well yes, of course I have an open mind about the precise destination of my one-way errand... yet, I do feel like one has to start somewhere as to keep the mind focused...
if I didn't somewhat 'know' where I wanna go, I wouldn't be able to get anything done at all... it's way too many possibilities to juggle otherwise
as for meeting other Brazilian people or not.... it's not any more important than meeting people from anywhere else, for me...
In my past experience - brazilian emmigrates do seem to act more and more civilized in the majority of cases after being freed from their hostile natural environment
seriously - there's something about it here that gets into people's heads and puts them completely off their game... you wouldn't believe it just how far their general reasoning strays from the loosest interpretations of society-compatible thinking
that famous 'friendlyness' you hear about folks here - it's a lie - but not one devised in particular for some reason or another - it's a culturally infused paradigm of deceit, and it permeates all and every notion of life as they see it...
the reason they seem friendly at first, is because the average Brazilian is so (unconsciously) obsessed with social acceptance, they will never say anything that directly opposes a peer - however relevant the matter, however little they (claim to) care about that person in affective terms -- they will always lie, ever as long as the lie produces a more comfortable tone for the exchange
As a result, a large percentage of information is conveyed by indirect speech - People here will read so much between the lines, a non-accustomed person may soon find himself ill-spoken behind his back... the 'tone' in which you state a sentence will inevitably imply one or more hidden meanings - and usually, this is how brazilians argue - In half-stated undertones of implied scowling or derision
Directly bringing forth any distressful topic in conversation is seen as extremely rude - akin to flipping someone off for no reason, or putting your trousers down in public (which is usually accepted) - almost always, in some degree, direct discussion of 'trouble' results in placing the speaker in equal merit of disdain as the actual cause of the problem he brought up
thus, in Brazil, an uncomfortable truth must not ever, ever, never under any conditions be mentioned
it cost me my marriage! :facepalm:
Back out of the nut-house - One of the big reasons Vancouver popped out for me, is in fact that it is a big city -- i'm very used to city life, and to all those metropolitan features and ways of life....
The reason for that is that I come from the second largest (in area) and single densest urban sprawl on earth
São Paulo is a recklessly unplanned, 25+ million inhabitant (and growing), cancerous form of subhuman development - wrapped in billions of tons of filth and concrete that make for some shades of brown and gray you just can't find anywhere else...
we have the worst traffic problem in the world
crime has escalated beyond any means of reckoning by now...
there's dirt and filth everywhere, and the air is toxic to a point where everybody has some form of respiratory condition - (mine is a very extreme combined case of rhinitis and sinisitis that gets bad whenever the weather changes)
since São Paulo is large enough to develop a micro-climate pocket - we have the most disagreeable weather patterns in the country - it is known for it much in the same way as London the Netherlands (i've been to the Netherlands - I found it far better in that sense, my allergies all went away - this was in winter)
and don't worry about cost -- there are few places I could move to in this world where the general cost of life would be higher than they are right here...
yep - this place is just all wrong... I keep telling everyone I know to pack up and leave as soon as possible, before 'a semi-solid waste substance impacts a moving part of a household climate control apparatus'
most local peers agree - none really take any action, however...
:uhh: I think it's time for my medicine now... :facepalm: