Tuesday 18 December 2012

What I didn’t know about Brazilians…

is that they would spread the word about this blog in an unbelievable manner. Rapaz! More than 75.000 meninas e meninos and other funky people have read this blog, counting. Cheers for your emails, comments, corrections, wedding proposals and the occasional death threat. I am glad you enjoyed reading my slightly polemic and thoroughly personal view of Brazil. 

Yesterday, CBN radio in Curitiba even conducted an interview with me. Enjoy the gringo’s Portuguese here…


I am heading back to Germany on Thursday. Thank you for the magic Brazil, it has been some absolutely wonderful two years. Vou ficar com saudades. A gente se vê na copa. Imagina isso!

I will try to keep on writing about whatever my impressions are, wherever I am. Stay tuned. And come to Germany at some point to tell me how we are.

Valeu.

Manuel.

(Me soaking up the Brazilian sun @ Inhotim, Belo Horizonte)


















29 comments:

  1. Manuel, thank you for cheering up the life of this Brazilian expat in Belgium :-)

    There are maybe 5 items on your list I would not really agree with, but you are a really perceptive person! Have a safe trip back!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Second Belgium expat here... It sure did cheer up this incredibly slow office day.
      Boas!

      Delete
  2. Manuel, I´ve just came across your blog - the previous post was shared on FB by one of my acquaintances - and had a great time reading it...
    I´m a Brasilian living in Germany and wish you all the best on your return!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, Manuel. I'm in your country now. It's actually funny to see the real Germans are darker and shorter than the people we kindly call "Germans/Polish" in Brazil. hahahah I don't know how many times I had to answer the question "Are the white people in Brazil?". heheheh Now you can help me telling the "news" in your lovely country.
    Frohe Weihnachten, eat a lot of Milka and Kinder things :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Na Manuel, bist du schon wieder in Deutschland?
    Ich fand deinen Text richtig interessant, und danke, ich komme aus Minas Gerais und das stimmt...unserer Akzent ist der schönster! hahahaha
    Feliz Natal e abracos aus Hannover!

    ReplyDelete
  6. hahhahahaha consider this as another marriage proposal for you. lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice your interview! I liked your gringo's portuguese lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oi Manuel, eu li seu texto porque compartilharam no facebook, e achei muito interessante. Concordo com a maioria das suas opiniões, e outras eu entendo por que essas coisas te chamaram a atenção.
    Eu amo a sua língua e o seu país, e voltei de lá agora, depois de 8 meses de estadia.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oi Manuel, a friend of mine sent your list over Facebook, because I'm married to a Swiss and she said it would help him to understand better the Brazilians. I agree! It was so funny to ready your impressions. I even share the same opinion. Perhaps the fact that I've been living abroad for nearly 5 years, I'm turning "gringa" myself.
    Thanks for the post, it was refreshing and very funny! And yes, the countryside is beautiful, there's life outside Rio or São Paulo ;-)
    Um abraço!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm glad you have enjoyed my country during this brief time :D. I hope I can get to know yours as soons as possible, man! Good trip back!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have been to Frankfurt last year, but only for a period of 3 weeks. I managed to catch their carnival, and it was pretty interesting.
    Instead of half naked girls shaking their behinds, there were kids and adults in moving cars throwing candies to the crowd under the falling snow. And guess what music was being played constantly during the event? "Ai se eu te pego", by brazilian singer Michel Teló.
    I think german people are more reserved, but I was very well received nonetheless. People on the streets were always solicit and helpful, qualities we brazilians like to boast of. However, a couple of friends living in Frankfurt for 6 years told me that it's a harder place for socializing, and that people need more time to get to know. Also, there seems to be no personal relationship between people who work together whereas in Brazil this is always ends up happening.
    Here in Brazil we like to joke that germans cannot improvise and do everything according to specific rules. A german colleague who was working with me in Frankfurt told me about how he witnessed a man who didn't know what to do when he found out that the stairs he used everyday to get out of the subway was blocked due to maintenance. He just kept staring at it, puzzled.
    There is also no need to mention the quality of beer in Germany. And no beer I drank there was ever warm. It must also be noted that wheat beer is not at its best when served too cold.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We think that when germans talk sounds like they are always fighting...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Inhotim, Belo Horizonte?? Totally close to my house! I Loved your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've just got back to Italy after 6 amazing months in Sao Paulo. Everything u wrote on ur post is absolutely true and I've such a great time reading it!! Thank u very much!!:D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sehr interessant,Manuel!Ouvi sua entrevista e li seu texto,concordo com suas impressões,acho que vc captou bem nossa essência!Mas ainda mais me impressionou seu nível de português,RESPEKT!Vc aprendeu a falar assim e apenas dois anos?Eu fiz o caminho oposto,minha família mora em Curitiba e eu na Alemanha!Sempre me pedem para escrever um texto sobre minhas impressões à respeito dos alemães,talvez eu ainda o faça... Gostaria de manter contato com vc,é sempre bom conhecer alguém aqui da Alemanha que teve contato tão intenso com a nossa cultura! :-) Meu face: Cintia Coutinho Seidel L.G., Cintia.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Manuel, adorei seu blog e adorei sua entrevista também!
    Achei impressionante como em tão pouco tempo você conseguiu captar tanta coisa, muitas delas que nem mesmo os próprios brasileiros se dão conta!
    Em fevereiro estou indo morar em Munique por 6 meses e espero conseguir ter o mesmo olhar curioso e interessante que você teve. E se possível, quem sabe poderíamos tomar um "cafezinho" ou uma "cervejinha" quando eu estiver por aí =)
    Boa viagem de volta e espero um dia poder conhecê-lo!
    Abs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obrigado pelos comentarios. Espero que esteja ótimo em Munique. Se quiser tomar um chope me adicione no face the_real_snaker@hotmail.com
      abs

      Delete

  17. Ficaremos com saudades de vc, Manoel!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Manoel, I've just read your list and let me tell you - it is perfect. People who got upset about the comment on south working more than north have clearly never been to Bahia. But controversy aside, it was on the details that you succeeded the most - the thing about daughters calling their mums all day, for example, is something none of my gringo friends has ever noticed. It's a brilliant list, congrats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not just Bahia, but also Alagoas, Ceará...

      Delete
  19. Hi Manuel,
    I would love to talk to you about a project we are working on re How to Be a Brazilian. My email is whitney@leblon.com if you can send your contact info.

    Best,
    Whitney
    Leblon Cachaça

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dude, you, germans, doooooo eat sausage, potatoes and actually bacon all the time!!! hahah, i've been living with germans. But awesome, awesome writing about us brazilians! Sooo true, I always show people you words, hehe...And I always laugh hard everytime i read it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love your blog! :) Keep on writing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Indeed it's very funny for a German to be called Manuel!

    Anyway, I wanted to thank you. I've never been abroad and that's only my biggest dream. I'm so tired of Brazil, so tired of all this madness and chaos... but with a little help from your text, I found out that it's pretty amazing to be a brazilian, I didn't have such an interesting perspective of how fun, and loving, and receptive, and easygoing brazilians can be. Maybe we just don't like each other... I don't know. The fact is, thank you so very much for showing me that we are just nice lunatics in a great country! You turned a very miserable day into a loud and relaxed laughter.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  23. manuel quanta criatividade para a cultura do país que tem a maior floresta a amazonica ou Hileia. eu tenho 9 anos e estou fazendo um trabalho sobre as regioes brasileiras com ajuda da minha mãe... entanto com tanto trabalho de histora e geografia eu também sou um grande artista

    ReplyDelete
  24. My Metro Taxi provides airport transportation to and from Detroit Metro Airport. Whether your travel is business or personal, it's always a pleasure in a luxurious sedan, SUVs’, or van with Metro Airport taxi Service.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thank you so much for this great blog. Honestly, I found the information useful on your blog, thanks for giving us the blog.
    wordpress
    ufa88kh.blogspot
    youtube
    ufa88cambodia

    ReplyDelete