Exchange student shares differences between Medford and Brazil


Medford Area Senior High School has been the host of several foreign exchange students, who had the opportunity to speak a bit about themselves and where they came from to an audience of their peers.
Gabriela Fernandes Luz, from Brazil, is currently in her first semester at Medford.
Luz had a lot to say about the differenceâs between American and Brazilian schools.
She talked about the more relaxed yet longer lasting school hours. Brazilian school is officially from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., but despite the long hours, time is viewed in a much more laid back manner.
In fact, she took American schools strict handling of time as quite a culture shock.
âHere if something starts at eight oâclock, you have to be there at eight,â Luz said. âIn Brazil if something starts at eight oâclock, Iâm there at 8:30. My school [in Brazil] starts at 7:30, but I always go there at eight. Always.â
âIf the time of a class starts after lunch, around one, I get to the class at 1:20 or 1:30,â she continued. âThe teachers donât have a serious problem with it.â
âHere in America you are always running,â said Luz. âAnd me, now I am always running. Itâs terrible, youâve got just four minutes between classes. [In Brazil] if I need ten minutes to go to the teacherâs room and take things to my locker, I can.â
Luz doesnât think that itâs beneficial to have students so wound up and forcibly time-oriented, saying that individually it doesnât benefit anyone, but it may help America as a whole.
âItâs good for the country, but I donât think itâs really good for the people,â she said. âIn Brazil we donât have to do this. We can have our time.â
She found the mixed age range in classes strange as well, explaining that in Brazil they only have class with students in the same grade.
Luz remains unimpressed by the school lunches, saying of the meals: âItâs a snack. Your lunch here is not strong enough.â
She commented on the amount of pizza served, as opposed to more quality meals, and how oily so many foods are.
She added how odd it was for milk to be served alongside lunch, particularly since no other options are available.
âI remember looking for something else, some juice, but it was just milk,â she said. âAnd I just thought âHmm, pizza with milk for lunch, this is weird.ââ âBut itâs good,â she added half-sarcastically as the audience laughed. âItâs nice.â
Luz isnât a fan of American style coffee either, saying Brazilâs is much stronger.
âIn the American movies we always see the people with coffee. I was expecting [amazing] coffee everywhere, but you donât have it,â she said. âI drank coffee here the first time, it was like water to me.â
However, she enjoys other aspects of American schools, noting on Brazilâs clothing policy: âWe have to use uniforms,â she said. âWe canât use normal clothes.â
Luz went on to explain the differences in how universities accept applicants.
American colleges look at a slew of information, such as high school grades and A.C.T. scores.
According to Luz, Brazilian universities look at only one thing: the applicantâs score on the Brazilian national standard test, the Exame Nacional do Ensino MĂŠdio (ENEM).
The ENEM is held just once a year across the entity of Brazil, and is open to anybody who wants to take it, with no age or grade level requirements.
âIn Brazil they donât care about anything from high school, all they care about is the ENEM,â she said.
Luz took the A.C.T. just to see how it was and selfadmittedly didnât fare so well.
âI didnât really know anything because [the test was not Portuguese] and I didnât really prepare that well,â she said. âI take the ENEM in, I think, September or October, but I will have to be prepared. If Iâm not, I will not go to university.â
Separate from school, Luz misses the different festivals in Brazil.
One of the biggest festivals is the Carnaval do Brasil (Carnival of Brazil), which is thrown in celebration prior to Lentâs fasting season.
The Carnival of Brazil is perhaps the largest of its kind in the world, with millions of revelers taking to the streets in celebration and hundreds of thousands of foreigners flocking to the country to partake in the festivities.
The yearly carnival took place recently, with official celebration starting Feb. 21 and wrapping up on Feb. 26, Ash Wednesday.
âItâs a big, big party,â Luz said. âSchools stop and they donât have class. Even the Thursday and Friday after [the carnival ends] students donât go.â
The celebration reflects Brazilâs jubilant and easy going attitude, pairing perfectly with their lax sense of time.
âIf we have a party itâs not just one day, itâs like one week, or if itâs something like [the Carnival of Brazil] itâs all the month of partying.â
âI n the American movies we always see the people with coffee. I was expecting [amazing] coffee everywhere, but you donât have it,â
âGabriela Fernandes Luz a foreign exchange student from Brazil.
âH ere if something starts at eight oâclock, you have to be there at eight. In Brazil if something starts at eight oâclock, Iâm there at 8:30.â
âGabriela Fernandes Luz a foreign exchange student from Brazil.
