Final Paper

Andre Tavares Silva
ENGL 191 sec. 99
Final Paper

Comparing education in Brazil and U.S: Crossing realities of a developed and developing Country

When setting aside the main aspects of an educational life of a nation, it is fundamental to understand that its governmental policies and resources availability will strongly and directly affect the learning process of a society. In general, each country formulates its school agenda, according to the main interests of a culture, as well as based on the demands that a nation-state has. Upon start listing the main characteristics of each system it helps to picture the scenario in which students will be going to school, such as level of income of each family, and accessibility.

So, the first point I want to make clear is about the cost of attending primary education up to college level, in each country. Only after I moved into the U.S, I could realize how these basic factors will affect one’s career ahead in the future. Another evidence for good education is the state’s commitment and strict laws of requiring kids to go to school, which in America is highly enforced and there is a great stimulus in part of the Board of education to keep students knowledgeable.

In Brazil, there is certain absence of the authorities regarding laws requiring basic education. After researching articles in the Brazilian Constitution, I found out that, citizens who demand attending public elementary and middle and High schools will have this right guaranteed by the government. However, education is only required up to middle school level, leaving the conclusive and significant stage of learning as optional.

In the U.S, there is what is known as ‘Compulsory Education’ for students usually starting at five years old, up to fourteen or fifteen. Although this law varies by state, there is been some governments that are trying to pass legislations to increase this compulsory education until the age of eighteen. As a matter of fact, a possible bipartisan reform on education law, which will require students to attend secondary school, is being studied. This program is known as “No Child left behind.”

So, as it can be noticed, both countries lack the requirement for high school kids. Yet, in Brazil it is possible to attend a State and/or Federal University for free, as long as the students is approved on the entrance examination, where he will be competing at state level for a place in a specific major chosen by the student. Whereas in America, not every student that graduates from high school will be attending a post-secondary institution. This is due by the fact that large amounts of money are required to be paid in order to attend the four years of school and eventually earn a Bachelor’s degree. In fact, according information provided in the website of the House of Representatives, the United States has one of the biggest drop-out rates in the planet.

Going back to the Brazilian reality, it is sane to understand that the situation of public schools in my country is awfully insufficient. There are no possibilities to have a good schooling under the conditions these institutions currently are in. As mentioned before, governmental policies and resources availability affect directly on schools performance. In a country like Brazil, where corruption and violence grow exponentially, added the fact that unemployment rates and missing of qualified work force by the majority of the population, it is hard to think about good public schools. It is tough to put education as a priority.

Nevertheless, experience points that the most developed countries in the current society did and do currently massively invest in a top quality education, namely: Finland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, England, Japan, South Korea, among some other examples. True. It is definitely hard to fix the problems of my society. Questions like, why is Crime increasing out of control, or why is it so hard for me to get a job, start to appear. Maybe the answers are in education.

But when public initiatives do not work, people with money begin to step in, and then people are forced to curve to private schools, while the state was the one responsible for that. Briefly wrapping it up, the result is that poor people cannot afford these schools, so what we see in Brazil is a divided education, where there is an elite, who manages to provide the best education for its offspring, and a group of people that go to school for free, but their reality is that they will never be able to compete with a private school student, and thus, they are excluded from the national job market.

So the Government came up with what they call a solution. They divided in two the number of spots available for each major in the Public Universities cross country, making it almost guaranteed the entrance of public school students in these schools. They also gave this privilege to self-considered black students, and native Brazilians.

The outcome of this reform was catastrophic. The reasoning in part of the Federal Government was that it served as a pay-back from all the years where Black people and natives were mistreated. There are some improper things one can only find in Brazil. This is one of those. What this did result in, was that it became intensely competitive for private school guys, myself included, to enter into public colleges. Meanwhile, the mentioned favored groups will hardly make efforts to have a guaranteed spot. The measure is still valid today and it still brings up a lot of controversies within the educational system.

As a contrast of what I actually lived in my home country, I found an easy paced school journey in America. Students do not need to worry about passing college entry tests. Instead, they pick their own classes (In Brazil both high school and college level classes are never chosen by the student, they are all required and there is a full-time schedule), which as far as what I have seen; value mostly life experiences rather than learning to pass a test. High school in the U.S emphasizes sports like no other branch of education, except from college. In Brazil, sports and education seem not to have a tie, as students barely compete for their schools, but for private clubs instead.

U.S students also need to worry about the ACT’s and SAT’s. The main difference between those and the one Brazilians need to take is that in the latter, one competes against all of those who are taking it. The Brazilian word for this test is “Vestibular.” It can be easily compared to what German students take at the end of their high school, also known as “Abitur.” Still, it differs from the Brazilian test, as is the student is approved, he will then get a certificate of approval, so one can present it when matriculating at a University. There is no competition among students.

Such a competition and challenging, though, may bring students a good level of education for life. This is probably one of the reasons why Brazilian students are so successful when going to school overseas. Our system demands so much from our part, that when we face a school that gives the student certain independence and simple tasks, we fell like nothing. At least that is how I see education in this country, never underestimating it, though.

As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, the scenario in which students will impact if students will attend classes. In Brazil, we see several public school buildings that are located in poor areas, exposing its students to violence upon stepping out of the building. Also, it is pretty common to find in these schools, students who are above the usual school age, as they have not been to school when they should, or just trying to catch up with the lost time. There is huge number of adults who cannot read or write.

It is a hard work to keep a student in school if he comes back home and all his friends and older brothers, cousins are making good money by stealing, becoming prostitutes and dealing drug traffic without going to school. It is also difficult to keep him with the books if he knows that he cannot keep up with a college level education. It is even harder to do even one of these things without eating properly, and in Brazil this happens all the time. It has been proved that students that do not eat as any human should eat, have troubles learning things at school, they cannot concentrate.

Another important factor is the students’ accessibility to school. In the U.S, there are the famous “School Buses.” I confess I was impressed when I first saw the huge number of buses parking by the high school I attended. This is a Substantive Guarantee that kids will be picked up and brought back home, leaving time for their parents to work and contribute for the income of their families. But how can a government that is not able not even to keep itself organized, promote bus routes along the city and give students the opportunity not to spend money commuting from home? Once more, private initiatives come in.

In the private schools, there is been an increasing number of private vans that take each student in front of their doors every day, charging a significant amount of money per month. That is how economy works, when the supplies go down, demand goes up. Not to mention the students who live far in the country. I have lost the count of how many times I have seen on TV, kids walking miles and more miles every single day with the goal to attend school. Some classes are even held outdoors, but not occasionally, as do the students when it gets close to the summer in the U.S. There are classes that take place permanently outdoors, as there is no class room or any sign of writing boards, notebooks, pencils, or desks. Many of these students actually have the hope of someday achieve a higher education level and help their families with expenses.

Then, the U.S school system is seen in Brazil as one of the most resourceful ever imagined. It really is. However, I was surprised when I first arrived in this country, and noticed the impacts that the financial crisis has, in a small span of time, brought to several U.S schools. I once read in my English textbook in Brazil (when I was studying this language) that the ‘teacher career’ was among the ones who made more money in the United States, followed by Physicians and Politicians. I was answered with some laughs in part of my History teacher in my senior year. I always imagined that Americans hugely valued the teaching professor, unfortunately different from Brazil, where teachers are ridiculously remunerated, being to me one of the most disrespectful measures in part of my country’s government.

However, when talking about College education, the two countries start to even up. There is, though, still the difference that in Brazil students do not pick any of their classes and they go to school full-time, instead of the flexible schedule one might take when attending an American University. Another interesting divergence is the general education requirement. In America, the first two years of post-secondary education are dedicated mainly to the general education core classes, leaving the resting two for focusing in the classes required for one’s major. There is no such a thing in my country. Since the first day of college, students go deep into what they chose to study as their degree. For Brazilians, general education ended in high school, and college is the time to fully specialize in their field of study.

One point worth to make comments on is about the grading system. When comparing the number of grades of each country, Brazil appears short in one year of high school, taking threes to finish primary education. In other words, there is no sophomore year. College years are pretty much the same in both nations. Now, the test and assignments grading is the most discrepant. In America, the GPA system prevails, using letters such as bottom ‘F’, and top ‘A’, while in Brazil, numbers are used to measure performances. There is a scale from 1 to 10, being 7 the average (C) in most schools. Also, schools have independence for how tests will be given, what would be involved, and what projects to give emphasis to. This may result in certain confusion for a transfer student. In America, the school district predominantly makes the rules, being the Superintendent the one in charge of the major decisions of the school areas, such as canceling classes during heavy snow days.

Overall, the goal of this paper is to mention the main aspects of each system and point out its flaws and advantages. It was fundamental for me, having lived in America as a high school student and having experienced the U.S education in its purest sources. This gave me a fundamental tool to understand the main consequences of the country’s economy, as well as culture and traditions. Indeed, it would be a fair comparison between American public schools, and Brazilian private ones, like the one I attended. Besides, the cultural diversity seen in the classrooms in America today is primordial evidence of current situations herein taking place, like immigration. Both systems have resources to challenge its students and turn them into good citizens and future professionals that will someday give in return all the investments the government has upon them done. However if taken as whole, there is no better or worse system, they simply happen to consist of different realities of life.

Works Cited

“K-12 Education.” Committee on Education & Labor. Chairman Hon. George Miller, 2010.
< http://edlabor.house.gov/education/k-12/>.

“Education in the United States.” Wikipedia. 2010. Wikipedia, 2 May 2010.
.

"Abitur." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 03 May. 2010 .

“Brazil Statistics – Education .” UNICEF. UNESCO, 2 March 2010.
< http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/brazil_statistics.html#67>


Resources in Portuguese (Brazilian Government websites)

“Lei de 20 de Dezembro de1996: Titulo III - Do Direito à Educação e do Dever de Educar.” Presidencia da Republica. Casa Civil - Subchefia para assuntos Juridicos, 20 Dec.1996.
< http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Leis/L9394.htm>.

Grammar Presentation

View Presentation on Google Documents

Writing in MLA

Citing Documentation

Two or more works by the same author

In cases where citing different works belonging to a same author is necessary, the procedures to do it correctly start by:

- Classifying the works in alphabetical order, not considering articles (i.e: An, A, or The.)
- Writing the author's name for the first entry.

The following entries should replace the name for three hyphen followed by period. The symbol represents uniquely the name previously mentioned.

Silva, Andre. Global Communications. St. Cloud: Central Minnesota, 2009. Print.

---. The Clash of Civilizations. Minneapolis: Central Minnesota, 2010 Print.

Books


Basic Format of a book

- Organize the information in four parts. Each one is separated by a period plus space.
It goes in this order:
- Author's name
- Title and subtitle, in italics
- Place of publication
- Publisher, date, and the medium (Print)

Silva, Andre. Politics post World War II. Detroit: Great Lakes, 2005. Print

Author with an Editor

Start writing the author and title, then the editor. Add the particle 'Ed.', meaning 'edited by' and allowed to be used for more than one editor.

Silva, Andre. Ethnic Conflicts in South America. Ed. Jen Matzke. Amsterdam: Essence, 2002. Print.

Author with a Translator

First it comes the author's name, then the title. The latter is followed by 'Trans.' (Translated by), plus the translator's name.

Silva, Andre. Soccer and Beer in Brazil. Trans. Rafael Silva. Sao Paulo: Abril, 2006. Print

Editor

The set up is close to the entry for work plus author, with the exception that the name goes followed by comma and the letters 'ed.' as in 'editor.'

Silva, Andre, ed. Fullbright. New York: Fullbright, 2000. Print

Work in an Anthology

Start with:

- Author of the selection
- The title of the selection
- Title of the Anthology
- Name of the editor
- Publication Information
- Pages where the selection appears
- The Medium

Silva, Andre. "Dead and done." The many stories about life and its turn-outs.
Ed. Robert Gilmore. Oxford University Press: Toronto, 2009. 195-210. Print

Edition other than the First

Include:

- The number of the edition, after the title.

In case there is a translator or editor, put the number after them.

Silva, Andre. The Internationalist. 3rd ed. Seattle: Evergreen, 1998. Print.

Multivolume Work

Add the total number of volumes prior the city and publisher, using the word 'vols.'

Silva, Andre. Days in the U.S. Ed. Neil Steinberg. 3 vols. Chicago: Clearway, 2000-07. Print.

Interview Report III followed by Interview Transcription

Andre Tavares Silva English 191 Section 99
Sho
Shanghai, China
Thursday, April 1st, 2010

First Report
Interview Transcript


Interview Report

My third interview took place in a very similar way which my last one. I interviewed a third international student two days after talking to the second one. Again, I made smart use of the position of tutor upon reaching other students in the same environment that I work.

For convenience reasons, I used the same set up for all interviews, which basically and simply consists of my laptop and recorder. Once more, I was able to compare the answers of the third interview with the past two, and it was interesting to see that some testimonials related to aspects of the country, such as government, family structure, and the way in which students found out about SCSU, match for all three interviewees.

The talk took place at the same tutor room in Lawrence hall, on Thursday April 1st, at 9:50 a.m. I consider this interview went by really fast, in comparison to the priors. This might be due by my interviewee’s reaction, which was laconic. I noticed he spoke only the necessary so I can carry on my work, providing, then, the fundamentals for an answer. Similarly to my Tuesday’s conversation, I showed up at the tutor room ten minutes before the tutor session begin, which by the way went from 9:45 until 10:45 a.m.

My interviewee is Called Sho. He is 25 years old, and he is a transfer student in his second year of college. A noticeable aspect of his history in the U.S is that, differently the other two and the majority of the International Undergrad students in this school, he came to the U.S at an older age. This may contribute a lot, once someone older would be expected to have more life experience than someone who just got off high school. Besides, he shows a different background than the other Chinese I have spoken with. Originally from China, Sho moved to Japan with his parents. There is where his genitors currently reside, and where he considers his home. However, I could notice a close similarity between Japanese and Chinese culture. Sho is fluent in both languages.

The way the process was conducted was really challenging and required extreme sense of trying to get a polished answer, with all the elements I needed put it on the report. It was clear that Sho the language factor was being an obstacle to fulfill communication and provide me accurate information. Our talk was marked by intense silence in his seeking for good answers, which often times lead me to make my own conclusion of what he was telling me. Nevertheless, in any moment I interrupted him, as a way to take words from him.

Sho was born in Shanghai, but before coming to the U.S he lived in Yamanashi. It consists of a fairly small city, with population of around forty thousand people. It is located at the Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan, situated in the Chubu Region, of the island of Honshu. The capital of this Prefecture is the city of Kofu. Sho’s home town, Shanghai, is the largest city in China and considered one of the largest in the world, with a population of around 19 million. It also is one hour distance from Suzhou, Yuan’s city (my second interviewee). According to Yuan, there is a great slice of Shanghai workers who actually do not reside there, and who migrate to Suzhou daily.

Interview Questions

1. Where are you from?

“My name is Sho, I’m from Yamanashi, Japan. I’m 25 years old and I’m actually natural from China, Shanghai. I have double major of Financing and Accounting, I’m a Transfer student from Oregon, this is my second year.”

2. What is the family structure/social life like in your country?

“Both my parents work at a Chinese restaurant in Japan. My father cooks and cleans the house, and he also does house works. My mom takes care of the finances.”

3. What type of government does your country have? How is it different from the US government?

“Communist Government. What happens there is if you don’t say anything against the Party there is no problem. Though, in the Internet there are websites where you can express your opinion, but the economy in both countries right now is now pretty much the same.”

4. How did you find out/decide to come to SCSU/US?

“First I just wanted to learn English after I graduated from college in Japan. I initially went to a small ESL institution in Oregon, and then I researched for affordable colleges around the country. That was when I learned that SCSU had good financial aid, and I decided to transfer my credits from my first school.”

5. What do you plan to do, where do you want to go after you graduate? Will you go home?

“I will try to stay here and find a job. If it doesn’t work out I’ll try finding a job back home.”

6. What is your daily life like in your home country? How is it different from your life here?

“In Japan I did a lot of part-time jobs. Average of almost 5 hours a day. I did one job almost everyday. In the U.S I focus more on studies, instead of working.”

7. What is the greatest influence the US has had on you?

“The Education environment. Here there are more campus activities. In Japan, students go to class and go home, no life on campus, and here most of the cultural events take place inside the campus, besides, students can even live here.”

8. What is the image of the US in your home country? What do you think now?

“Japanese people have the image of a huge place, with a lot of freedom, a lot of cars. Both Japanese and Chinese, as a majority, like Americans and the United States.”

9. What is the food and clothing like in your country?

“We eat a lot of Rice, and vegetables. Fresh food. My parents work at a Chinese restaurant, but in Japan, we often go out to eat sushi. You can find people that drink a lot of coffee, as well as families that drink tea or other drinks.”

10. What are some of the social "norms" or "customs" in your home country?

“Both in China and Japan, if you work at any establishment or store, you have to show extreme respect to the customers. In Japan we even have what we call “respect language,” with different vocabulary, tone of voice and posture.”

Interview II - Report followed by Transcription

Andre Tavares Silva English 191 Section 99
Yuan
Suzhou, China
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

First Report
Interview Transcript

Interview Report

My second interview was again supported by my position in the field of foreign languages, as well as the knowledge that I have about the organization of this Department at St. Cloud State. The fact that I am a tutor in this school provides me resources to reach other students in the same job as me. This is how I reached my second interviewee.

I decided to keep the same technology as in the first time, as well as the questions. My point in keeping them was solely to use it as an instrument of comparison between the answers of the first interview and the current one. The conversation took place at the tutor room at Lawrence hall, on Tuesday, March 30, at around 3:30 p.m. The whole process took a little more than half an hour. I recognize that I used certain improvisation upon carrying on this interview, as I never contacted my interviewee. It happened that I took a schedule of all tutors in the Department and looked for the Chinese ones. I simply showed up at the room ten minutes before the Chinese tutor arrived and then I introduced myself and asked if she would contribute with her answers to my interview.

My interviewee is called Yuan. She is a 21 year old and she is a junior at SCSU. It was really interesting having talked with her and having asked the same questions as I did to Jiawen, two weeks ago. In contrast to the majority of the international students in this country residing, she had a feeling of dislike towards the U.S. She came up here more due by a stereotype of America than for her own will. She graduated from High School in China and then she came to SCSU, at age of eighteen. What most surprised me during the whole process were the answers and comments made, which somehow opposed my first interviewee’s. After the talk, I got a proof that culture might vary within a country, especially if it is a territory with big dimensions, such as China.

This interview, though, was conducted a little differently than the prior. In this case, after every answer I made comments about what I already knew and what has been said before by Jiawen. There was sometimes where Yuan would stop me and ask: “What did he answer for this question?” The advantage I have found was that some points she made were not anymore unfamiliar to me, and therefore confirmed a cultural aspect of China, as I have researched and heard from its citizens. The part that really impressed me was when she described her hometown and its culture. That is because it seemed intensely different from Jiawen’s city. That also made me realize how diverse and contrasting can China be.

Yuan’s city is called Suzhou. It is a place with population a little over six million and located in the Chinese coast. About one hour drive away from Shanghai. This proximity really contributes to the development of Suzhou, once a great slice of its population, somewhere around 80%, are not native from there. Most migrate daily from Suzhou to Shanghai to work.

This provides a very diverse society, which includes since Chinese from other parts of the country, as well as neighbor countries citizens, and a lot of Europeans. This leads Suzhou to become an international city. Moreover, the high influx of non-natives, more specifically foreigners, makes the province of Jiangsu more liberal than the other provinces along the Chinese territory. Another aspect of Suzhou is that once it consists of a rich town, local cultures require people to fit under these standards. In other words, citizens are expected to be really gentle when speaking, achieve academic excellence and be good workers. All this information was actually provided by my interviewee.

Interview Questions (Transcript)

1. Where are you from?

“My name is Yuan; I am from Suzhou, China. I am 21 years old and I am a junior in Special Education. My province is similar to California if comparing the two areas. It is also more liberal due to the income of outsiders, different from other parts of China. It’s becoming an international city, in fact, 80% of the people living in Suzhou are not natives from my city.”

2. What is the family structure/social life like in your country?

“Families are formed by two parents and a kid, usually, as we have the one-child law, but you can find families with more than one child. Most of moms work and take care of finances, while dad takes care of cooking. Social life aspects are pretty similar to the U.S’s. However, the fact that moms stay at home here is weird to me.”

3. What type of government does your country have? How is it different from the US government?

“We have a Communist government. The main differences are that US government has two parties. China has one and no elections. From an American perspective there is not much freedom of speech, in China there is a great censorship with movies, music, and TV. You can talk and criticize about it to another person, like your friends and parents, though, publicizing critics is not really allowed. Some people get mad with this. I actually understand why there is such a censorship in my country. I think that the fact that we have one party makes it difficult for people to make change. In the U.S, if you don’t like the Republican Party, you criticize it and go for the Democrats. In China, talking good or bad, you are talking about the same Party; you don’t have where to go.”

4. How did you find out/decide to come to SCSU/US?

“I was initially planning to go to Canada or Australia, but my mom had the dream of me coming to America, even though I didn’t like it. Then, I attended a conference of American schools in Shanghai. I matched my grades and I was told that MN was the safest state to study. No 1 state. Also school is cheap and provides me financial aids.”

5. What do you plan to do, where do you want to go after you graduate? Will you go home?

“First get my teaching license, after graduation I would live wherever I could find a job, it doesn’t matter if it is China or America.”

6. What is your daily life like in your home country? How is it different from your life here?

“I went to school every day, comeback home and did homework, just like here. The difference is about making friends, in China you make new friends every day, maybe because of our huge population, whereas in the U.S it is harder, because people will mostly talk to you if they have an interest. Besides, I look different, like a foreigner, I believe they think that just because I’m different they need to hesitate talking to me, maybe they don’t know if I speak English or not. It’s an aspect that I don’t like about here.”

7. What is the greatest influence the US has had on you?

“My English has improved. Also I got more open-minded, because there are different people here that I need to socialize with, especially by the fact that I am a teacher and I got the chance to talk to younger people, such as H.S or elementary. Also the TV shows, which I love watching even when I was back at home.”

8. What is the image of the US in your home country? What do you think now?

“U.S’s image in China is very positive; they still think it is the best country in the world to live. I didn’t believe it was the best. Actually I disliked many aspects in this country, personally. It turned out to be ok with me; I saw that is not really that bad, although I miss home and still dislike it, in most parts. In addition, people in China talk about the U.S as if they knew all about it.”

9. What is the food and clothing like in your country?

“Clothing is similar to the one I use in the U.S. About food, we eat a lot of rice and dishes with steamed vegetables. We also prefer more Stir fried foods instead of deep-fried. Other items with great consumption are the products from the lake, like its fishes. The truth is that most of the food is very light, not much flavor. But I like it.”

10. What are some of the social "norms" or "customs" in your home country?

“The culture of my city, which is very rich, says that everybody is supposed to be gentle with words and actions, such as having good manners, being a good student, good worker. It is pretty boring. That’s why I think that people here are wilder, and not every time they treat others with the behavior I expected. It’s all a question of culture, I guess.”

Report of Interviewees' Countries Presentation

The presentations made last class section were undoubtedly interesting. It is really helpful, after going through the interview process, to have some of the basic info of the countries where each interviewee is from. The first group up was actually mine. We talked about China and Mongolia. One factor that surely enriched our presentation was the fact that one of the group members was a national from China, which supported every argument made about his country.

The second group talked about Sri Lanka and Nepal. Among the interesting data therein provided, I gathered the most crucial, which said that Sri Lanka is a small island off of the coast of India, and there are mountains and hill on the center of the island. Also, the natives in Sri Lanka are believed to inhabit the island since 6th century b.c. It consisted of a British colony until 1815. Esala Perahera, Duruthu Perahera, Sinhala, and Tamil New Year, are some of the names of festivals of the country. About Nepal, I learned that its constitution was created in 1962, also that it was ruled by kings until 1990, and after the monarchy the movement began. This makes Nepal the world’s youngest republic, since May of 2008. The country hosts a lot of festivals, namely: Dashain, Goddess, Durga, Tihar, Itoli. Another aspect is that marriages are very expensive, once the bride’s family has to come up with a dowry. Polygamy used to be legal and marriages were arranged. Though, people are starting to marry each other for love.

The third group talked about Japan and South Korea. About Japan, it was nice to know that mainly four islands compose it, although there are 6.852 other ones. Its flag represents the country as the land of the rising sun. Also that Japan is a constitutional monarchy, having a prime minister and an emperor. With the 10th largest population in the world, the country has the size of California. After that, what was said about South Korea was that it has had three kingdoms, but after its unification Korea was annexed to Japan. Also, the U.S and the Soviets at the end of WWII occupied it. After this fact, Korea split into North and South.

The fourth group talked about Malaysia, which used to be a British colony. The country has around 5.000 years of history, the official language is Malay and it currently is a federal constitutional elective monarchy, where the king is elected for a five-year term, and where chief ministers govern the states. There is a big Chinese and Indian population. This influences a lot in religion, language and business.

Then the country in focus was Saudi Arabia, which is the largest Arabic country of the Middle East. Its capital is Riyadh, and their constitution is also their bible, it’s called the Qur’an. There are no political parties or national elections. This government is based on the Sharia, which means the Islamic Law. Saudis pray five times a day, and weekends begin on Thursday due to Friday. The country’s biggest holiday is called ‘Ramadan.’ After that, Turkey was mentioned, and the most interesting aspect I found was about its first president, Ataturk, who was responsible for separating state and religion in Turkey.

Another group came to speak about Senegal. It was said that French is the major language over there, although only 15% of the population can speak it. Wolof is another official tongue, now spoken by 80% of the people. Muslim is the primary religion, and the main foods are rice, spices, and vegetables. Society is family oriented. Portuguese were the first to reach the country, after its natives, in 1444. In 1963 Senegal elected its first President. This group also talked about Kenya, which national language is Swahili, but most speak English. Kenya consists of a slow paced society where citizens have daily breaks from work so they can spend time with their families. Nationals eat mostly fresh food, having little refrigeration procedures. It became a British colony in 1890, and reached independence in 1963. Citizens have the right to choose for their religion. The third country mentioned by this group was Ethiopia. It is one of the few countries in Africa that has not become a European colony. There are more than 80 ethnic groups, and Amharic is the official language. Others like English, French, and Italian are also spoken. The main religions are Orthodox and Islamism.

The last group, talked about Burundi and Togo. About the first nation, I learned that its population is something around 9.9 million and that beer is an important drink in many occasions, much more for the way nationals drink it, which is with a straw. The Germans went up there and claimed the land as theirs, although, England and France were the most important in the dispute for Burundi. The biggest genocides in human history took place in Burundi, more precisely in Rwanda. About Togo, I learned that is used to be a small kingdom, until the British took the west part of the country, and the French go the east. Voodoo is an approved religion and soccer is the most famous sport in the nation.

Again, it was a really rich experience to hear a little about all of these nations, especially when there were natives from some of the mentioned countries present in class. Right now, I feel excited to hear more about my classmates’ reports of their second interview, and we will again be able to share experiences and cultural interactions we have acquired.

Challenges and benefits of interviewing international students - A General Report of Students' experiences

When listening to my classmates' interview reports, I found out that we all had a lot of opinions and situations that were common. One of the most cited ones was about how difficult and awkward it was to approach someone who they didn't know.

Another factor that was often mentioned was the country of origin of most interviewees. There was a majority of people from Africa and Asia, which are also the two continents that send the largest number of students to St. Cloud State's campus. Also, most of these students live inside the dorms, which made it easier for my classmates to reach them. Most interviews took place either in the library, or in Atwood. They also lasted in a range of forty to fifty minutes. There is an interesting aspect with the report said by the U.S students towards the international students, as well as from the international students and the peers interviewed. Writing as a foreign student, it seemed that the interviewees felt more comfortable when talking to persons from countries other than the U.S. It is understandable, once both in the conversation are able to comprehend some points made during the talk.

Now, the transcription process was also challenging, according to students. It is not always easy to catch every single word it was said, even with the support of a recorder. However, there were some interviews who were benefited by the fact that the international student attended the same class as we. In this case, he would know what kind of questions he would need to answer, thus, not being caught in surprise and not requiring too much time to think about his answers.It gave him the chance to better elaborate on them and make a rich process for both.

Particularly, I much enjoyed listening to my classmates' experiences, and confirming that they were not very different from the one I had. Right now, I am excited to see how my second interview turns out, and hopefully I can learn by my friends mistakes.

International Student Interview I - Report followed by literal answer transcription

Andre Tavares Silva English 191 Section 99
Jiawen Wang (Run)
Changsha, China
Monday, March 15th, 2010

First Report
Interview Transcript


My efforts on looking for an interviewee were entirely affect by the way I relate to people in this country. For those who may not know, I am also an International student. Then the first impression was that it would be an easy task, once I would be interviewing a person with, in most cases, similar story than mine. That is true. However, when I first came into the U.S, most of the people around my environment were actually Americans. With the exception of the other exchange students in the school, whose stay in the country would expire and they would return to their home countries. Not by choice, but as a recommendation, in order improve my English skills.

Therefore, almost a hundred percent of the people I know in this city are U.S citizens. This surely appeared to me as an obstacle, once I would have to really approach some unfamiliar people, in contrast with those who have foreign friends living in the same floor at the dorms and/or who choose to hang out with people other the U.S nationals. Nonetheless, my work as a Spanish tutor in the Department of Foreign languages of SCSU at Lawrence Hall gave me the possibility to reach some other tutors who occur to be citizens from other parts of the world.
I decided to use my session as a tutor, which usually is not very busy, allowing me to have flexibility of my time, to carry on the interview. Coincidentally, a Chinese tutor, which happened to be a person who in fact was my Chinese teacher during the spring of 2009, had the same scheduled time as me. We have talked before, and we both exchanged experiences and cultural differences between Brazil and China, especially after I learned a little of his language in his class.

The interview was conducted inside the tutor room of the Department of Foreign languages at Lawrence Hall, on Monday, March 15th, at 3:00 p.m. I arrived some minutes earlier in the room and set up my laptop with the questions, so he would be able to read them. I decided to keep the same questions we have produced in class, making some adaptations according to the way I put my speech. Also, I recorded the conversation, though, as a form of support to the ideas I produced while I listened to his answers, and not as a literal transcription. This is due by the fact that I believe that if the person who is asking the questions make comments or speak in between the answers, the final argument of the interviewee can be affected, or even influenced by my opinions. Therefore, I decided to hear him in silent, and after we were done then I made comments about the whole process, with the recorder turned off. Again, I believe that during this kind of interview, the interviewer’s opinion does not really matter; my report will be my written judgment about how it all went. It is a simple process: There are the questions, and then the answers. No matter how briefly his words were, that is what he thinks.

The way I approached him was directly. As soon as he entered the room, I waited for him to sit down, greeted him as usual, and talked about the interview. I asked him if he would not mind answering some questions and talking about his culture and country. I had one hour to do the whole process. I might have talked to him for about forty minutes.

The person, who I talked to, is Jiawen Wang, from China. When talking about China, a huge and typical culture appears and leads most people to believe there is a homogeneous set of traditions and customs all along this country. Particularly, most of the facts I heard during the interview were already known to me. This is because I have been ,for a couple of times, in the same classroom as other people from Asia, and often times the professor would stop the class and randomly ask the international students how different or similar was a determined custom in their home country. Making reference to the large number of Chinese students in this campus, I had a lot of chances to hear a little about this culture, especially after I took Chinese classes with the native students, in the past. There was however, one fact that caught my attention during the process, and it was the detail that within the families the father is the one responsible for getting money to fund every member, however the mother is the one who takes care of the expenses, in other words, she decides what the money will be spent with. This seems a little different from what happens in my country, where both of the parents work, and thus, they have a flexibility to make major financial decisions, without requiring opinion from each other.

It is important to recognize that even inside China, it exist a great diversity, as well as a variety of races, dialects and, thus, differences that for outsiders might be unperceived. Run, as he adopted himself the American name, comes from a Southern Province in China. He once told me, that in contrast to the weather in Minnesota, his city could reach really high temperatures along the humid summer, and which contributed for him to want to give a break from the heat and easily adapt to the Minnesotan reality.

Run’s home city, Changsha, according to the info provided by him plus some of my research, is the capital of the Hunan, which consists of a Province located in South-central China. According to Wikipedia its population goes a little over six million people, and about 2.7 million of the total population lives in the urbanized area of the city, leaving the rest to country areas and rural communities. As many Chinese cities, it brings the contrast of urban and rural, the modern and antique, intensely laying side-by-side in that nation.

Interview Transcription:

Interview Questions

1. Who are you and where are you from?

“My original name is Jiawen Wang, but I use the American name ‘Run.’ I’m 19 years old and I come from China, my city is Changsha.”

2. What is the family structure/social life like in your country?

“In my family my father takes care of work, he gets the money for us and my mother takes care of finances and sons, house works.”

3. What type of government does your country have? How is it different from the US government?

“China is Communist. In this kind of system the President works more with out of the country issues, and the Prime Minister takes care of domestic ones. Currently, there is more freedom of speech than in the past. Media has more liberty to talk about the government.”

4. How did you find out/decide to come to SCSU/US?

“Minnesota was the first state I knew when learning English. The first things I learned about the U.S were from Minnesota. Also, SCSU is the second larger school in the state, and I think it is a nice place to live.”

5. What do you plan to do, where do you want to go after you graduate? Will you go home?

“I plan on travel around the world. Give a break from school. Maybe work while I’m abroad and gather some money. I don’t know yet where I wanna live. It depends on which country can I get the better job. My major is Business.”

6. What is your daily life like in your home country? How is it different from your life here?

“Actually, it is pretty much the same. Go to class, then homework, then go home and watch TV on free time, however, high school in China goes from 7 am until 5 pm, which takes most of our days.”

7. What is the greatest influence the US has had on you?

“Since I got here I Improved my communication skills, in terms of what way do I use to approach people. Here in the states people have a really good sense of how approach and socialize with community.”

8. What is the image of the US in your home country? What do you think now?

“I used to think the U.S was a place with many job opportunities. It is not quite like that anymore, though. This is because I thought of how it used to be some years ago, but recent economic crisis changed this scenario. People in my city have a stereotyped image of this country as of college students partying all the time, as seen on many American movies. Soon, I found out that exists, but of course it is not all like that.”

9. What is the food and clothing like in your country?

“In my province we eat rice both for lunch and dinner. Almost everything thing is cooked, like Chinese cabbage, green peppers. That is specific from the southern part of my country. Clothing can be diverse, once there are the people who live in the rural areas, and those who grew up in the city, like me. This latter kind will tend to dress more westernized clothes, even being similar to the dressing manners in this part of the world, including the U.S.”

10. What are some of the social "norms" or "customs" in your home country?

“It is hard to think in one right now. Actually, I know there are many, but one of those is that in classroom, we are not allowed to ask direct questions while the teacher is talking, such as interrupting him, because this is considered not polite. If it happens that one student does so, there will be pure pressure from the others, like people instantly saying: “Don’t do this! That’s rude!

Another one I can remember is that children are not supposed to talk when adults or older people are having conversations, like within a family. This is because the youngest ones should learn with the older ones by listening only. It’s like they have no opinion because they are inexperienced.”

Interview Objectives

1.See how does a different culture from a country other than mine thinks about the U.S
2.Set differences between the student’s experience comparing to mine
3.To learn from different points of view
4.Learn some aspects of other culture
5.Understand a bit of the interviewee’s country’s history
6.Understand what made him leave his whole life back home in order to live in a different country?

Review of the movie “The Killing Fields”

The British movie “The Killing Fields” written by Bruce Robinson and direct by Roland Joffe was shot in 1984 in Cambodia. The main point of the movie was to show what took place in that country along the 70’s since the neighbor Vietnam gave start to a war, which surely impacted the Cambodian borders.

The story starts in the year of 1973, when the American journalist Sidney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) arrives at the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Schanberg meets his guide and interpreter, the Cambodian journalist Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor). The capital is invaded by the communist party Khmer Rouge. Schanberg is able to provide the evacuation of Pran’s family to the U.S. Pran, however, insists on remaining on the country in order to help Schanberg capturing the truth of what was going on over there, in contrast to the made-up versions the International media provided to the world. Upon being capture by the Khmer rouge and later on released, Pran, Schanberg, and other non-Cambodian citizens seek for shelter at the French Embassy. The KR, though, requests the Cambodian citizens to be kept under their power. Pran tries unsuccessfully to flee the country with a fake British Passport, as his picture fades away. He is, then, handed to the KR and starts living under a tyrannical slave regime.

Schanberg goes back to New York City, where he is awarded by his reporting on the Cambodian conflict. He also contacts several humanitarian groups to help him with his movement to find Pran. He is even accused of being responsible for making Pran stay in Cambodia so he could gain recognition. Pran, on the other hand, becomes a slave for the KR at the rice fields. He tries escaping but he is captured. Later on, he is helped by a man called Phat, who he works for and takes care of his son. Pran, together with other four people, try to escape. Eventually, after being split away from the others, he sees a Red Cross Camp across the mountains. In the U.S, Pran’s family is informed that he is alive. Schanberg goes back to Cambodia after four years and ends the story reencountering his friend Pran.

Along the story, it is evident that the journalists have more status and more voice and resources than the majority of the Cambodian citizens. This is what happens between Pran and Schanberg. Serving as a guide and interpreter, Pran seems to see a better future following and helping Schanberg. Although both are journalists, there is a hierarchy where the American one looks more respectable and also the one who take the major decisions. This becomes clear when Pran becomes unable to flee the country due to his ethnicity and especially during his hard time of humiliation on the rice fields. He uses, though, his intelligence and knowledge to escape that area.

Personally, the production really catches the attention when showing scenes like the dead bodies along the river, or even the inclusion of children as soldiers of the KR. It is an interesting movie because it talks about a real part of history. Moreover, it exposes the cruel regime which the citizens of that nation were submitted to, as well as an important part of world history, such as the consequences of the War in Vietnam. It also shows the role of the U.S government regarding to how the media was meant to publicize information about the war in Southeast Asia.

Yet, the movie sets a curious connection with the development of international media. This is supported by the fact that many of the true incidents were either modified or omitted. The result was that, truly, what was being said on the news has been manipulated by the media. This becomes clear when Schanberg watches President Nixon on national TV, talking about Cambodia and showing images of a violent country, where people are brutally killed. In reality, Schanberg knew that nation was more and better than that, he has witnessed a Cambodia that did not match the one shown on the media. Nonetheless, I would recommend the movie for those who would like to see the conflicts in Asia from another angle.

Article Report

Report about the Article “A crash course in American Culture.”

The article “A Crash in American Culture” by Jun-Kai-Yeoh expresses in a really interesting way the cultural impact that most of the foreigners, but in special the international students have when living in this country.

In fact, the author describes about his current job at SCSU. More than describing, he identifies and associates it to the heart of the American Culture, as he wisely compares their co-workers to a Dictionary to this culture. It is remarkable how he analysis people around this environment and picks up on their slang, as well as historical jokes which are often brought up around him.

Along the text, Yeoh relates about one of his cultural experiences provided by his American friends. In reality, his point by mentioning that is to support his own argument that the fact of migrating to the U.S under the circumstances of a student was exactly to realize that different cultures exist. A perfect metaphor for the situation is when he makes the analogy with his job and a “Crash course in American Culture.” In other words, his job is a practical class in local culture, and going back to his first day at it he talks about how naive he was when looking at the people he would work with. Surely, one of the lessons he learned by these experiences is to always be a little suspicious about what people’s invitations.

Now, this article is an important example about cultural differences and how to deal with it. Writing this report as an International student, it is easy to identify to one of these embarrassing cultural misunderstanding. However, these kinds of happenings are fundamental for a better comprehension of the host culture, as well as for a good socialization with the natives in the country. There is no doubt that one day, Mr. Yeoh will look back at this moment and (hopefully more into the U.S culture) give some good laughs about it.

Interview Questions

1. What are you struggling most with, this moment away from home?
2. What is the thing you miss the most from your country?
3. What is the major difference for you?
4. Any similarity to your country’s culture?
5. Is school easier or harder than in your country?
6. How are you adapting to the food here?
7. How are you adapting to the weather?
8. Is it easier or harder to make friends here?
9. How often do you contact your family?
10. Have you been in other parts of the state or the country?
11. How long have you studied English for?
12. Do you get Homesick a lot?

Headers from the Global Communications

Cultural Imperialism

The concept assumes the impacts of advertising, as well as other effects of Mass Media, both in developed countries like the U.S, and also less developed nations.

It has been criticized by researchers who judge the U.S for consolidating a Media empire, by persuading other nations with wise rhetoric.

The United States of Europe (USE)

European nations are seeking for the integration of their media industries, in opposition to the prior decades, where most of the European television was government restricted or owned.

Many of these nations host corporations with similar qualities, which induce more competition in this market.

Bertelsmann

The Company is an incredible Media authority, with connections in all continents, more than fifty nations, besides of a fair slice of the global music market.

A German company that exercises a major role in global Internet activities, as well as in music, publicity, and some other sorts of communication vehicles.

Vivendi Universal

A corporation with its strengths on the field of audiovisual, and setting association with many other companies, Bertelsmann for instance.

It stills dragging interests in public utilities and construction, as it is strongly noticed in French speaking countries, as well as the U.S, especially after the purchase of Universal Studios.

British Sky Broadcasting Group

This group is the leader on Channel providing in the U.K, furnishing a wide range of entertainment, consisting of forty channels.

It also brought into Europe the innovation of Digital Television, in addition to its expansive broadcasting linked to U.S FOX network, intensifying its satellites across the world.

Matra Hachette

It consists of a diverse firm and it is responsible for the issuing of a large number of magazines and encyclopedias.

It is recognized as the fourth biggest publishing corporation in America.

Canal Plus

This group is the head in providing paid channels in Europe, consisting of a total of about twenty channels.

Although its spotlight is in sports, Canal Plus invests on bringing together the European movies with the aim of consolidating the film industry in the continent.

Pathé

It is a film production that possesses movie theaters but that also is present in movie features and television programming.

Since the last two decades, the company has changed to the American model of multiscreen.

Pearson

Based in U.K, it controls several media properties, as it produces over a hundred TV programs, for audiences worldwide.

Despite the profits with television, Pearson is a pioneer in educational and reference publishing.

VNU

It consists of an empire made of publicity, television, film production, music, Internet, and television.

North American businesses provide the company with about a third of their world revenues.

Mediaset

The group controls three of the biggest channels in Italy and belonging, in its majority to Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

It is currently seeking International expansion for its wide catalog of Soap Operas and Sitcoms.

Other Foreign Communications Corporations

News Corporation (Australia)

The Company has created an Empire in International Media, as well as in technology, and sports.

Company’s shareholder Rupert Murdoch uses largely publicized sport events as a trap for the company’s audience.

Star TV (Asia)

This company was initially acquired by the Australian "News Corporation," and started broadcasting satellite television services, so-called "STAR network."

It serves over three hundred million people around Asia and parts of Middle East, furnishing both subscription and free-to-air television services.

Can West Global Communications Corp. (Canada)

It is known as one of the major broadcasters in Canada, first starting as the third largest networks, back in the 70’s.

The Group achieved an Internet development, due by its expansion across the U.S, and which consists of a network of news and info.

WETV (Canada)

This group has its approaches on both commercial and public broadcasting, looking to integrate public and private funding, and willing to provide the global market an unconventional television service.

The company’s aim is to give another look at how the secondary nations are represented on the mainstream, by competing commercial television network.

Aboriginal People’s Television Network (Canada)

Originally, the group’s first goal when created was to provide constructive images and messages in relation to the aboriginals and their lifestyle.

It not only broadcasts aboriginal programs from Canada, but also from the U.S, Australia, and New Zealand.

Grupo Televisa (Mexico)

It was originally created in Mexico City, by the Traditional Azcarraga family, which ended-up by forming an empire starting with Radio stations, and later with Grupo Televisa, combined to two other companies.

Its broadcastings aim mostly the increasing Hispanic community in the U.S.

Sony (Japan)

Sony’s founders were willing to innovate in the media industry by creating new markets with communication technology, as the group produced the first Japanese Tape recorder in the 50’s, and later on with other technologies.

By the end of the twentieth century, Sony invested in the American Hispanic broadcaster network "Telemundo", as it attracted about a quarter of the Hispanic audience in the U.S.

Conclusions

The Sports Connection

The Combination Sport plus Media was not really strong until the 70’s, where the media rights over the Olympic games kicked in, and corporations started to broadcast this kind of events.

In the present days, not only the Olympics, but the World Cup of Soccer, and even other sport events at all levels, from High School to World Championship, all that consists of a tremendous source of revenue for the television companies, and for the development of new technologies, as well as for global media, in general.

Global Stakeholders

The characterization of Media corporations infers that the main goal in this field of the market is to make profit, yet, following patterns and standards, such as sharing the same commercial values.

Although the national demand is significant, companies mostly rely on foreign customers, for instance, European, Asian and Canadian groups focusing in the U.S audience and taking advantages such as structural changes within the past few decades, and the ethnic variety present in this part of the world.

Abstract

Abstract of the Article “Presses and Democracies.”

The Article “Presses and Democracies” by Overholser and Hall Jamieson (Oxford/ New York 2005) talks about how media news differs around the globe and changes along the time. The authors mention about Globalization and its effects, which turned journalism into a popular, often common culture in most of the countries.

The text proposes identification of the main Media Systems in the Western World. It details the three main models in Western Media. Firstly, the authors talk about the Liberal Model, together with its three similar characteristics, being first the commercial newspapers. Then its state intervention and lastly centering that journalism should be impartial, neutral, replacing, then, the concept of political parallelism. After that, it is mentioned the Polarized and Pluralist Model. It states that it first evolved across the Mediterranean parts in Europe. Southern European countries were more willing to divulgate the arts, such as music and literature, rather than for profit. It finally arrives at the Democratic Corporatist Model. When this model came in, public opinion was mainly influenced due to how prior systems have developed.

After the overview of the models, it is taught about the Convergence of Media Systems. It is said that the divergences among the models was reduced about the end of the last century. It argues that the main cause to this was the so-called secularization of European society, which can be supported by a denial of people in separating religious and ideological faiths linked to those systems.

On the last part, the authors associate the development of Media Systems with enhancements for society, such as turning public causes like democracy, and other subjects with controversial contents. At conclusion, questions are set in the atmosphere, making one to wonder what futures await for the Media. Moreover, the authors imagine of what kind of concerns will be brought up and how can the logic of the current models not be contradicted due by its own rules.

Sentence Corrections

1. I asked my grandfather what were these objects and why was he still keeping in box well seal.

I asked my grandfather what were these objects and why was he still keeping them in a box well seal.

2. My grandfather told that these object had a great meaning for him because they remind him his adventure when he was young.

My grandfather said that these objects have a great meaning, because they remind him of his adventures when he was young.

3. They found that 600 years ago, there was an empire that ruled the ancient China of Ming Dynasty called Lun Luo. He had a rock stamp with his name on it.

It was found that 600 years ago there was an empire that ruled the ancient China, during Ming Dynasty, called Lun Luo. It had a rock stamp with its name on it.

4. At first, she could not see where her family had gone, but on the other side of the massive old-fashioned TV set; she could see a light piercing through the room.


At first, she could not see where her family had gone, but on the other side of the massive old-fashioned TV set, she could see a light piercing through the room.


5. Why do people get dreams when they sleep? I had this doubt when I was young and when I asked my grandfather about this doubt he told me that,”people get dreams because mind just can’t blank.”
Why do people have dreams when they sleep? I had this doubt when I was young and when I asked my grandfather about it he told me that people have dreams because mind can’t blank.

6. A mother and father decided they needed a break, so they wanted to head out for a night on the town. But, they worried about their son, so they called their most trusted housekeeper to care about their son. When the housekeeper arrived, the three children were already fast asleep in the bed. So, the housekeeper just sits around with children.

A couple decided they needed a break, so they wanted to head out for a night in town. They worried about their son, though, so they called their most trusted housekeeper to take care of him. When she arrived, the three children were already fast asleep in the bed. The housekeeper, then, just sits around with the children.

Diction - Presentation

Presentation

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AX718zGMFkE6ZGY4OW1xd2ZfM2dzZHE3c2M5&hl=en


Bibliography:

Hacker, Diana. Bedford Handbook. 7th ed. Boston, New York, 2009. Print

http://www.towson.edu/ows/activepass.htm (1-22-10)

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice.htm (1-23-10)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diction (1-21-10)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diction (1-21-10)

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/diction.html (1-21-10)

http://grammar.about.com/od/d/g/disctionterm.htm (1-22-10)

http://distance.daemen.edu/owl/diction2.html (1-22-10)

http://distance.daemen.edu/owl/diction2.html (1-22-10)

Story in a Box II

A Boy called Carlos

A guy with the will to travel around does not limit his thirst for adventures and knowledge. Carlos sails across the ocean and uses skills to work his way overseas.

There once was a drummer guy named Carlos. He liked studying Geometry. He would always walk around measuring things with his ruler. He wanted to travel around the world, but money was not abundant to be spent away. Until that, one day he decided to travel all by himself. He built himself a strong Canoe.

Neither his mom nor dad knew about it. He left his house. It took him about an hour until the port. He did not have much to bring with: a leather wallet, with some money, some clothes, nuts he got at the market, and an ancient cloth he had at home. Even never abroad before, he got had a Passport, just in case he would go overseas someday. When arriving at the port and before departing on his journey, he set a bird feather on the bottom of his canoe, as a Chilean tradition to bring good luck.

Carlos only wanted to adventure himself and have fun traveling around seeing different stuff. However, he underestimated his potential to go far, and arrived at "Isla de Pascua," a Chilean Island on the Pacific. While staying at a cheap hostel, he met an Italian girl. Before going on the ocean again, she gave him a present from the island of Malta, of where she was form. The present was a glass, useful for storing water.

After a whole day across the sea, Carlos ended-up in the French Polynesia. The first thing he looked for was an exchange house. The value of his Chilean pesos was higher than the local francs. He charted a flight to Singapore. When getting there, he exchanged money again. He found the Singaporean coins were really interesting, so he decided to keep some to bring back home. Carlos amazingly exchanged a nice amount of cash. He was even able to stay in the country for more than a week.

He really enjoyed highly developed City of Singapore. He knew, though, his money would not last for much longer. He wanted to stay there for a couple of days, keeping in mind he would have to win extra money to pay for a ticket back. He stayed in cheap hotels and ate pretty well all days. Using his Carpenter skills he bought wood, tools and built two sculptures. One was of a Singaporean Tribal Woman, and the other a colored human head. He sold it to a touristic store at the airport. Successfully, he made good money, enough to buy his ticket.

Nevertheless, he had troubles leaving the country. He would need a travel authorization for being underage. So, he stole a stamp from an immigration Officer, stamped his passport with this Chinese character and passed straight to the boarding area.

Carlos spent a week away and was back home even before his parents. He stills leaving at that same farm house, proud of his secret journey abroad. Now, the single thing he can think of is which other place he is going next.