Career Choices: Cross Generational + Cross Cultural = [Completely] Lost in Translation?

Talking About Generations, a blog that discusses Gen-Y and inter-generational issues asked me to write a guest post for them and it was published today! :-)

Check out a snippet here and the rest on this great generation y blog!

"Growing up as an immigrant child is funny. Especially in the US where t here are tons of us. You are raised at home with a set of principles that aren’t necessarily those of the country you live in and so you think it’s funny when people at school have different upbringings than yourself. You go home and your mother is horrified by the Americanos, and their upbringings. And then when you get a little older and have to choose a profession, your parents who work in blue collar (or no collar for that matter) jobs, want you to work somewhere where you can make money and excel financially. And of course, do something that’s considered honorable where they come from so your family “back home,” can be proud of you as well....

Dealing with cross generational differences in career decisions can be difficult. Add cross cultural to that equation, and the difficulty becomes even greater. But, since I’ve always had to deal with the cultural part, the career part is a piece of cake compared to what I had to deal with growing up. Plus, think on the bright side of things, if your family has no idea what it is you do for a living, there’s no giving their two cents on how to do it!"

beijoooss and have a great weekend!

Little Bro's Visit!

In one of my last posts, I mentioned my younger brother was here and that I hadn't been writing much because I've been trying to entertain him, and then I realized I hadn't written much about him AT ALL here.

This is at ExpoAgropecuária in Governador Valadares, MG

First of all, you1re probably wondering how my brother can come to Brazil to visit me and simply return to the US when I can't. Well, the math of it all is that I went to the US at age 2 going on 3 and Fernando is 5 1/2 years younger than me - aka - He's American AND Brazilian. He has a situation many dream of - dual citizenship. Not one stamp on his passport since he leaves and enters the US and Brazil as a citizen.

Anywho, Fernando (that's his name) and I have become really in the past 6 years or so. Before we weren't so close because of our age difference and really didn't have much to talk about. But we've always had a great relationship. We rarely ever fight, and when we do, we'll be over it in about 2 minutes flat. He's a good kid. He's 18 and just graduated from high school, loves to make hip hop beats (check out his MySpace page!: Bovice), is a super athlete (jealouuuss), and VERY unlike me - super quiet and shy around people he doesn't know so well.

Um, can you say MySpace picture?

For his "graduation present," so to speak, he came to Brazil 2 days after graduation for a 2 month vacation, spending one month in Minas Gerais with our family and the next here in São Paulo with myself and our aunt. Despite not having seen him for a year and a half, we talk pretty frequently and he's certainly matured even more in the past couple of years, so I was definitely looking forward to spending QT with him and of course, now that he's 18 - take him out partyinggg in SAMPA CITY!

Cheers to manly drinks @ a rock bar here in Sampa

Needless to say, it's been a pretty hectic few weeks going out to bars, outdoor markets, sight-seeing, Sundays at my aunt's house, out to dinner (like whoa!), clubs, and more. He's also had a chance to play soccer with some of my friends who play once a week and has been out with our cousin Heitor and his friends quite a bit as well. During the day while I'm at work, he's been doing some sight-seeing and exploring on his own. His Portuguese has also gotten very good ever since he's gotten here. Unfortunately, his only contact with the language is with my parents in the US, but he's set on buying some books here to practice there.

He looks EXACTLY like me (see photos in this post) so we've been introducing him to people as my twin, and it's actually worked, which has been fun too. It just hasn't worked for people who know my age... they make me feel old when they say, "But he's younger, right?" (as I sulk and start wondering if I wear enough sunblock).

Let's, see... what else am I missing? I think that's it... I guess I'm already starting to get sad that he's leaving in just a few days to start college and I probably won't see him in at least another year... but I'm slowly but surely trying to convince him to move to Brazil!!

I'm definitely going to miss my " little one"!