So these first two weeks in Brazil have been great so here's a quick recap:
- Started a new job at Amsted Maxion in Hortolandia Brazil.
- Found a new apartment in Campinas, BR
- 2010 Carnaval (eeeesh nuff said)
- Job part II in Cruzeiro, BR (the running joke here is if you've never been to Cruzeiro, you're not missing anything)
- Another weekend in Campinas relaxing, working, and working out
- Sunday morning by the pool, little too much sun (DOH!)
- Safe
I've heard from far too many people to be safe and I wanted to let you know I appreciate your concern and that I am safe. I was told that while I stick out as a gringo (a girl told me a joke grin-go-home) I am a big guy and in Campinas will not be messed with. Cruzeiro is a small city where people are born, live, work, and die. Somewhat sad, but there are two companies in the city that employ about 90% of the population. Everyone has been very nice, welcoming, and even while having dinner alone people come up and talk to you. Granted I catch about every 5th word, but at least I am catching some things.
I will be back in the states for the next two weeks and probably not updating my blog as often as I have been, but then return to Campinas on March 7/8 for an extended visit of 4-5 weeks. Again, I am safe, somewhat tan/burned and ready to be at home to handle a lot of loose ends for the next couple of weeks.
On a side note, if you are a blogger contributor you can follow my blog, otherwise if you have any comments or want to talk to me you have many options; email, Facebook, or Skype (should have connected to this sooner).
With that I am signing off, going to grab some more food, a drink before the 8 hour flight to Miami in hopes of getting a couple of hours of sleep.
Prayer requests specifically over the next couple of weeks:
- I can get everything done at home logistically that I need to accomplish (lease on my house, apartment, taxes, bank accounts, volunteer work, mail, going away party, first birthday party for a friends daughter, living with a roommate who is subletting my Chicago apartment, Business visa, international drivers license, and finally PACK for 5 weeks/moving into a new apartment in a foreign country). I think that about does it for this round of prayer requests.
Cheers
Adam
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Last Day of Carnival
Last day of Carnival is today and all I can say is thank God. It's been a great weekend getting to know the new city in which I will be living in, but it's been crazy even in a non-Carnival city. Also, for those who are interested in coming to visit for Carnival next year I heard El Salvador is the #1 place for Carnival and Rio is #2, just something to think about.
I found an apartment on Friday and it's got everything included in the rent, the only downside is the size. Places here are naturally smaller than anything you would see in the states. My new place is 50 sq meters which means it will about fit into my living room at my apartment in Chicago. The apartment includes a party room for rent with an indoor BBQ which I can hire a cook for, wireless, cable TV, AC, valet parking, gym membership and an out door pool with a 25 meter lap. Starbucks is outside on one corner, Citibank is down the street, lots of restaurants, pubs, and a grocery/fruit store as well. Great location and safe.
I am heading to Cruzeiro tomorrow where our wheel plant and the majority of our finance team is located. It's even the running joke around here between people at the plant that I am based out of, if you don't visit Cruzeiro you're not missing anything. I think next month's operations review is there so it should be a different experience for the people coming from Chicago that haven't been there before. It's a far cry from the 4-5 star hotels in Campinas that we stay in.
I am off for the night. Hope everyone is staying warm back home.
Cheers
Adam
I found an apartment on Friday and it's got everything included in the rent, the only downside is the size. Places here are naturally smaller than anything you would see in the states. My new place is 50 sq meters which means it will about fit into my living room at my apartment in Chicago. The apartment includes a party room for rent with an indoor BBQ which I can hire a cook for, wireless, cable TV, AC, valet parking, gym membership and an out door pool with a 25 meter lap. Starbucks is outside on one corner, Citibank is down the street, lots of restaurants, pubs, and a grocery/fruit store as well. Great location and safe.
I am heading to Cruzeiro tomorrow where our wheel plant and the majority of our finance team is located. It's even the running joke around here between people at the plant that I am based out of, if you don't visit Cruzeiro you're not missing anything. I think next month's operations review is there so it should be a different experience for the people coming from Chicago that haven't been there before. It's a far cry from the 4-5 star hotels in Campinas that we stay in.
I am off for the night. Hope everyone is staying warm back home.
Cheers
Adam
Friday, February 12, 2010
New culture....same traditions
Had my first happy hour last night with my new colleagues and it was a blast. The bar was packed (to me) but they said it was a slow night. Everything here as you can imagine, especially in summer is open air and outdoors. Weather has been amazing and it was in the 70s last nigh when we were out.
It was funny to see that even in a new culture and new place that traditions do not change. All four of the women in our group went to the bathroom at the same time, I witnessed my first Brazilian fist bump explosion (hilarious), and when you're in love with someone yes, you still have to hold their purse (this was not me).
Had a great time and everyone has been very welcoming, and extremely nice. I am off to find an apartment today, I met a girl in HR last night that is assisting me in finding a tutor to learn Portuguese, but they have been great about speaking English and asking me how to say words, slangs etc in English when I am around. Hopefully I will catch on soon. The language doesn't seem to difficult but the speed in which they speak I cannot even come close to staying caught up to what they are saying.
Cheers
Adam
It was funny to see that even in a new culture and new place that traditions do not change. All four of the women in our group went to the bathroom at the same time, I witnessed my first Brazilian fist bump explosion (hilarious), and when you're in love with someone yes, you still have to hold their purse (this was not me).
Had a great time and everyone has been very welcoming, and extremely nice. I am off to find an apartment today, I met a girl in HR last night that is assisting me in finding a tutor to learn Portuguese, but they have been great about speaking English and asking me how to say words, slangs etc in English when I am around. Hopefully I will catch on soon. The language doesn't seem to difficult but the speed in which they speak I cannot even come close to staying caught up to what they are saying.
Cheers
Adam
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Olá do Brasil
Eu decidi escrever este blog em português, only kidding. I can't believe it's been since June since I have updated my blog, but time has really flown these past 8 months. Funny after reading that last post how much has changed in my life in such a short time. Our family has been blessed with the birth of our first granddaughter and niece in Madeline Grace and it has been an amazing almost 7 months watching her grow. Each time I see her she is doing something different, but I am still waiting for her to hit a growth spurt so that my dreams of a volleyball dynasty will come true!
I digress.....if you're are taking to following this blog and keeping up with things going on with in my life then you know many of the changes that I am talking about. The past 8 months have been a great opportunity for me professionally as I took on the position of Controller in one of my companies divisions in West Chester, PA (which I am thankfully not in this week as they were hit with over 30 inches of snow). I have received pictures from our office and a few from the roads and restaurants that we frequented and it is just amazing. One of my co-workers there said that all the hotel employees were required to stay at the hotel until the storm blew past the east coast, and he mentioned that he was able to stock up on Chick Fil A as it was actually open for 3 hours but run only by the manager during that time. As these past 8 months have been great for me, a new opportunity has arisen at our joint venture in Brazil, and I recently accepted and began working working down in Brazil this past week.
So far everything has been going well, but it's been pretty tough getting acclimated to the culture, location, and language. I know these things don't come overnight, but everyone that knows me, knows how when I want things, I want them immediately. Patience has never been one of my virtues and something I still struggle with daily. I think making this move will be good for me as this culture seems to do things at a different pace so that will help force me to work on this lacking virtue. Everyone here has been very welcoming to have me on board and starting to work with their team, but one thing I am finding is that once I get outside the office the lack of English speaking people is high. Again, one of the things that will force me out of my comfort zone and into learning a new language and teaching myself something new. I am also starting to learn more about the metric system and do conversions. I ran on the treadmill last night and the writing was all in Portuguese and distance and speed were in kilometers and kilometers per hour. I set the treadmill around 7 which is what I would run pace wise in the states and I was still walking until I realized what was going on. It was a good thing I had my heart rate monitor as I know my what avg HR is when I run time and distance wise.
Carnival begins this weekend and I was invited to go to Rio and experience it, but the hotels still available range from $500 - $800 USD per night. I would love to go but not for $3,000, maybe next year. I was also invited to go to Obra, which is a giant music festival that begins tomorrow and goes until Tuesday of next week, so I am going to look into that as well. Only downside with that is that only one person will speak English and the city it's in is 400km away, and I don't yet have a car. So it is looking like I will be staying in Campinas for the weekend as it stands right now. The hotel is great, people are very nice, they have a great workout room and it will give me a chance to explore the city and some sights so I can familiarize myself places to eat, drink, shop, etc.
I think that's about it for now, but one last thing. If you are able to sign up for Skype then please do so. My username is Hawkvball02 and I would love to video chat and stay close with everyone back home while I am away. I have been using it during this week and it works great. Computer to computer is free and it only costs 2 cents per minute for me to call the states.
I hope everyone back home is doing well. Continue to pray for safety (the city is very safe, but being 6'4", pale white, and unable to speak the language very well makes me stick out), patience in learning yet another new job within my company, and perseverance in learning the language.
Cheers
Adam
I digress.....if you're are taking to following this blog and keeping up with things going on with in my life then you know many of the changes that I am talking about. The past 8 months have been a great opportunity for me professionally as I took on the position of Controller in one of my companies divisions in West Chester, PA (which I am thankfully not in this week as they were hit with over 30 inches of snow). I have received pictures from our office and a few from the roads and restaurants that we frequented and it is just amazing. One of my co-workers there said that all the hotel employees were required to stay at the hotel until the storm blew past the east coast, and he mentioned that he was able to stock up on Chick Fil A as it was actually open for 3 hours but run only by the manager during that time. As these past 8 months have been great for me, a new opportunity has arisen at our joint venture in Brazil, and I recently accepted and began working working down in Brazil this past week.
So far everything has been going well, but it's been pretty tough getting acclimated to the culture, location, and language. I know these things don't come overnight, but everyone that knows me, knows how when I want things, I want them immediately. Patience has never been one of my virtues and something I still struggle with daily. I think making this move will be good for me as this culture seems to do things at a different pace so that will help force me to work on this lacking virtue. Everyone here has been very welcoming to have me on board and starting to work with their team, but one thing I am finding is that once I get outside the office the lack of English speaking people is high. Again, one of the things that will force me out of my comfort zone and into learning a new language and teaching myself something new. I am also starting to learn more about the metric system and do conversions. I ran on the treadmill last night and the writing was all in Portuguese and distance and speed were in kilometers and kilometers per hour. I set the treadmill around 7 which is what I would run pace wise in the states and I was still walking until I realized what was going on. It was a good thing I had my heart rate monitor as I know my what avg HR is when I run time and distance wise.
Carnival begins this weekend and I was invited to go to Rio and experience it, but the hotels still available range from $500 - $800 USD per night. I would love to go but not for $3,000, maybe next year. I was also invited to go to Obra, which is a giant music festival that begins tomorrow and goes until Tuesday of next week, so I am going to look into that as well. Only downside with that is that only one person will speak English and the city it's in is 400km away, and I don't yet have a car. So it is looking like I will be staying in Campinas for the weekend as it stands right now. The hotel is great, people are very nice, they have a great workout room and it will give me a chance to explore the city and some sights so I can familiarize myself places to eat, drink, shop, etc.
I think that's about it for now, but one last thing. If you are able to sign up for Skype then please do so. My username is Hawkvball02 and I would love to video chat and stay close with everyone back home while I am away. I have been using it during this week and it works great. Computer to computer is free and it only costs 2 cents per minute for me to call the states.
I hope everyone back home is doing well. Continue to pray for safety (the city is very safe, but being 6'4", pale white, and unable to speak the language very well makes me stick out), patience in learning yet another new job within my company, and perseverance in learning the language.
Cheers
Adam
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