This book came about as my final semester project in my exchange year at Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany. We have studied the Odyssey during the semester, which led us to create a book that explores somehow the extent of this topic. This book is aimed to clarify some small mundane cultural differences between Germans and Brazilians. It can be taken as a small guide that explains in a funny way some of these differences we have in everyday life. I’m sure if Odysseus could ever imagine having such a guide he wouldn’t have gotten in so much trouble while visiting all those islands during his journey. The cultural differences and habit descriptions enclosed in this book are a mix of perceptions during my journey in Germany combined with some observations from Brazilian friends who also lived here and with the point of view of some Germans friends who lived in Brazil. Making this book was an amazing learning experience as it offered me the opportunity to develop my knowledge in visual communication through a subject that I love so much: The Brazilian culture in which I was born and the German culture, in which I chose to live.
I would like to start by mentioning an article I read about how people hang their toilet paper. There are two possiblities: either you hang the paper over (in front of) or under (behind) the roll. People are asked which is the right position (way of hanging it). The choice is largely a matter of personal preference, dictated by habit. So this means there is no wrong or right, but just a different way of using it. But people still can come up with long lists of arguments, reasons why one way is better than the other. However most of those will be habit based. This information above serves to validate the topics I will write in this book. I want to point out some differences in habit which I have seen and experienced during my time in Germany. It is a comparison between Germans and Brazilians. But I’m not trying to say which is better. Deep discussions about these facts I will leave to my readers.
1
Yes, We Drink Cold Beer! And when I say cold, I actually mean almost frozen. The beers are drunk at a temperature of about 4 degrees and it doesn’t depend much on the type of beer you are drinking or even the temperature outside. Germans might ask, “Why?” Or commonly say, “So how can you taste the beer?” Well, It’s mostly warm in Brazil, which makes an icy beer the best refreshment on a hot sunny day. But even when it’s a bit cold outside, we keep enjoying our 4 degrees beer. Probably the amount of energy Germans spend warming up their houses, we probably spend freezing our beers.
We Talk Very Very Loud Germans might get scared about how loud a conversation can turn when a group of Brazilians get together. While here in a bar, you are able to listen to your own digestion, in Brazil you might not be able to listen to the person who is sitting just in front of you. Compared to the level of noise Germans make at parties and bars, we are definetly the noisy ones. However, a Brazilian might never realize it unless he comes to live in Germany, where somehow your ears get strangely used to the deepest silence. In truth, we always try to dramatize and put intensity in what we are talking about. So don’t complain about how loud we are, it’s just, the more interesting and funnier the conversation gets, the louder we speak.
Body Language, We’re Born With It! Are you prepared to move your body? What about your hands? Then get ready for a daily gym with your wrist. Try to ask for the bill at the restaurant, call the waiter, wave for the bus to stop, say goodbye, wave to a friend. What about clicking the thumb and the middle finger together to express that something happened a very long time ago or shaking the forefinger against the thumb and the middle finger very quickly to express that someone should hurry up. Oh, and don’t forget the the thumbs-up, which is used for everything: “okay”, “thank you”, “sorry.”. I believe Germans express all their needs with words and sometimes with an eye glance, and always in a very polite way. So don’t get confused with all gestures we have in everyday life, somehow you will get used to that.
Don’t Try to Be On Time Punctuality is one of those things that makes Germans very proud. I do have to agree that this makes life quite easier. You are able to plan every minute of your day, and suddenly your life becomes a huge list of things to accomplish. Not satisfied? What about planning your free time and your vacations for the next three years? In Brazil, forget everything you learned. Welcome to the land of spontaneity! Set your watch back by 20 minutes. Plan to do not more than two important things a day and, if you are lucky, you might get three done. Don’t try to plan anything more than three days in advance. If you are in a hurry, don’t try to catch the bus because this will consume much more time than you could ever expect. At parties, happy hours and dinners, you are supposed to arrive an hour later; that is exactly the right time. And don’t be shy if you happen to be the first one.
Dress Code For many, Brazil still sounds like a jungle. Well, we still have big forest areas, but most of the population lives in cities. So, before packing, remember that you don’t need to dress as if there is a jungle out there. You can basically survive with a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. And if you don’t want to be constantly pointed as a German, please, get rid of those pants that zip off into shorts and usually has a khaki color, and never ever wear sandals with socks. Hot weather and our body culture creates the perfect enviroment to show off our bodies. But be careful! Achtung! There is a fine line between wearing few clothes and being naked. Our small bikinis don’t mean the same as not wearing them. The FKK culture (Freikörperkultur) has not reached our country yet, so getting naked is just acceptable in restricted beach areas. And the same applies to saunas.
Politeness, Have You Ever Heard It? Germans are super polite and this is intrinsic to the culture and language structure. It’s definitely not a smooth language, but they found a way to make it sound nice, which is by using the Subjunctive II, a verb mode that expresses politeness. Oh, and they also have the two magical words, “bitte” and “danke schön”, which you definitely must say in all situations of your everyday life. Even at supermarkets, we are surprised by the cashier’s kindness, who is always wishing you a beautiful day. Besides that, don’t forget to say “Hallo” to everybody. In Brazil, you have to deal with a different type of politeness, which is basically demonstrated by a smooth way of saying things. We show our desires mostly using an imperative verb tense and softening the voice tone. Our hands move toward the person who we might be asking something, in a way to show our kindness. And the only thing you’re going to hear from a cashier is: take your credit card now.
Dogs and Social Status Germany has a large middle class society and not much social inequality. And dogs are definitely part of this society. They can be taken everywhere, from buses to restaurants. Though they are not treated as human beings, they are definitely part of the family. In Brazil, this is different. Known as a country where there is great social inequality, dogs can somehow represent this. There are the rich dogs, who go to pet shops every week to get groomed, usually walk in high society shopping centers with specials shoes to not dirty their paws, and always wear brand-named clothes. Then you have the middle class dogs, who only go to pet shops once a month, wear common clothes and walk only in streets and parks, as they are not allowed in popular shopping centers. Finally, you have the poor dogs, free from all the shackles of society; they have no clothes, no leashes, no home.
Think Green It’s really funny to explain to Germans that we don’t have hot tap water at home. For them, this is a necessity of everyday life, and they probably can’t imagine living without it. They ask: How can you really clean the dishes? How are you supposed to do the laundry without hot water? How will the clothes get clean? Will bacterias survive? Well, I didn’t know washing machines could warm water before living here. This sounds crazy, but most of the washing machines in Brazil use cold water, so your clothes might not get as pristine as you expected. But when thinking green, you are probably saving 80% of the energy you would consume by warming the water. For showers, we have a trick, which is either using electricity or gas to warm the water the moment you use it.
Learn to Eat as a Brazilian Life in Germany can turns into a little Odyssey when going to the supermarket. Mainly if you have to buy one of these 3 products: bread, beer and cheese. This could take you the whole afternoon staring at the products trying to figure out all the flavours, tastes and types. In Brazil, start forgetting your 100 types of breads. We don’t have a good wheat production, so you have to find something else to eat. Basically eat rice, beans and something else. Go out for lunch, weigh your meal and then pay for that. Mix everything in your plate, stop trying to systematically organize your meals, in the end, everything will blend in your stomach anyway. Are you up for pizza? Cool, because you can even have four different flavours in one pizza, and don’t forget to place over it lots of Ketchup. Last but not least try to peel an orange following Brazilian standards. Take a knife and slowly peel rotating it 360 degrees and never cut the orange into four pieces.
Addicted to Sugar? Well, as Brazil is known as the coffee country, people expect us to have one of the best coffees in the world. Oh, this is only 10% right, because the other 90% of good quality coffee is actually exported to Europe and other countries. Nevertheless, you’re still able to drink some good coffee here. But one thing Germans don’t expect is the quantity of sugar we usually add to a cup of coffee. I can point out some historical reasons for that, but this might not be the case now. So if you think you’re able to fight against our sugar culture by avoiding adding any in your coffee, good luck. You couldn’t expect that we already boiled the water with sugar.
Relantionships This topic is really hard to talk about because I’m still trying to understand how relationships start and develop here. The relationship status takes quite a while to change: it is the same for someone you have seen for two weeks or a year. In Brazil, every step you take in a relationship gets a new label: booty call, friend, girlfriend, fiancee, wife, ex-wife, lover, etc... When in any of these relationships, remember to show that the person belongs to you and that despite being together for not a long time, you don’t support the idea of being separated. This means kissing, caressing, cuddling and couples sitting beside each other in bars and restaurants are quite common sights.
Don’t Go Blowing Your Nose Everywhere When you live in a cold country, you already know why you always have to have a tissue on your pocket. It’s the physiological need in which your nose will try to compensate low air temperature by producing more secretions. Wow, you can really try to explain it to your Brazilian fellows, but before that, they will definitely think about how disgusting it is seeing you blow your nose in front of everyone. And if you are at a table, you definitely going to catch everybody’s attention. So don’t be shy to go to the toilet and explore alone how greatly loud the sound of blowing your nose can be. Just take your time.
But Do Brush Your Teeth Anywhere Quite a common situation you have to face in Brazil after lunch time: a line to use the toilet, actually the sink. We might be addicted to brushing our teeth after lunch. In fact, I don’t think so, but this is probably the idea Germans get when meeting Brazilians brushing their teeth even in public toilets. It has nothing to do with eating onions or garlic and it doesn’t matter if you are at home, at work or travelling, because we carry our toothbrushes everywhere. We learned it that way, and we expect everybody to do the same.
We Love Showering! A survey in 2010 showed that Brazilians are the people who most shower in the world. It is estimated they take 20 showers per week, which is an average of 3 showers a day! We enjoy showering at least once a day and it increases to a minimum of two during summer. So if you are not a “shower lover”, just try to make an effort to wash yourself at least once a day to avoid strange and suspcious glances. Oh, and don’t forget to take a quick shower before going to parties, even if this would be the third one.
Garbage, Don’t Waste Your Time on It Contradicting the German philosophy of separating and organizing everything, we Brazilians don’t do much efforts on that at all. As a German, you can even try, and you’re probably going to be systematically separating your garbage in at least three different bins, but, in fact, our garbage collection system is not ready for such an intense knowledge of trash. There are places where you can dispose papers and cans, but you have to do it yourself. Oh, and don’t go crazy collecting bottles everywhere, because they’re not worth a penny.
Make It Simple Germans keep a certain distance when greeting and talking to each other. This “safety� distance is certainly smaller in Brazil, and we also have different ways of greeting people. It will change according to the situation, if it’s a friend, family or work meeting, and to make it more complicated, there are also different greetings according to the area you live. But basically at a family meeting, women will get two kisses on the cheek and men shake hands, followed by a hug or a touch on the shoulders, the stomach or the back. Sometimes it means that you will spend the first fifteen minutes just greeting everybody. The important thing here is not to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with the situation and just enjoy the contact.
Ana Lúcia Magalhães Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Project: Odyssee Original edition: 2014 Writer & Designer: Ana Lúcia Magalhães Typeface: Frutiger Printing: Corax Color, Weimar, 2014 Printed in Germany