Back to School

The minute I was finished with graduate school, I was ecstatic that a lifetime of going to school was finally over. I always did well in school, but I can’t say that I really liked it. I like to learn, but I don’t like doing it on other people's terms. I like learning about what I want to know and to the extent to which I want to know it.

Well, I’ve found myself back in school, this time in Brazil. I began Portuguese classes a few weeks ago at the university here in Maringá. The classes are taught by students in the language program who plan to become English teachers. The classes are composed of mostly 17 year old Rotary exchange students from various countries. In addition, there are a few old folks like myself who are living here for a few years. The number of countries represented does make it an interesting environment. There are students from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Denmark, Holland, Russia, Mexico, Finland, Germany and Japan.
I want to comment on the university itself. The differences and similarities are each striking in their own way. Let’s start with the differences. The campus itself isn’t all that appealing. It is unique. There are some beautiful palm trees and green space, but other than that the buildings are run down and dated, especially for a place that is less than 50 years old. It does look like they are adding on to some buildings though. The classrooms themselves aren’t quite as bad as I thought they would be. They even have a couple rooms that are set up theater style with comfortable chairs. The similarities lie with the students themselves. Despite the look of the campus, it feels like I am back at UK or Purdue. The actions and characteristics of a ‘student’ seems to be the same across cultures. I realized this when leaving class at 3:30pm one Thursday afternoon. The local bars were buzzing with students starting the weekend because, as everyone knows, weekends start on Thursdays in college. College campuses seem to have the same feel no matter where you are.


So far I find Portuguese very difficult to learn. I attribute it to the fact that my brain is full. I hit this point in grad school where I felt as though I could fit no more new information in my head. It sounds ridiculous, but I always feel this way when I’m trying to learn new information. I’m hoping I can get rid of some unnecessary stored information (such as the words to that random song) to make way for learning a little Portuguese over the next 2 years.