Locality Summer School

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

“Bom, o que dizer sobre este programa que eu mal conheço e já considero pakas?” This is a Brazilian expression that all the young people in Brazil speak and that you dont find in the Portuguese dictionaries. During this program, I experienced incredible moments and learned things that I could not understand if I did not come to Korea, just as my team learned Brazilian expressions and slang so that they also understood how the young people in Brazil speak.

The difference in language is certainly a barrier. I dont speak Korean fluently and just understand a few things. Due to this, my team found itself in the situation of needing to improve its Portuguese, using as an aid other languages, English and Spanish, to communicate effectively. It was amazing to see how easy they were to communicate with me. Today, at the end of this program, I see that their Portuguese are much better and they have gradually lost the fear of speaking the language.

Jeong-Hyeop (Fred) has a Daeogu accent and when he speak Portuguese, he dont show such a strong foreign accent. It's really interesting. Then, as he develops his Portuguese he will speak very clearly.

Already Danah, lived in Brazil, and, undoubtedly, she is the one who speaks the best Portuguese. Of course, because of the lack of practice and the need to speak Portuguese, some things are forgotten. But during the time I spent here, we trained together and remembered everyday a fews Brazilian expressions and, today, she is speaking even more naturally.

YeRang, for her part, lived in Spain and speaks very well Spanish, which is very different of portuguese in several things, but since two languages ​​have the same matrix (Latin) they have much in common in their grammatical narrative. This being a more difficult thing for a Korean to learn the language spoken in Brazil. With this, a sentence construction is something that she has greater dominance. She has already started an understanding between languages ​​and uses her Spanish to speak better in Portuguese.

While all this is happening, we discuss Brazilian fashion, the theme we chose to talk about in this program. First, it was incredible to talk a little about my country and a little about the different culture of the Brazilian states. Brazil is very big and each state has its culture, which consequently changes the way people dress. Being able to talk about these differences with my team, get an idea of ​​what we wanted to think about during this program.

Walking in the streets of Seoul analyzing how people dress normally, I did perceive as differences and changes in a fashion of the two countries. It is incredible to realize that Brazil and Korea, even being so far, have so much in common.

Going to malls and shops thinking about what is the Brazilian man would wear and what they would not wear, was very interesting. I think they dont have to think about what to wear, work on the idea of ​​thinking about your wardrobe and take advantage of what it has to do better for Brazilians as fashion as Koreans.

Going beyond our theme and the contact with a Brazilian and Korean culture, this program enables an interaction of people from so many countries that is amazing. I had the pleasure of meeting people from all part of the world and seeing that the world is getting closer and closer. I made great friends that I want to keep in touch.

During Summer School we also had the pleasure of attending a lesson on a Korean history and economy. I learned a lot from both teachers. For example, I thought that Samsung only made home appliances, because in Brazil this is the only thing that it sells, but I discovered that Samsung produces a lot of other things.

I took these classes to get some doubts. I always wanted to know when the Korean fans started shouting "DaeHayNiGo" during the soccer game. In Rio2016 the Brazilians were really in love with South Korea because "DaeHayNiGo" sounded like "ter amigo (have friend)" which undoubtedly brings the two countries closer together during the Olympic Games. Talking to the teacher about this, he told me that he believes he started in the world cup in 2002, given away by Korea and Japan. It was at this point that Koreans began to enjoy the sport, even if not as popular as in Brazil.

Talk time with two brazilian teachers here from HUFS, Márcia and Victor. From this, I could draw some doubts about the adaptation in Korea, like the rest of the two countries, to understand better how a routine of the Koreans works, what they feel the most and a series of things that are in conformity with the two countries and Knows how two cultures can respond. It was amazing to be able to understand how the Brazilian can find himself in Korea and how, also, there are positive and negative things in both countries.

One of my favorite days, I admits: they are all, was when I play the traditional Korean instruments. My father is a musician and the music is in my blood. Listening and knowing each timbre, the notes and its intensity of the instrument, was very important to me. I even took the risk of playing samba.

As incredible as play the istrument, is play kid games. I recalled my childhood in a unique way. We run, we jump, we fall, we laugh and we forget everything for a moment. You know what's more fun? Know that many Korean games are similar to Brazilian ones. I think when you are a child the barriers are always smaller.

Finally, if I should praise something, it is the care and affection of all. During the program I was not only well treated, but everyone did the best to receive each of the students. My team is so sensational that for several moments I was speechless. As in my first moments here in Korea, how much I got tired and was greeted by the warm smiles of Danah and YeRang and then as we were leaving the airport and saw Jeong-hyeop holding a birthday cake. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

My grandfather died two days before the trip, I remember leaving Brazil with a tight heart and hurt. I cried at the Qatar airport. However, when I had this reception I could not stop smiling and thank God for be here. God knowing that I would need joy, reserved the best people to be part of my team.

If I might summarize, I would say that this program opened my mind, allowed me to better understand Koreans, meet people from all over the world, discover a new world, taste a series of wonderful things, inspired me to write even more about Korea and made it possible for me to see as my own eyes the things that I dreamed for a long time. In short, I realized a dream!​