Experiencing Brazil

Hello from Rio 🙂 I finally arrived in this beautiful city. But getting here was more difficult than expected 😉

After arriving at the SFO airport, we realize that our flight is delayed. And soon it became clear that the plane will probably not fly at all this day. Luckily, thanks to my travel mates, we managed to get rebooked from an American Airlines flight via Miami to a United flight via Dallas. So we ran back from the gate to the counter to get checked in again. We literally made it just in time before they closed the door of the plane. However, we were not sure if our luggage would make it as well..

Apart from this initial stress, the flight was really beautiful 🙂

It also gave me time to think about the past couple of months. Moving to Stanford was a big decision and I still cannot believe how much my life has changed since then. Meeting all those incredible people, I realized how big the world is and how many opportunities and ideas are out there. Although my life was already very international for Swiss standards, life at the GSB is a totally different level. I am really thankful for this experience.

In addition to that I found amazing new friends. They are my new family and a big part of why I feel so at home at Stanford. From Swiss fondues to late night chats – without them Stanford wouldn’t be the same.

However, flying further and further away from the U.S. and looking forward to traveling three weeks in a country I barely knew, I felt anxious and alone. Maybe the last couple of months were just a dream? What if the others don’t like me that much? Who am I? I know who I was before the GSB, but who am I now? And what part of me didn’t change, because it’s part of who I truly am?

And in addition to the thoughts about the GSB, I was thinking about my friends at home. Living abroad for two years is a great experience, but it also means that I leave my old life behind. I’m still in close contact with my friends and I definitely don’t want to lose them. But at the same time, their life moves on and if I’m not careful we’ll lose each other.

However, I was also looking forward to being on the road again. Being away from your daily life opens your mind and challenges you to rethink who you are. Knowing how you think and feel when you are alone in a new environment far away from your normal life, makes you better understand who you truly are. And in fact, you don’t really need much, because the most important thing – you – is always with you.

In this regard, I was looking forward what Brazil has in it for me..

As every visitor I have certain expectations about Brazil. So when I think about Brazil, a couple of pictures come to my mind:

So what is the real Brazil like? What are their dreams and aspirations? How does their life look like? What does is mean to do business in Brazil?

Let’s find out 🙂

Hello to my third travel blog 🙂 I’m currently traveling in Brazil to learn more about its economy and culture.

Why Brazil..

As part of my graduation requirement at Stanford, I have to fulfil a Global Experience Requirement (GER). Usually, people do this by participating in a Global Study Trip where you travel to a foreign country to speak with CEOs, politicians, journalists and people from NGOs about a particular topic.

After traveling in Europe, Asia and Africa, I wanted to see another continent – Latin America. So I applied for Brazil and luckily got my first choice 🙂

The trip theme is “is Brazil ready for the world stage?” In recent years, Brazil got a lot of attention as one of the BRIC countries – with high growth rates and a large domestic market. And the soccer World Cup and Olympics will give Brazil another opportunity to present itself to the world.

But at the same time Brazil suffers from horrible infrastructure, a corrupt government, an inefficient economy, a lack of well educated employees and regional and social inequalities. Therefore, the question remains if Brazil will become the economic powerhouse it aspires to be.

After the trip..

As always, just sitting there in my suit has never been my thing. Therefore I will skip Christmas this year and stay down here a little bit longer. I’m planning to explore the region between Rio and Belo Horizonte before flying back to San Francisco after New Year’s Eve.

I’m really looking forward to being on the road again :)! Traveling to remote places has always been my passion and although this region is well explored, the Portuguese language will still be a challenge.

Speaking of language.. because I’m not a native English speaker this blog will probably contain a couple of typing errors. Please take it with Brazilian openness and humor 😉

See you in Brazil :)!