Experience report
ANR: 305530
Name:Sherie Lee Leinse
E-mail:S.Leinse@live.nl
Exchange semester: Spring February/July 2014
Academic year: Master in Law
Host University:Fundacao Getulio Vargas, FGV Direito SP
Country: Brazil
Admission, arrival, housing
The moment I got green light and got the news I could go on exchange again, I immediately started
searching for an apartment in Sao Paulo. The host university only provides internet links you can use
to search for your own accommodation. They tell you which neighborhoods are good to live in and
which ones are nearby the university. Everything else is up to you! I researched a lot on the internet,
read some blogs and this way I found an apartment in a great neighborhood, Jardims, which is nearby
the university in Bela Vista.
I arrived at the Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo, where I took the taxi to my apartment, but you can
easily take the bus the Avenida Paulista and work your way from there. As well Jardims as Bela Vista
are nearby Avenida Paulista (5-15 min walk, depends where you are located exactly).
A good place to search for good apartments, as well a good way to come in contact with other
students, is search on Facebook. Just type in ‘Apartamento FGV’! Almost all the business students I
met found their place there and some of them had an apartment to be jealous of!
Location of university/city
Sao Paulo! Also known as a ‘Concrete Jungle’ and a city with itself that has more than 12 million
inhabitants but 22 million in total if you count Sao Paulo state with it. Many people think about Rio de
Janeiro if they hear the name Brazil, but for business you definitely need to be in (Sampa) Sao Paulo.
It is a real jungle of traffic, high skyscrapers, a fleet of helicopters all day, all night, every day, lots and
lots of people everywhere but once you get use to that and start to feel home you will appreciate its
beauty. Because it also has huge parks (famous one is Ibirapuera park) where you can relax, it has
many museums, good (food)markets, an awesome nightlife and overall you are dealing with a great
culture that will have an impact on you. The Paulistanos or Paulistas work hard and a lot but party if
they can and the way the dance is something to be jealous of. A good neighborhood in Sao Paulo is
Vila Madelena as well Rua Augusta. It has many bars and live music where you can enjoy yourself.
For clubs there are many places to go to. Vila Olympia is a one of those places. Besides the regular
bars and clubs there are many festivals and open air music events.
The university is located nearby Avenida Paulista, the main street in the business district of Sao Paulo.
From Trianon-MASP metro station the Business&Administration building is a 5 min walk and the Law
building 10 to 15 min walk (down to Rua Rocha). Most of the students live nearby the university, but
the subway system in Sao Paulo works perfect, so any other area is a possibility too.
Besides visiting the museums, local bars, being part of free citytours etc. I definitely recommend
anybody to go to Park Cantareira (take the blue line all the way to Tucuruvi, then the bus for 15 min).
There you can do a 10 km walk track in a beautiful park. It is so silence, you only hear the birds and
you have totally no idea you are still in that same ‘crazy’ city. After a while you reach a huge stone
where you have the best view over the whole city. Bring some bread, cheese, wine and fruits and you
can sit there all day long enjoying the quietness. Just perfect!
Sao Paulo is different in many ways to Tilburg. It is a city that has to can offer you a lot and will never
get bored. It is full of different cultures, art, food and nightlife. It never ends..
Academics
FGV University has several buildings in Sao Paulo. One for ‘Business & Administration’, ‘Economics’
and for ‘Law’. I was registered at the ‘Business & Administration’ building for the courses: Global
Management Practice and Human Capital in a Global World, and I was registered at the ‘Law’
building for the courses: Introduction to the Brazilian Legal System, Internal Law of Development,
Human Rights and Corporations and Business Law. Besides these courses I was registered for a
Portuguese language course at intermediate level for the first part of my exchange. All these courses
are added as extra on my list for my Master program.
All the courses I followed were taught in English, with an exception of the Portuguese language
course of course. They are all reasonable small groups, especially the law classes. The business
classes were more buzzing. I am glad I took the courses at the Business school because there are
(way more) activities going on there than the Law school and I met so many people over there. If you
are interested in the Business world, I definitely recommend to follow some courses there as well.
You can combine the Law and Business courses well if you plan it and you will meet the most
interesting people. I think my exchange would have looked totally different if I did not attend to the
Business school.
In general I really liked all the courses I did. As well at the Business as the Law building I learned a lot
of new interesting things. The courses are interactive, intensive and longer than at Tilburg University.
Most of the time you are debating with other students and solving cases. So you really have to
participate in class, if not it will affect your grade or the Professor simply will pick you out of the crowd.
I had to do a lot of group work, as well prepare myself for the classes in general but because you are
always busy with what is going on in the classes, passing the exams are quite easy. If you paid
attention in class, did you work and participate, you do not have to do much for the final. I am very
happy with my academic achievements during my exchange.
The Business building has two entrance. One at Rua Itapeva (you will arrive at floor 7 of that building)
and one at Avenida Nove de Julho on the other side of the building (you will arrive at ground floor). At
floor 7 there is a nice area where you can sit outside and you can find the gym there as well. The
Business building has several computer areas for Master students. There is a normal library (third
floor is only available for master students and the ground floor (also only available for master
students). The Law building is at Rua Rocha (on the end of Rua Itapeva). It is an 11 floor high building,
with the library at floor -1 and the conference room at floor -2. I was almost never at the Law building,
because their library is not as good as in the Business building and the working areas were just better
at the Business building. Even if you are not planning to follow courses in that building, all FGV
students are allowed in all the libraries.
Social life
At the Business school there is a special program for some Master students. They follow a CEMS
program and I met all of them. I do have to say I was lucky my lovely roommate was part of this
CEMS program and invited me to come along. There are many activities organized for those students
and because I was friends with them I took part of it as well. Besides this there are many University
open bar parties organized for all the FGV students like USP, INSPER, ESPM, Mackenzie etc. I
recommend to go to at least one of them!
I knew most of the exchange students, unfortunately there were not a lot of exchange students at the
law building. So most of the time I spent my time with the exchange students from the Business
school. Besides exchange students I met some local students and made some good local friends as
well. This was a great experience because I got to know the real Brazilian life at their houses etc. I
was also lucky with many Brazilian roommates who brought me in contact with others. And in general
Brazilian do not speak English or not well, they all at least try really hard to help you out and speak
with you in English. So if you are planning to go to Brazil with no or basic Portuguese language skills,
do not worry! They will still embrace you with much love. Just smile, be friendly and open your heart,
because Latin American share everything.
During my amazing exchange I travelled a lot, most of the time during the weekends. The first week I
arrived in Sao Paulo I went to a CEMS barbecue were I got the invite to leave with them for the
weekend to celebrate someone’s birthday in Maresias. This was a great way to meet a lot of new
people and the best way to start of my exchange! Not much later it was Carnaval time in Rioooooo
(Rio de Janeiro). My roommate and I found the perfect couchsurfing spot at Ipanema beach were we
stayed for 5 days. I do not have to explain what an amazing time I had, though if I have the change to
do it again it will be in Salvador and not Rio de Janeiro. After Carnaval I went a long weekend to
Paraty; a cute little town/ village in between of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. You can take the boat
to Ilha Grande from there! A must of ‘Things to do’ in South-America was visiting the famous Iguazu
Falls, which I end up doing with a great crew of 10 friends. We visited as well the Brazilian as the
Argentina Side of the falls and the third day we did some shopping in Paraguay. Overall another
memorable weekend. On my last trip, before my semester ended in Sao Paulo, I went with a friend to
Bahia to visit Chapada Diamantina (Lencois), paradise island Morro de Sao Paulo and the historical
city Salvador to end our trip visiting a friend living in Riooooo! The first time Rio was for Carnaval the
second time was to see the real city, with a local as tourguide and doing all the touristic things you
can do there.
When I finished my semester in Sao Paulo I decided to stay for another 3 months to travel in SouthAmerica and I had the best time of my life. I started my trip in Fortaleza with the World Cup and did
the Nordeste part of Brazil, which offers you one of the most amazing beaches you will see. I went
from Fortaleza to Jericoacoara to Atins (in the middle of nowhere with no internet or any other
connection but you will meet great locals that offers you the best meals). From Atins (Cabure) you can
take the boat or truck to Barreirinhas where you can do daytrips to Parque Nacional dos Lencois
Maranhenses. Seriously worth it seeing it, it is just beautiful. From Sao Luis I took a flight to Belem
and left Brazil behind me to visit Suriname, Curacao, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and
from Argentina back to Sao Paulo Brazil. Most of the time I took the bus instead of flights. It is much
cheaper, more fun (because you meet more people) and the service on the bus is good. I have seen
a lot in the 8 months I was abroad, met the most amazing interesting people, learned a lot, done a lot
and took all the chances I had to experience something new and I am grateful I was able to do this. I
definitely recommend to just go with the flow and enjoy your time because it is over before you know it
and no worries.. back home everything will still be exactly the same.
Living costs
If I am not at the University, not travelling, not going out or not sleeping I am working. I work to travel
as well for this exchange I worked to go abroad again and my lovely parents were there to help me
out if needed, as well I had a loan at IB-group. Unfortunately I needed all of these because Sao Paulo
is expensive. Besides accommodation, the food is not cheap, you have to pay a lot on taxis, you are
going out more on exchange than at home and all the travels needed to be paid as well. I had no
extra cost for the University, you can voluntarily print as much materials as you want (which you pay
for) but you are not obliged to do so.
I was lucky to meet some promoters in Sao Paulo, which meant I could go out for free as well drink for
free most of the time. So I definitely spend most of my money on travels, which I recommend
everybody to do because this is a once and a life time opportunity you will not forget and it includes
meeting new people, seeing new things, having fun etc. Do not spent your money on crazy useless
things but don’t think about every penny you have either.
Culture
Reading about a culture is always totally different than experience it in real life. I can adjust myself
quite easy to any situation and always try to understand why people act in a certain way in a particular
situation so I did not experience a major culture shock, but there were definitely some culture
difference. Literally the first night I arrived in Sao Paulo I went out to this club with only ‘Baile Funk’
music. I had no idea what I saw and to react but not even 6 months later you are integrated in the
culture and doing it as well, that’s the funny part of it. I made some really good Brazilian friends in Sao
Paulo who taught me all the ins and outs of the city and country and I gave English classes to
professionals who explained me a lot about the way they work etc. You can’t compare Sao Paulo with
the rest of Brazil, because in this city they all work long days. In comparison with the Netherlands
maybe not as productive as they should but they do work long days. They combine their private life
and work life a lot, it is a ‘we’ society (family is very important and they share everything) where The
Netherlands is way more individualistic. As well the hierarchy in Brazil (noticeable big difference
between rich and poor people) is more respected than in the Netherlands. In general in the rest of
Brazil you see a lot of hammocks. You see them a lot because they are used a lot. Brazilians love to
queue!! You have to wait in line for everything and the speed they walk is also sometimes a bit
annoying. But that is because we live in a stressed, busy busy, everything has to be done on time
society. While there, it comes when it comes. You will hear the word ‘tranquilo’ a lot and don’t expect
people to come punto on time either. But all these phenomena you can already see in the south of
Europe.
There are many difference in the rest of South-America; Chile (Santiago) and Argentina (Buenos
Aires) are comparable with Western Europe, while Bolivia is a really poor country. So it depends
where you are in South America.
Personal development
I learned a lot from the people I met, every single one of them. Most of the time they learned me
about myself. I am much more patient than before and I really try to understand someone’s situation
first before judging and bear in mind why a person tells you a certain story. In the Business courses
you basically learn to manage people and all the aspects needed for that and practice that in your
daily life. All the things I did, I did for a reason, or the opportunity was there or it had to be done but I
will not quickly do anything differently if I had to do it again. It is possible I would do it differently in the
future in a comparable situation.
I have to say all the moments I had, every day again were great in itself and I will remember most of
them because I enjoyed every day at its max. Sometimes you have a bad day because short of sleep
but I never experienced something really bad (exception my first accommodation and arguments with
my Landlord). From everything I did I took the best out of it and tried to look at everything in the most
positive way. It is a short period of time and from the moment I arrived I did everything I wanted to do;
enjoyed my stay, took all the opportunities I got, no regrets! I worked, I went to University, worked
again and went out.
Tips for future students
If you are the right person for it I would definitely recommend you to go on exchange!! You will have
the time of your life and a unique experience that will be in your heart forever. FGV University is one
of the best universities (especially for the Brazilian students) and I would recommend anybody who is
planning to go there to follow courses at the Business school. It is interesting and you will way more
people there than at the Law school. In general everything is well arranged at FGV University!
Everything makes it easier if you speak the language but I have to say you will also have a lot of
funny moments trying to explain what you want with your hands but most important great smile. Be
friendly to everybody and they will all help you, even though you don’t speak the language. Just to be
clear I really do recommend to (try at least) speak the language! You can prepare yourself by reading
about the country etc. but it will never be exactly like in the books. You just can’t prepare yourself for
everything you are going through. It is the way you are dealing with it, that will help you grow on a
personal level. Everybody walks their own path with their own experience. Say less no but more yes
why not! You will regret the things you didn’t do. So just do it! Take the challenge and enjoy every
moment!
Any other questions?
Just sent me an email (s.leinse@live.nl) and I am more than happy to tell you everything about my
experience.