Speak Out featured short lectures and talks to promote the exchange of students' experiences
Last week, the Department of Academic Mobility, of the Office of International and Institutional Affairs (AAII), offered Speak Out, an event promoting the exchange of students’ experiences, which addressed topics such as studying abroad, cost of living, tourism attractions and cultural facts. The discussions centered on countries such as Germany, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Spain, USA, France, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, UK and Uruguay.
Daeseok Go | Photos: Camila Cunha
Daeseok Go, an exchange student from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, from South Korea, arrived in January and will be leaving PUCRS in December 2017. He talked about the groups that provide support to exchange students and the Korean values of respect to the elderly. “Visiting Brazil has been such a worthwhile experience as I could understand how local people live their lives and visit the other side of the world”, said he.
Yago Borba and Laisa Silveira
Yago Trisch Borba, a Law School student of PUCRS, and Laisa Helena Silva Silveira, a student in the Pharmacy program, went on an exchange to Universidad Mayor, in Chile. They talked about the Spanish language and the need to be prepared for earthquakes. “People speak too fast and use lots of slang terms”, said they.
Carolina Magalhães
Law School student of PUCRS, Carolina Muller Magalhães, went on an exchange to the Universität Tübingen, in Germany, in the first semester of 2017 and claims it has been a wonderful experience. “It’s impressive how interested Germans are in Brazil. On the streets, when they run into you, they ask you if you’re Brazilian and start speaking with you in Portuguese”, says she.
Livenghtston Cius
For Livenghtston Cius, from University of South Florida, the cultural differences are striking. “The USA and Brazil have very different cultures. You can’t kiss someone on the cheek like you can do here. Privacy is very important in America”, comments he. The 26-years old student, who will be exchanging at PUCRS until December, has also told us about his university. “The University of South Florida is very large; it’s actually the largest in the USA. In college, you have to do everything on your own and most students do not have a job like they do here, but there are many opportunities to make money if you are multilingual, skilled or talented”, reports he.
Overall, 9 international students attended the event. Anna Louise Woodberry came from Newcastle University (Uk) and is registered in History, Modern Languages and Communications courses. César Augusto Restrepo Toro, from the Universidad de San Buenaventura (Colombia), is exchanging at the School of Architecture. Heliodoro Flores Neri, from the Universidad de Celaya (Mexico), will be exchanging for one semester at PUCRS’ Business School. All of them will be staying in Brazil until December.
Sven Thorbel Recknagel
Students Eva Crisín Pazó, from the Universidad de Vigo (Spain ), and Sven Thorbel Recknagel, from the Universität Bonn (Germany), will be staying at PUCRS until Jul 2018; the former, in the Communications and the latter, in the History and Modern Languages programs. Students Guglielmo Agolino and Crizia Carbotti, both from the Università degli Studi di Parma (Italy), chose to come to the Law School for a short exchange. Agolino stays here until October. On the other hand, Crizia came back home in late August.
