Well, yesterday marked three months since my arrival here in Brazil. That's crazy, especially considering the fact that my last blog entry occurred one month and seven days into my exchange. And, without a doubt, lots has happened since then. I don't even know where to begin, to be honest. I guess, no one celebrates Thanksgiving, (obviously), or Halloween here. However, due to the fact that I am not a fan of Thanksgiving, I was none too upset. Though perhaps some candy on Halloween wouldn't have killed anyone.
I can confidently say that I am learning, and learning quickly, through doing stupid things.
Another thing I've been pondering lately is school. I think I can pretty confidently say that I am not a fan of school here. I am becoming more and more grateful for the quality of the public education I have received in my life, especially compared to the private school education I am receiving here, and considering that Coopem is ranked in the top 50 schools in the region. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what I don't like about school here, but I definitely felt that I was offered a wider variety of opportunities in the US, both in terms of class choices and my future, such as Math Modeling and extra-curriculars. Though I suppose it is worth the pain of getting up at six every morning to have a free afternoon. And the fact that a majority of the tests are in the afternoon, while a pain, are nice so as to not waste teaching time. P.S. I'm on summer vacation until February as of this past week.
But this being said, I also spend a lot of time pondering ethnocentrism a lot, and have been trying to pinpoint, in my own opinions, when I actually think something is better with good reasons, or when I prefer what I am familiar with, simply because it has been the norm for a majority of my life. However, it's not just me, I can feel ethnocentrism everywhere here, especially within my family. Sharing cultures, at least in my opinion, is not about changing your ways, but by at least acknowledging the validity in a way that is different from your own.
Other noteworthy things that I done include going to the Rodeio and the Formatura da Coopem, neither of which I found incredibly fascinating, but both of which were good experiences to take advantage of here. I also went to a Karate tournament close to here, which was actually really cool and quite a bit different from Karate tournaments in the US and if you're interested, here's my analysis of similarities and differences:
First, this tournament was not only limited to just Karate, but to just this style of Karate, and the different branches of the same school in the region. Because of this, I guess it was a lot easier to judge because it's more a comparison of apples to apples rather than apples to oranges. Also it cost me R$15, rather than like $60 (about R$120), so that was cool. And also, there are divisions based on age and belt color, just like in the US, but your division does kata and sparring at the same time, so you only have to get called once. And there are no weapon divisions. And while you're going, there is another person in the ring, also doing his or her own kata. And there are blue flags and red flags that the judges have. You and your fellow competitor wear either a blue or a red belt. After you both finish, instead of getting a score, the judges hold up the color of the belt of the person they think should win. It's also kinda cool because if you win you go again (get to, have to, depends), but with the kata, you can repeat the same one, or do a different one, which introduces more and more complexity and skill and makes you look a lot more competent, which is pretty cool, though I guess also more tiring. Especially in the sparring when you have a giant division.
I forget what else I've been thinking profoundly about lately, but I suppose this shall suffice por enquanto.
Beijos, atéee...
I can confidently say that I am learning, and learning quickly, through doing stupid things.
Another thing I've been pondering lately is school. I think I can pretty confidently say that I am not a fan of school here. I am becoming more and more grateful for the quality of the public education I have received in my life, especially compared to the private school education I am receiving here, and considering that Coopem is ranked in the top 50 schools in the region. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what I don't like about school here, but I definitely felt that I was offered a wider variety of opportunities in the US, both in terms of class choices and my future, such as Math Modeling and extra-curriculars. Though I suppose it is worth the pain of getting up at six every morning to have a free afternoon. And the fact that a majority of the tests are in the afternoon, while a pain, are nice so as to not waste teaching time. P.S. I'm on summer vacation until February as of this past week.
But this being said, I also spend a lot of time pondering ethnocentrism a lot, and have been trying to pinpoint, in my own opinions, when I actually think something is better with good reasons, or when I prefer what I am familiar with, simply because it has been the norm for a majority of my life. However, it's not just me, I can feel ethnocentrism everywhere here, especially within my family. Sharing cultures, at least in my opinion, is not about changing your ways, but by at least acknowledging the validity in a way that is different from your own.
Other noteworthy things that I done include going to the Rodeio and the Formatura da Coopem, neither of which I found incredibly fascinating, but both of which were good experiences to take advantage of here. I also went to a Karate tournament close to here, which was actually really cool and quite a bit different from Karate tournaments in the US and if you're interested, here's my analysis of similarities and differences:
First, this tournament was not only limited to just Karate, but to just this style of Karate, and the different branches of the same school in the region. Because of this, I guess it was a lot easier to judge because it's more a comparison of apples to apples rather than apples to oranges. Also it cost me R$15, rather than like $60 (about R$120), so that was cool. And also, there are divisions based on age and belt color, just like in the US, but your division does kata and sparring at the same time, so you only have to get called once. And there are no weapon divisions. And while you're going, there is another person in the ring, also doing his or her own kata. And there are blue flags and red flags that the judges have. You and your fellow competitor wear either a blue or a red belt. After you both finish, instead of getting a score, the judges hold up the color of the belt of the person they think should win. It's also kinda cool because if you win you go again (get to, have to, depends), but with the kata, you can repeat the same one, or do a different one, which introduces more and more complexity and skill and makes you look a lot more competent, which is pretty cool, though I guess also more tiring. Especially in the sparring when you have a giant division.
I forget what else I've been thinking profoundly about lately, but I suppose this shall suffice por enquanto.
Beijos, atéee...
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