I'm a French student and had the opportunity to spend one year as an exchange student at FEA-RP. I had there maybe the best experience of my life, discovering a new culture, language and atmosphere !I improved my knowledge too; first during classes with good and interesting professors, but also during my travels where I learnt a lot about the history, the diversity and the specialities of Brazil. I also met many welcoming and generous people who became really good friends. I will never forget this year and hope to come back soon in Brazil to do an internship or to work, as there is a lot of job opportunities for foreign students.
Hélène Laherre
Student of IÉSEG School of Management
France
The six month of exchange student in Brazil was the most exciting and exotic moments in my entire life. Every single day was true education for me because when I was in my country I never thought about life. Every single day was so hectic and competitive so I never had a time to think about life. But in here I saw almost every people were enjoying their lives not much worrying about money and competition. That was really shocking moments and the best lesson that I learned in Brazil is not about the agribusiness or politics or economy. The best lesson in here was how to live happy life and I would like to express my deep gratitude for all the people that I met in Brazil.
What I learned and listened about Brazil was totally different with what I see and experience. Except transportation, everything in Brazil makes me happy and satisfied. Especially, Brazilians are very nice and generous so I almost felt like I am in my home. If there are some people who want to visit Brazil and they are worrying about traveling because of the crimes then I strongly recommend that everything you see in the TV and newspaper is totally exaggerated. Here is so peaceful and the people is very nice if you don’t do silly thing then you will experience most wonderful time in Brazil. I hope people would come to Brazil and experience nicest thing in this beautiful country.
교환학생으로 지냈던 6개월 동안의 시간은 내 인생에서 잊을 수 없도록 행복한 순간들이었다. 내가 브라질에서 지냈던 1분 1초의 시간이 흥미롭고 나의 자아를 단단하게 만들어 주는 시간들이었다고 말하고 싶다. 특히, 한국에서 국제관계 학을 공부하고 남아메리카에 많은 관심이 있던 나에게 브라질의 일상을 경험한 것은 아주 유용한 경험이었다. 한국에서 내가 배웠던 것과는 정반대로 브라질은 아주 평온하고 열정적이 나라였다. 이곳에 옴으로써, 나의 미래에 대해 더 많이 생각할 수 있게 되었고 더 많은 확신을 배워간다. 내가 사랑하는 나라가 모두에게 사랑 받는 나라가 될 수 있도록 브라질에 대해 더 공부하고 브라질을 위해 일하고 싶다. 모두가 이 글을 읽고 브라질에서 교환학생을 할 수 있는 기회를 가졌으면 좋겠다.
Inyoung Seo
Student of Keimyung University
South Korea
Mi experiencia en FEA-RP, USP, fue una de las mejores experiencias académicas culturales, ya que conocí muchos amigos de varios países, compartí clases con alumnos brasileros, hice trabajo s muy interesantes en idioma portugués e inglés, así como también tuve que estudiar para las pruebas.Siempre senti un ambiente puro y confortable, rodeado de amigos que estuvieron siempre dispuestos a ayudarme en mis inquietudes, las risas en el sofá, los eventos, largas charlas y ricos salgados en el convivio, el compartir la hora de almuerzo y a veces cena en el famoso bandejón, son recuerdos que siempre llevaré en mi mente y en mi corazón. La oficina internacional, nuestro departamento en el cual podemos sentirnos acogidos, siempre dispuesta a ayudarnos y organizarnos de la mejor manera para lograr con éxito nuestros objetivos.
Ribeirão Preto, una ciudad muy caliente, pero así mismo existen varias maneras de refrescarse! Un delicioso açaí, un sorvete, un churrasco y piscina, siempre serán buenas opciones. El ônibus a veces un dolor de cabeza! pero solo es cuestión de aprender los horarios establecidos y salir con anticipación a la parada. Un lugar donde puedes conseguir carona, y convertirse en una oportunidad para conocer nuevas amistades. Por esto y muchas cosas más estoy eternamente agradecido con FEA-RP, USP y con esta linda ciudad en el estado de São Paulo! Gracias! Y a los próximos intercambistas les deseo muchos éxitos en este maravilloso lugar!.
Wilson Adrian Noboa Sevilla
Estudiante de La Escuela Politécnica Del Ejército
Ecuador
A dream came true when I received the acceptance letter of FEA-RP. I had the opportunity to study one year in Brazil and I fell completely in love with the country and its people. I studied two semesters at FEA-RP and would like to highlight the agribusiness lectures, that gave me many new insights and perspectives. Furthermore, it was very helpful that most professors accepted exam answers in English as I was still a beginner in Portuguese once I arrived. This means you are able to study at the FEA-RP even with very little Portuguese knowledge, if you are willing to invest in your language skills during your studies abroad. Your fellow students will help you a lot to learn the new language; it was easier than I thought.
Ribeirão Preto is not a touristic city at all. However Ribeirão Pretanos are very welcoming and it is an easy task to make local friends and if you would like to spend a year of eternal summer this city is the place to go. Visiting the famous Amazon, Pantanal (my favourite) and of course Rio de Janeiro is no problem at all because you have the option to enrol into morning and night lectures which means you can allocate your lectures in the first part of the week. I was living with two lovely flatmates and this brought me very close to the Brazilian way of life. I can highly recommend FEA-USP as a host university.
Simon Lehmann
Student of ZHAW School of Management and Law
Switzerland
Meu nome é David Rodriguez e sou estudante de economia da Colômbia. Inicialmente é necessário dizer que a experiencia de intercambio acadêmico neste pais foi uma das melhores coisas que tenho experimentado até agora na minha vida. Adorei o jeito das pessoas com os estrangeiros, a comida, a universidade, a FEA, os novos amigos - brasileiros e estrangeiros -, as cidades e os lugais tao maravilhosos que o pais tem, etc.
Isso foi possível só graças à ajuda de International Office e o ITEAM, pois a orientação que ofereceram pra nos sempre foi a melhor. Agora só posso expressar a eterna felicidade que sinto pela experiencia que a USP deu pra mim. Muito grato com Brasil :)
David Rodriguez
Student of Universidad Nacional
Colombia
Such a chance to join FEA USP Ribeirao Preto. I’ve studied there one semester (2011), and this was amazing. The university is really huge, with a strong student life and you feel directly like at home. For me USP was a really good university and I learned a lot but also met many local people really nice and interesting to meet foreign people. About the city, RP is the perfect size for an exchange semester, all the students are living close to each other’s, you can make sport, there are many events and you can discover the culture like nowhere. It’s also easy to travel and to discover others regions.
USP FEA RP is finally a really good atmosphere to deal with Brazilian culture, learn about local people and be beaming. I also loved the rhythm and how people are taking care of us at the International Office, allowing us to be quickly in the mood and to learn Portuguese. As far as I know this experience was grateful and will beperfect for the future, as I plan now to going back to work there.
Well, do not hesitate, you will not regret it, have the best time and learn many things, about a country that worth it! “Tudo bem” como falamos.
Aurélien Cornubert,
KEDGE Business School
France
Foi simplesmente maravilhoso! Em geral, o intercâmbio pode te ajudar a te conhecer melhor e ter um crescimento pessoal, além disso, morar numa cidade como Ribeirão, tão linda! comunicada com o Brasil tudo, é fantástico. E nem falo da qualidade humana do pessoal da FEA RP e da USP inteira, são inesquecíveis!. Fiquei apaixonada de ter feito meu intercâmbio como fiz...no Brasil! Obrigada!
Montse Santiago Roquez
Institute Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Mexico
It has now been almost 8 months since I entered Brazil. Being back in Germany for one month, gave me time to reflect about this exchange at the FEA-RP in the sunny Ribeirão Preto.
Because of my academic year preparations for the exchange semester were fairly difficult. Getting done all the different preparations was not that easy with the time pressure. On top of that I never lived away from my parent’s house for more than two months. So it was very exciting but also a big adventure. I have to mention that it was necessary to prepare myself by studying Portuguese well, spending every day time on an app and studying in class between 4 and 8 hours per week. But it was essential, because the amount of people without any academic degree speaking English is literally zero. One day after my last exam in Germany I flew to Sao Paulo, going first to the sea in Guarujá. It was more of an adventure trip right from the start, because of changes in the transport. Another bus had to be taken to the harbour of Santos, crossing the bay by ferry. I am glad that we had the help of a Brazilian, who lived in Guarujá and spoke English fluently. It was great that he showed us the way and showed us the Brazilian hospitality.
The faculty has an outstanding location right inside of the former coffee plant of a German owner. Visiting right on the first day its museum and the giant campus was an amazing experience. I am very thankful that we were taken there by Ana-Laura from I-Team and buddy of Igor, friend and fellow student from Germany. Which makes me think about the first outstanding and well organized feature of studying as an exchange student at FEA: You are all matched with one person being your mentor – the so called buddy – assisting in all kind of difficulties you will face in this very different country. In most other universities it is one person from multiple students. It was a very helpful and pleasant way to start getting to know the city and people. Even before the exchange started they are outstandingly important. During the first days, Igor and I were totally dependent on their guidance, providing first a place to stay, information and helping us getting settled e.g. buying with us a prepaid-card. This didn´t change during the semester. Whenever I needed help I could rely on the help of my buddy Mário and Ana-Laura. This accounts especially for a time when I was really sick. We soon became good friends and it was a pleasure visiting São Paulo with Mário.
But the most influence had for sure my family in Ribeirão Preto. It was great that I could live with Brazilian and international students from France, Belgium and Germany for seven months. Their presence, help and tips were awesome. My República with now more than 20 people is the República SPARTA. Back then we were around 10 guys. The shared house had all the things you could wish for: Pool, snooker table, big TV, a barbecue and a net to chill in on hot days. The second house we lived in had even better accommodation adding a balcony, sauna and a large outdoor living room. The conditions had increased even further shortly before I left with an additional house next door with an additional pool. A paradise! It was always very clean with cleaning service three times a week, which is very unusual for student’s places. Personally I loved most our three palm trees with fresh coconuts and the pool to jump into right after waking up. First I could not at all understand that the monthly rent for this dream house was identical with the costs for a simple 2-room student’s apartment in Germany. Everything from water over electricity was already included. Even the costs for the cleaning lady. From the first moment I visited the República I was enjoying the company of the others so much that it was certain that I wanted to live here. You became not just a temporary member of the house, but a true brother and SPARTAN. This is very obvious by many former residents visiting regularly the house. One of them is Felipe, who even invited me and my friend to his parent’s house in Minas Gerais to spend Christmas with him and his family. We even stayed for New Year’s Eve having a really good time together. The friends I found at SPARTA are some of the best I made during my entire stay.
The student’s life in Ribeirão Preto was very very good. Everywhere you can find small bars and restaurants with very good food and drinks. Prices are well affordable e.g. for the cinema paying with a student’s discount only 7 Reais. The canteen of the university, called Bandejão, was perfect for student being able to have as much food as you wanted for a symbolic price. Twice a day the kitchen cooked for more than 12.000 student. The best was not the cheap price about this place, but the possibility to come together with you friends and fellow students.
Bars with live music and traditional Brazilian dances could be found as well as the clubs of the city. But way better have been the USP-faculty parties and the República parties. I met a lot of really nice people and could listen to popular Brazilian music. Furthermore going to the parties is way more cost-efficient than going to the few good clubs of the city. But it was as well always pleasant to hang out with our friends at home. Waking up not knowing what would happen that day has been every day a big adventure.
Personally I enjoyed the very diverse and open minded conversations a lot. It was very interesting to meet many different cultures. First and foremost the Brazilian, but also Finnish, French, Swiss, Belgian, Chilean, Columbian, Peruvian students and get to know their ideas. Even talking to staff at university or in restaurants always linked to talks with new input. These open minded chats with almost everyone I am already missing here in good old Germany. In the end I returned with an enormous knowledge of Brazil. It was funny to hear more than one that I know the country better than some Brazilians.
In terms of travelling I have to tell that I travelled most of the time on my own due to different interests and difficulties organizing trips in a group. This accounts especially for Brazilian friends, which gave me sometimes a hard time, when it came to this topic. I was sometimes more than frustrated by this behaviour, because of cultural differences. But in the end travelling on my own gave me the freedom to do what I wanted and see way more than I would normally be able with others. Furthermore I was able to get to know a lot of people that I would have never met, if I travelled with friends. Some of them became in the end close friends as well. But I always had to be extra cautious and never trust people too far.
On the other hand trips that I did with friends were really nice as well in terms of being guided and exploring together. These were fairly different though starting by staying normally in one location for more than four days for example in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. When I was on my own I normally stayed a maximum of three days in one city. This made the individual trips always more intense, with sleeping during the night in a bus and waking up the next morning in a new city. Because of that I was able to see the south of the country with the “German cities” Blumenau and Joineville, Porto Alegre, Gramado, Caixas do Sul, Curitiba and Florianopolis. It was great to be on the day of Independence in the capital Brasilia and the cities of Goiania and Caldas Novas in the middle of this gigantic country. So I got a good overview over the diverse Brazil and its people, still missing the beautiful northeast though.
Above I already mentioned something about the Portuguese language. But now I want to mention what I did in Brazil. I kept the tradition of studying every day with the app partly and went to classes organized by the university. It was disappointing not to end the course with a certificate having several different teachers last semester and a lot of skipped classes. I really regret not paying a little more to go to a private language school in the city centre. But anyway I could improve my Portuguese tremendously thanks to friends and the Tandem Program. The last is an awesome possibility for you to learn any language. It works with two native speakers from different countries. One teaches the other about his language and you are free about which topics to study and when. On top it is credited with a certificate when finished, which is great. My partner is now in Germany. It is really nice that she has now the confidence in her German and I am looking forward to seeing her.
It might seem like the university was not the main aspect in my exchange semester, but that is definitively not true. Classes in Brazilian economics and the agricultural marketing course in English have been very interesting and I never felt forced to go to the classes, because of the attendance duty. It was awesome to pick the topics for this semester only by interest and not by plan. Group work was included a lot of times giving you fresh ideas and a lot of knowledge about other societies.
The International Office as well as the I-Team was all the time very helpful and involved in making our stay as pleasant as possible. Whenever we had problems or wishes we got help very fast. Never the less the stay was just like Brazil itself: a chaotic mess. I got used to improvising and adapting frequently, trying to forget about my German nature of having everything more or less scheduled. But I learned to become more flexible while keeping track of tasks and duties. I think it is very important to maintain self-disciplined otherwise you get lost in the jungle of intense talking culture and the joys of Brazil. I think I returned with good hybrid of both.
In terms of sports I enjoyed Brazil a lot. Many people are very active. It was always a joy to run through the city and encounter different places and faces. The same accounts for the beaches I have been to. But also hiking and swimming was always a lot of fun. It feels amazing that I fulfilled one goal of mine in live: running my first marathon! And that despite the hot conditions. Nevertheless the bodyweight workouts on the bars of the firemen department have been for sure the best sporty times!
Coming to Brazil one thing was very important to me: getting to know the people and culture of the country. I am very happy that it was that enjoyable. On top my personality developed greatly in this half year.
But even with this much fun, I was always aware that this country is a dangerous place and everything a big adventure. Especially when I was travelling on my own I was taking risks that I never could perfectly calculate. I have to say that I got lucky in the end with trusting my gut feelings, strategies for preventing dangerous situations and always being extra careful when I met people on the street.
My language skills increased in terms of Portuguese a lot, but now I noticed that it is hard for me to talk formal Portuguese. In terms of English it is sad that my skills deteriorated in parts. The English you speak in Brazil is just not like it is in English countries. But in the end I came to study Portuguese not English. It is funny that I am now using my hands as well as the Brazilians while talking. All shows that this time was way more than an exchange semester, language trip, vacation or seven months in the sun.
I became another person due to this adventure of my exchange semester and I am very grateful for the time I was able to spend with these amazing people at FEA-RP. It will always be an important time of my life and I am very happy that made this choice!
Robin Beyer
Hochschule Ruhr-West
Germany