Transcription
Moving to Brazil was the most stressful thing I've done in my life. And I'm not talking about stress for a couple of weeks. I was feeling stressed for many months. And I've lived in some other countries as well. I've lived in the UK, the US, and moving to those countries was stressful as well. But moving to Brazil was even more stressful than those countries.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing Brazil. Moving to Brazil was the best thing I've done. Um, I really like Brazil, but it was pretty stressful at the beginning. And in this video, I'm going to go through why moving here was so stressful.
And the first reason why it was stressful was the language barrier. So I took Portuguese lessons before I arrived in Brazil. So I'd say my Portuguese was intermediate, about the lower end. So when I was in Brazil, I was feeling pretty confident with my Portuguese. But then when I started talking to people here in Brazil, that confidence quickly disappeared. And the reason for that was the amount of slang that people use and then also the different accents. And to be honest, it's like that for most languages. So kind of the language you learn in a language school is very different to the actual language that the locals use when you arrive in the country.
So for example, when I moved to the US and the UK, my English was pretty good. I mean in Sweden most people speak English, uh, to an okay standard. You from Sweden originally or just Swedish? Your family is? Yeah, I'm from Sweden. Yes. My god. Is that your actual? That's not your actual accent, is it? It is. So when I arrived in the US, I could communicate and understand everything people were saying. Again, they used a lot of slang and accents, but I didn't really have that much of a problem adapting to that. And maybe that's because the amount of TV and movies that you watch from the States and the UK and so you kind of learn the the slangs and the different accents. So yeah, I didn't have a massive problem when I moved to the States and then the UK. But in Brazil, it was much more difficult. And I think maybe it was because I just practiced Portuguese in a language school. I didn't watch that much Brazilian TV or listen to that much Brazilian music. So, I wasn't really familiar at all with the slangs and the different accents.
So, when I arrived in Brazil and I went to the supermarket or petrol station or got an Uber or taxi or something and people started speaking to me, uh, using all these slangs, I mean simple stuff like saying hello. I'd learned "oi" and "hola." But then when I came here, a lot of people like "opa." He's saying "opa" and other things like "tem zap?" and I was like, "What do I say? Tem? Do you have zap? What the hell's that?" And actually "zap" means WhatsApp. So they're basically asking for your mobile number so they can add you to their WhatsApp. And I remember meeting one guy and he said "Manua." I was like, "Hello, manu, beautiful. Is he calling me beautiful? What is he?" And with all these, it's pretty simple to to learn. You know, you just have to type it into Google Translator and and you learn it. But at the beginning, it was just this constant thing of not understanding what people are saying and it just kind of brings your confidence down in what you've learned.
And also another thing is that in many other countries, especially in Europe and so on, where they don't speak English as a first language, um, if you're really struggling speaking their language, if you start speaking English, then usually there'll be someone who kind of knows English and can start speaking English with you and helping you. But in Brazil, it is a lot more difficult to find someone that speaks English. I mean, it all depends on where you are. If you're in kind of the the the nice, um, central parts of São Paulo, where you've got all the the big offices and businesses there, and the chances are very high that, um, you'll find someone who can speak English. But if you're just in the kind of the local supermarket or something, um, and you don't understand what they're saying, the chances are pretty low that you'll be able to find someone who can speak English because in Brazil, the percentage of the population that speaks English to an okay level is pretty low. I mean, just googling it, they say it's about 5% of the population, which I think is probably a bit low. I'd say it's a bit higher than that. Do you speak English? No, I don't think so. Do you speak English? Do you speak English? I'm looking for the the post office. We don't know. Thank you.
But I guess a good thing about not being able to communicate in English here in Brazil that much is that you're forced to learn Portuguese very quickly.
So, another reason why the move to Brazil was pretty stressful was the fact that there's a fair bit of bureaucracy and paperwork and certain things can just be a bit difficult to do and takes a long time. So, I'm talking about things like, yeah, first of all, getting the visa, uh, getting a Brazilian driving license, getting a tax ID, which is called CPF, opening a Brazilian bank account, and many other things.
So, just to give you a couple of examples. So when I tried to open up my first Brazilian bank account, that took a long time and that was difficult. So I went to one of the big banks, spoke to them there saying, you know, I'm a foreigner, but I've got permanent visa here. I'd like to open a a bank account. And I thought it'd be pretty easy because I had a visa. I was living in Brazil. My wife was Brazilian. Um, but no, it took a long time. And one of the reasons was the fact that the employees in the bank just weren't experienced setting up a bank account for a foreigner. Um, so I mean, I remember seeing in the bank manager's office, um, giving them lots of the documents they asked for and so on. Um, and then they were typing my information into the system. In the system, they had to write my address in Sweden. I can't remember why, if it was my place of birth or where I'd previously worked. I I can't remember, but they had to type in my address in Sweden. And the system just wouldn't accept the address. They wouldn't accept the postcode because the postcode format was different and so the manager sat there trying to type it in into the system and the system just wasn't accepting it and the manager said, "I don't know what to do." And they had to call the headquarters and ask them and eventually the headquarters said, "Oh yeah, you just need to click on these buttons here and you'll be able to type in the foreign address." And just things like that, which you'd expect, you know, typing an address would take two minutes, but in the end, it probably took like 20 minutes, 30 minutes for the, I managed it too because they weren't experienced, didn't know how to type in a foreign address in the system.
Also, another thing is when I was applying for the Brazilian visa, uh, the Brazilian driving license, and some other things, they always ask for notarized documents. So, you need to take your kind of your birth certificate, uh, your marriage certificate, and various other things and get them notarized. So you need to go to these notary agencies, which are called cartórios, and then they take a copy of the official document that you have and then stamp and say, "This is an official document." And also when you sign things as well, they stamp and say, "Oh, this is his signature." Um, and then you pay them some money for doing that. So, in Brazil, I was constantly going to these notary offices, getting things notarized. And I just found it so weird going to these places because in in Sweden and the UK and so on, you don't really go to these places. If you need to take a copy of something, and then you just need to ask someone else who's not related to you to to sign the document who's in a certain profession. So, you can ask a lawyer, an accountant, a doctor, a director of a company just to sign saying, "Yeah, this is a copy of the actual document." And that's it. You don't have to drive around to these notary offices all the time and pay money. So yeah, that's another thing that took a lot of time and effort to do and just slow down the process.
And then the third reason why I found moving to Brazil stressful was the crime. Because I think for most foreigners, the only thing you kind of hear about Brazil in the news and so on is about the crime, especially the crime in Rio de Janeiro and the favelas where you see the shootouts between the police and the criminals. And so many foreigners, including me, have this image of Brazil having high crime and being quite a scary place. And so when I moved to Brazil, I lived in the big cities. I had this insecurity. So I was scared of, you know, going outside, going for a run. I was scared of driving in the city. I was thinking if I drive and I make a wrong turn, I'm going to end up in a dangerous favela. And one thing I was very scared of was parking the car because I was told that a lot of muggings and carjackings happen when you park the car on the street. So I was very scared about where to park the car. I was constantly asking my Brazilian wife, you know, uh, I need to go to this place. What's the safe route to go to this place? Or I want to go for a run, but where should I run? Which neighborhoods? And it, yeah, it took me a couple of months in order for me to calm down about the crime and start getting familiar with the city, knowing which areas to go to and which areas to avoid, and also just kind of the precautions to take when you're out walking, exercising, or, you know, driving the car.
For the foreigners watching this, don't think that crime is really high in Brazil and all the places. That's definitely not the case. If you live in the smaller cities and towns, um, in a lot of these, you can be very relaxed. Their like crime can be very low. So, I mean, where I live in a small town in in the south of Brazil. Here, I can be totally relaxed. I can walk around at nighttime. I can walk around talking on my mobile. There's no muggings or carjackings or anything. So, yeah. Don't get the impression that the whole of Brazil is full of crime, but in the big cities, you just have to be a bit careful.
And also another reason why I felt very stressed when I moved to Brazil was the fact that I was missing family and friends back in Europe. Now, this isn't specific to Brazil. I mean, whenever you move overseas, you're going to have this feeling of missing family and friends back home. But one of the reasons why I felt it was worse here in Brazil was the fact that flights are more expensive from Europe to Brazil compared to like when I was living in the US and flights to the US. So if you look here, for example, the cost of a flight from London to New York is between $4 and $500. But a flight from London to São Paulo in Brazil is between $800 to $1,000. So nearly twice the cost. And so what that means is I'm flying less to Europe, um, because of the cost compared to when I was living in the US. And then also friends and family in Europe are more reluctant to fly to Brazil to see me because of the the high cost. But I would also say that friends and family are more reluctant to fly to Brazil to see me because of the the fear of the crime, because of what the media shows. So I think it's probably both factors of why family and friends, um, come and visit me less in Brazil compared to in the US.
And then finally, another thing that, um, caused a lot of stress for me when I moved to Brazil was my health deteriorating when I arrived here. So I'd say that the first year I was living in Brazil, um, I got sick a lot. Um, temperatures, sore throats, blocked nose, very tired. Yeah. Up to that point, I basically never got sick. Very rarely got, you know, the cold or a flu or anything. But then here in Brazil, I was getting one after another after another. Who knows what the reason was? I mean, I personally think it was a combination of things. I mean, firstly, I think the stress reduced my immunity, um, made me more prone to get colds and and flu, but then also I think it was partly the climate as well. So I live in the south of Brazil and here it's very humid and you have some big fluctuations in temperature as well. So you can have one day where it's like 30°C and the next day it can be like 10, 15°C and then the following day it can be hot again. Um, and so you have these really big fluctuations and then very high humidity as well. And I and I personally just think my body wasn't used to that at all and my body just couldn't protect me against the viruses and so on because in Sweden, the air is much drier. And yeah, you have some big changes in temperature, but they're not drastic like that over one day. It's more gradual.
And also another thing with the changes in temperature as well is that, uh, the houses in Brazil in general aren't very well insulated. And so you feel the changes in temperature a lot more inside the house in Brazil compared to Sweden, where you have a lot more insulation. And so the temperature inside the house stays more constant compared to Brazilian houses. And I'll never know what the reason was. Um, I mean, I went to see the doctors a lot and they asked me if I'd taken the vaccines, which I had. I mean, they recommend you take a vaccine for hepatitis when you move to Brazil, um, also yellow fever in certain areas of Brazil, which I had taken, and also the flu vaccines as well. Um, so it wasn't that. And the doctors kind of just said they thought it was stress. I mean, I I personally think it was probably a combination of factors that I mentioned, but thankfully it improved over time and now I'm back to to normal, hardly getting sick. Okay.
So I just wanted to share that with you. So moving to Brazil was pretty stressful, but still, it was the the right decision for me personally. And, um, I think Brazil is great, but I don't think everything goes smoothly and everything's perfect. No, you're going to have some challenges and so on and feel a bit stressed. But for me, it was definitely the right thing to do. So I hope you like this video. Please leave a like, subscribe. If you've got any questions or anything, leave in the commentary below. So thanks for watching. Until next time.