Updates!
Hi again! I´ve had for some time a low motivation to write my blog. The strike continued up to 2 months and finally the classes started and we could start “a normal way of life” with studies and works!
During this time of the strike I got to know better the Brazilian culture. I think now I am less a tourist and more a like a local, now it is about the everyday life. I love it! The athmosphere of Brazil is very laid-back, relaxed! My portuguese has improved remarkably. I have met a lot of new people, we have had a lot of parties and I also have been training a lot ; Brazilian Jiu jitsu and muscle training in the gym. I travelled with my friends to cities. I have been managing my project and courses and did some planning towards future with my professor with success.
I keep a diary on the time of the travel and I was thinking of starting to write a diary all time. It is a good way to remember what have you done in your life. And I think it also improves memory!
Celin and portuguese language
I have studied since I arrived portuguese in Centre of languages (Celin) as a part of my exchange studies. Also the portuguese teaching is in portuguese. There are many levels of courses for many skill levels and people from different language backgrounds. I am studying in Basico 2 a basic course. The group is very international and I have met many people there!
The portuguese language is a must in Brazil. I have a rather strong english and I thought I wouldn´t have no problems with the language. But. The local people in the street talk only a little in English. (of course depending if they have studied it) Good thing is that everyone loves to talk with people and they will say everything they can in english, but to communicatein a deeper level portuguese is needed. Luckily for me
learning portuguese has been quite easy! Especially language used in courses is close to english words.
I have been talking to locals why the english is so hard they say that the level of english is really bad in schools and to learn a language people has to take a commercial language courses or go to exchange.
Classes
The classes have begun! I will do here in my time 3 post graduate courses, 3 points from each. Or at least I try. All the course selection and education is in portuguese!
Espaço Urbano – Planejamento e Gestão = Urban Spaces - Planning and Management. An architecture course regarding urban planning. The course includes a lot of excursions in the near areas of different neighbourhoods such as a favela and an area of homes.
Projetos especiais em arquitetuira mais sustantável – Special projects of sustainable architecture. A very interesting course for me. A project work for a research laboratory for univercity designed to be as sustainable as possible but with the price of a normal building. The good thing here is that a lot of courses are based on a real project and students do work that someday possibly will do something good for society. Students are a big force which should be used more eficiently in Finland also. Project work are more motivating and also more teaching, in my opinion.
And the best for last. The name is monstrous : Tópicos Especiais em Construção – Corrosão, proteção e reabilitação de estruturas de concreto armado – Special topics on construction – Corrosion, protection and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete. A construction materials course, it is a course that is scared by people here like we in Finland are afraid of the courses of Kuula. The course itself is very demanding and very theoretic. We have some tests in laboratory for concrete!
The language surely is a problem for studying. Courses are interesting and different from courses in Finland. It is also good for portuguese; reading, hearing and talking 4 hours a row is very eficient for learning. I will never start to learn a language on a book again. I studied Russia for 5 years and I can say I can´t understand it , because I never used it. It is much easier and much more fun this way!
The classes on post graduate courses are from 8 to 12am and from 2 to 6pm. About 4 hours, depending which time people or professor arrives. Here it is not very strange to be late or if the teacher arrives last of all . Also the 4h class has only one coffee break of 10 or 15 minutes! The classes are exhausting studying in a new language, a new subject for long time.
Project of the world cup 2014
I came to Brazil to do a project work. That is quite easy because many courses from the university have a link with reality and course can be a project course. I think here in Brazil a student is much more respectable role than in Finland. In Finland student is plague, the lowest part of the society, here a student is respected by the professors but also by people.
I will join the project work by starting my final thesis here regarding the project. The project work is a contract with university and tribunal de contas, a operator that works with all the expenses of the government. The students of civil engineering department has been assigned to supervise the public construction sites for the football world cup 2014. There are hosts cities around Brazil and Curitiba is one of them.
I have already done the first work regarding the project work. My job was to give a presentation for engineers of the tribunal the contas and civil engineering students about the public construction of Finland. It was a presentation with the biggest audience in my life, around 70 people. I also had my own translator because I refused doing the presentation in portuguese.
The Brazilian people really seem to respect Finland, and other European countries and I have got interesting suggestions on my time here. My professor told me that I could do post graduate, masters degree here in Brazil after graduation, lasting 2 years. He also offered me 6 or 12 more months working on the project that is starting now and lasting until world cup. When decided to do an exchange I advice being active, interested and open minded. If done that only the imagination is the limit. World is ours!
I think the exchange will be good for the connection of our universities. Also my professor from Finland will join one seminar in Brazil giving presentations and getting to know the university.
From this on I will write more actively. Now the things are started to happen!
Cheers!
Mikko
