From Europe to Brazil and back again

I was born in Belgium from a Brazilian mother and a Belgian father. My appearance is typically Brazilian; I have black hair and a darker skin tone in comparison to most other Europeans. I grew up in a small city in northern Belgium where there were few other foreigners.  At school  I did not have many friends and as a result I never enjoyed going to school and my grades suffered. I never even considered the idea of going to university. When I was 14, my father lost his job and our family moved to Brazil. I was 14 years old at the time and my dad and I were reluctant to move from Belgium as it was the only country we knew.

Arriving in Brazil was an interesting if daunting experience. The term ‘culture shock’ is an understatement for the experience of moving from a small European city to a huge metropolis like São Paulo. The vibrant life and sheer size of the city was like nothing I had experienced before. It took me a while to understand the Brazilian culture and customs like being fashionably late or being very open and unreserved. The language was also a challenge  to overcome and I spent much of my first year in school just trying to understand what was going on. But despite this I still made friends. People were very welcoming and I was made to feel at home.

Life carried on:  I learned Portuguese and finished High School. I actually enjoyed going to school and applied for university after discovering my passion for international relations. At that time I never thought I would find myself living in Europe again, although the allure of Europe and my birthplace was ever-present. At home we continued to speak Dutch along with Portuguese and I spent many years studying German.

But life is nothing but unpredictable and after finishing my Bachelor’s degree I found myself applying, and being accepted, for a Master’s degree course in Germany.  

When I arrived in Germany everything felt new; there was so much to explore. It was a different world to what I had been used to in Brazil, a second culture shock. It sounds like a cliché, but everything was punctual; trains and busses ran to strict timetables, people obeyed pedestrian crossings and being late was considered rude. I loved it.

My previous experience of Europe had been a lonely one, but when I returned I  had changed, and so had Europe. In the ten years I had been living in Latin America, the Euro had been introduced, the EU  had seen increased immigration and migration, and the financial crisis had begun to subside. I had moved to a small German city not unlike the city I grew up in, but it felt completely different to the Europe I had known.

In my class at university there were around 50 students from 26 different countries. In addition to the many friends I made from Brazil, I made friends with people from countries as diverse as Kosovo, Colombia, Bhutan and Bangladesh. I felt very much at home; I enjoyed learning about other countries and cultures and my German improved considerably. I also loved how easy it was to travel around Europe; I could catch a train to Budapest or Paris or even London with short notice and spent much of my time – and the money I had saved up in Brazil – travelling.

I recently graduated and now live in the UK with my partner, who I had met travelling in Italy. I loved living in Germany, and moving to the UK was yet another culture shock – one that I am still figuring out. But after such positive experiences in Brazil and Germany, I have learned that culture shocks are a good thing. In fact I believe they are something everyone should experience at least once. It is these type of experiences that help us grow.