I got a perfect quiet roommate! haha The interesting thing about me living in the same room with another person everyday, is that I’m not that worried about my future when it comes to relationship. I’ve been worrying about when I’ll get a boyfriend and I should move in with him, can we really find something to talk and do everyday?! But I think I’ve found the answer and that is “yes”.

As for other people living in this dorm…… Not so positive image about them. There are some really nice people I chat sometimes when I’m in the kitchen but then there is the others that really annoy me! Most of the people left from the first semester so here’s now a lot of new people. Things that annoys me the most is that so many of them were/are ignorant people. They are loud, they can’t clean or they forget things were they don’t belong. It seems that they are too comfortable to be here and forgetting that it’s not actually their home where they can do anything. Last semester the dishes were a big problem. We had a lot of notes on the walls but it still seemed to be so hard to wash the dishes after you used them. Another thing was being loud in the hallway especially during quiet hours. I heard people talking in normal voice when you were supposed to be quiet and let me tell you, I can hear everything. Like I’ve seen some people skyping in the hallway and I’ve felt like going up to them: “you might not disturb your roommate but now not only will she hear, but everyone else what you’re talking about.”

Then there is the ignorance of not following the Japanese rules… Basically I mean recycling.

It takes you two seconds to take the labels off… Even after 4 months some still didn’t do this. >_> I’ve also seen whole bag of bread in burnable bin (only the bread belongs there, not the bag), full set of yogurt cups (the lid and label are burnable, cup is plastic and I guess yogurt belong to the drain…) The reason why I get so annoyed by these things is that I don’t want to be blamed. The Japanese culture works as a group so if someone makes a mistake the whole group will suffer. I’m not kidding when I say that the garbage men will call your boss that you did not recycle how you were supposed to… I also think that not recycling means that you don’t respect the culture as much as you should. We make mistakes because it’s not our culture but I think recycling is very easy compared to some Japanese social codes…

There is also a lot of other things that annoy me like the neighbour’s dog that barks non-stop when it starts barking. Pretty sure the owners never thaught it to be alone so it barks when it’s lonely… But why is the dog always barking outside!?!? And the neighbours were complayining about the noise some exchange students made at the park but what about the fucking dog that barks everyday many times, usually first at 10am for like 15 minutes… Also, this semester the neighbour room girl has a guy visiting almost everyday and I can hear him talk and it’s annoying. This bass mumbling… Not only that but one of the girls like to talk in the morning around 8 non stop! I guess she is skyping but doing that everyday!? AT 8 IN THE MORNING WHEN I TRY TO SLEEP!?!? So annoying…

Nice things? If you’re sociable you can make a lot of friends. As for me… I’m shy but I’ve still made friends. And it was nice especially at the beginning to find people who were in the same situation as you. That is a nice still even today when something weird happens and you find support and agreeing people around you. Also about the dorm itself. We don’t have a curfew, the main gate is locked at 10pm but we have key to the site gate. The rooms also have space and you can have your friend over until 10pm. We can change our sheets every 10 days and a cleaning lady cleans our toilet. So that is nice service. I still would choose this dorm option than homestay. I might rant a lot but it’s built up hate of 8 months… Most of the time I enjoy being here because of my room mate. Last thing is that even though I came here to study Japanese, it’s so much more natural to speak in English than it used to be.

Hanami time came to Kansai area and it was like that for couple weeks. It is still quite on! Too bad I have school until late and I’ve been having tests (I will have more again. OTL) so I haven’t been able to enjoy them as much as I would like. But I have taken photos at a few places, also from Tokyo! It has been raining but I’ve still tried to get the shots when I’ve had freetime!

I would’ve like to spend some real hanami, sakura viewing, but no time for that! Also, crowded place with drunken people, not really a place I like to be. haha We did have a small “picnic” with my friend at the Osaka Expo park though (since we had to eat)…

So I’ve decided only to take photos and appreaciate the beauty while walking past the trees. There is quite many trees all over the place so you don’t even need to go for a certain place to see them. Just walk a bit outside, especially if you find a river you should find cherry blossoms.

The trees are not the only place you can see sakura. I’ve seen sakura in different ads and foods. I think good example is McDonalds which this year too has some special sakura burgers and drinks!

The drink is called sakura cherry drink but in reality… it tastes like peach and cherry! I don’t understand why it’s only called “cherry” if it doesn’t only taste like that. Well good for me, actually I don’t like the taste of cherries… So I can’t really enjoy the seasonal food Japan has for sakura season. At least they are visually appealing!

I know I haven’t written here since June yadda yadda yadda. I know its been a while and I have been MIA. Check out my other blog here in the meantime. Get up to speed.

So I am still writing on this blog, but more of my personal stuff will go here.

Anyway

It’s been an absolute STRUGGLE since I got to Taiwan. Everything I’ve been doing has been a waiting process. From traveling to Taiwan and obtaining my visa in Hong Kong: but realizing that I had the wrong one and holding off my travel plans till now, it’s been rough.

My last trip was back in August when I went to Hong Kong then to Hualian and those trips were so much fun! And that is that fun ended (well not really).

I’ve been wanting to go somewhere out of the country since then, but with troubles with my visa and learning to be a responsible adult prevented me from doing anything else if otherwise. But if you think about it, I don’t necessarily have to have this particular visa to not travel anywhere, but just in case if l don’t leave the country as often as I should, I could get in much messier situations in the long run. (Read more of info about why under My Story)

So when I got back in August, I didn’t find out till September that I had to change my visa. So I waited till October and that’s when I visited the hospital for my health check. Waited one and a half week later and received my documents. During this time, I also took new passport photos. The same day I picked up my health check, visited Counselor Affairs and applied for the Resident Visa. Waited another week and a half and picked up my passport. The same day, I went to the Immigration office and applied for the Alien Resident Card. From there, I have to wait 2 long weeks. After I receive this card, I can travel in/out of the country as I please.

So now you think is a good time to travel? Hah, think again. This time is around the same time the tuition payment is due. Can’t afford them all. Super bummed.

I hope by December I will have it all together to go somewhere. Even if it’s for a weekend, I don’t care. I just wanna get out of Taiwan for a bit.

and have been for about a week. I’m finally starting to get settled down and have quite a few posts to make about my last week in Japan. I’ll be trying to get to this in the next couple weeks. I’m also going to probably get some sort of long term reflection up as well and maybe plans for the future. Please look forward to these posts~!

And not even because it’ in Japanese. I can’t seem to think of anything to say…. Or maybe it’s more like I want my speech to be something remembered. I want it to be something that explains how I’ve felt and just how important this has all been to me. But I can’t even figure out how to put all of these feelings into English.

I was anxious to be on leave after my one-year tour in Iraq. I knocked on the door of my parent’s home and to my surprise this cute young red headed co-ed answered the door. She was standing there in a dancer’s outfit which highlighted every curve of her young fit body; she couldn’t have been over 16. She said Hi, I’m Maureen you must be Al, I’ve heard so much about you being a hero and all. She went on to explain that she was an Irish exchange student studying dance at UofA. My parents had sponsored her studies in the US. I lustfully thought to myself “a dancer, imagine fucking her, she probably has moves that I could only dream about”.

Well about a week went by and I took her to a few movies and we went out drinking with my friends. After a few weeks went by and I could tell Maureen and I were both attracted to each other, even though I was 26. We started having “accidental” encounters. She would forget to close the bathroom door so I could see her in her bra and panties. As for myself, I returned the entirety when I stood in the bathroom in just my boxers. 

Maureen practiced her dancing in our basement and I began to find excuses to go and “work” in the basement. Then one day I was watching her “practice” and she began dancing like a pole dancer in a strip club using the basement support beam as her “pole”. The difference was that this girl was a professional dancer and was soon making unbelievable moves around that pole. She might as well have been fucking it.

Then she said “you want to see me dance topless like girls do in a real club?” I said “go for it, I will guarantee you have an appreciative audience”. Maureen stood up and made the sexiest pose possible as she pulled down the straps on her leotard revealing a perfectly shaped pair of breasts. Maureen was soon topless from the waist up as she continued to dance seductively around the pole. She then paused to pull take off her leggings and panties as she stood naked in front of me. She said “let’s not k** ourselves were both in love’. 

Maureen was like a reward to me for all those lonely months in Iraq. My clothes came off in seconds and we both began a long awaited embrace. After weeks of living together the sexual energy was explosive. Our tongue’s intertwined as we French kissed and caressed each other’s bodies. Months of sexual deprivation surged forward from both of us. I knew Maureen was a beautiful redhead, but I had no idea how a dancers body was like a chiseled sculpture, she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Maureen pushed me backwards on the couch and straddled me. Then she reached behind her back, grabbed my organ and guided it into her firm young pussy. When I slid it into her she flinched and made a loud moan, she was incredibly tight, and I had to make a hard thrust just to get my cock into her pussy. Soon I learned why. 

Maureen leaned over and whispered in my ear “you’re the first, so be gentle with me, it hurts a little”. I stopped my attempts to thrust into her, instead I moved slowly so she could get used to a man inside her. Then I asked “Maureen is it OK now” she replied “yes” and I began slowly fucking this young virgin. I went really slow because I was savoring the feeling of a virgin pussy, it was incredible!!! My cock was surrounded by her tight pussy that both massaged and gripped me at the same time. I began to increase my slow even rhythmic thrusts and Maureen began to respond to sex. She began moaning as my cock went deeper inside her, opening her love canal wider with each stroke. 

Then I could tell the pain of my initial insertion was gone. Maureen began moving her hips back and forth as only a dancer could do, as she rode my cock, her head thrust backwards as her dancer’s movements took over. I knew then and there she was, and would be, an incredible fuck. Suddenly, she was fucking me rapidly as her whole body absorbed my delicious cock. I could tell Maureen loved it. Then she screamed as her whole body spasmed as she had her first orgasm. At the same time I just could not hold back any longer, I thrust my entire cock into her and held it there as I released my semen deep inside her womb. Maureen yelled out “cum inside me, God, keep cumming, it feels wonderful!!” I just kept cumming, it was the greatest sexual experience I’ve ever had.

Well, how I spent the rest of my leave is another story, but I think Maureen might become an American citizen pretty soon.