Oh sweet Canada! 

Two distinct experiences of Brazilians in Canada

Editor’s note: Since January, there have been a group of Brazilian students on Kwantlen campuses, studying in a variety of programs, including journalism. Two of them, students in the Beyond the News class, share the experience of moving far from home and settling in a different city, country and culture.

Isabela Mercuri

Come to Vancouver was not one of my dreams – true story. But after some time living here, I can say that this city delights me.

We are part of a program by the Brazilian government, which is giving full scholarships to university students to study abroad and bring the knowledge they gain back to our country.

The first time I heard about the program, I thought I’d go to the UK, U.S. or Australia, countries that are popular for exchange programs. However, circumstances brought me to Canada and the choice of university brought me to Metro Vancouver.

I arrived on Jan. 3, at 10 p.m. on a rainy and cold night. I got a cab from YVR airport and went to south Surrey to start my new life with my new family. I was afraid, because people told me that Canadians have dinner early (around 6 p.m.) and that their bed time is right after dinner. I was starving and freezing.

The cab entered a dark neighbourhood, without streetlights, and the driver was having troubles finding the house. I could not see anything because of the fog, and when we finally found it, I asked the cabby to wait until the hosts open the door.

When they opened up, my host mom hugged me and my host-brothers were excited to show me the house and to eat with me (even though it was almost 11 p.m.). I felt like home.

Going to the university was a little easier. I had heard there were other Brazilians that were going to study with me, and it made me more comfortable.

All I had learned about Canadians teachers went out the window: no, they were not dictators that did not like to talk to students. They were not scary or repressors at all. The only difference and difficulty was to not call them “teacher,” but by the name.

At home, the biggest change was about food habits. No meat on weekdays, lots of rotis, beans and vegetarian food. And a sandwich for lunch. I was living with an Indian family that did not eat beef at all, and other types of meat were made only on weekends. And, like for other Canadians, lunch was not a big deal: Just a little sandwich or snack was enough, while dinner was the most important meal. In Brazil, it is the opposite – a lot of people even do not have dinner, but lunch is always a heavy meal.

Another thing that I had to get used to was the spiciness. One day, when I went to a birthday party with my host family, I was having dinner and I thought that what I had in my plate was a bell pepper (the big one, that is not spicy at all) but it was a jalapeño. I ate the whole piece, and when I realized that it was not what I had thought, it was too late.

My host family loved to party and I enjoyed their parties, too. However, when I started to go to nightclubs downtown I realized there is another big difference between Vancouver and Brazil. The parties were over at two in the morning. It was really early for Brazilians, who are used to partying until seven. And we were not allowed to drink on the streets or on the public transport – another big deal. The drinking restrictions were also big on summer time. No drinking at the beach or in parks or in front of our houses (homesickness was a little heavier at this time).

However, Vancouver had other fun aspects to offer: Many festivals that we do not have in Brazil, such as St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween. There were many parades and a wide open mind to accept the differences. Homosexual marriage, abortion, and adoption by homosexual parents are just examples that show how this country is more developed than Brazil.

When I just arrived I felt the multiculturalism: I was living with an Indian family, experiencing a culture that I have never seen before, different food and behavior, but the same hospitality that I have always seen in Brazil.

The weather was a real challenge. I came from Cuiabá, in the middle of Brazil, where the weather is around 40 degrees Celsius every day, and I was now in Vancouver, in the winter. I was also starting to be homesick.

But Metro Vancouver has this characteristic of holding everyone in its arms and before long I was used to the Canadian /Vancouverite lifestyle. I could go to Robson Square to skate, and after that have dinner in China, India, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand or – if the homesickness was too big to carry – in Brazil.

I discovered that in Vancouver you can find whatever you want. I spent afternoons on Granville Island, in North Vancouver, in Stanley Park, in Lynn Canyon, and other awesome places with the pleasure of not being a tourist and thinking, “I can come back here tomorrow, or next week, or next month.”

I felt welcome and saw that Canadians are, as the legend says, really polite people who will hold the open door for you, even if you are far away from them.

I now know that you can have so much fun in this city, make friends from all over the world, learn different languages and share experiences.

Greater Vancouver made me feel at home, and even though I miss Brazil and I want to go back, I can clearly see why people from all over the world come live here, and feel that this city has always been their hometown (even if they have to escape to Mexico during winter time to enjoy a beer at the beach).


Gabriela Amaral

Nov. 1, 2012, was the day that definitely changed my life.

It was exactly 10:13 p.m. when I received an e-mail from Kwantlen saying that I’ve been approved to study journalism from January 2013 to April 2014. Through a Brazilian program called Science Without Borders, I would receive full scholarship to study abroad. Next stop? Greater Vancouver.

 I had two months to prepare everything for this new phase of my life: visa, a place to stay, clothes for the winter and, the worse part, saying goodbye to everyone that I love. My image of Canada was as a subspecies of United States, but with 10 times more snow and cold.


My expectations were the best possible. I have a friend who lived here for a year and she told me amazing things about it. The first tip she gave me was, “Please, keep an umbrella with you. Always.” She was not kidding when she said that is not Vancouver, but that the right name is Raincouver.



On Jan. 3, I arrived. I planned to be in a homestay for the first month, until I found a place to live. At first sight, my host family was perfect, but things got complicated. They were polite, but not friendly at all. A lot of times I felt that it was all about the money, with no affection, no tenderness. It was hard, but I survived. 

I believe that we should not judge an entire population because one of them was rude. So, I gave Canadians another chance and I was not disappointed. Canadians showed to me that they can be friendly and they can treat you with affection.

Still, there were a few things that were not easy for me. One of the problems that I faced here was the hour of the dinner and the difference from Brazil. In my birth country, lunch is much more important than dinner, while here it is the inverse. Usually, I eat a great amount of food at lunch and for dinner I eat a sandwich or something lighter. Furthermore, in Vancouver the families have dinner close to 6 p.m. and then they go straight to the bed (generally). For me, it is completely different. I used to have dinner at 8 or 9 p.m. and then, go to the bed.

Another problem for me was the winter. I assumed that I was a little depressed because the sunset was too early for me. Around 4 p.m., everything was dark and I did not want to do anything, just stay at home and eat.
When summer arrived everything got better. We had sun until 9:30 p.m. which is a blessing. In my hometown, Rio de Janeiro, there are not these wide variations. The sunset is close to 6 or 7 p.m. all year.

These issues were nothing close to this one: drugs. I am not used to seeing people consuming drugs everywhere. This is one of the things that really bother me living here. I hate drugs and I feel uncomfortable when I am close to someone who is using them and it happens all the time here.

The most impressive thing for me in Greater Vancouver was Richmond. I live in this neighbourhood and I really feel that I am living in China. Even in my dreams, I would not imagine that there are so many Chinese and Chinese descendants living here. When my mom came to visit me in August she told me the same thing: “Gabi, I am in China.”



Greater Vancouver is absolutely stunning. It has such natural beauty and the city attracts people from all around the world: Different accents, different faces and definitely one of the things that I love most here is the multiculturalism.



Everything is perfect, right? Not that right. I am from Rio de Janeiro, so, I miss my family, my place, my home. I think the moment that you feel more Brazilian is when you are out of Brazil. This is happening to me from Jan. 3 until now.



Today, I can say with all of my heart, my image of Canada has completely changed. The cold is still here, but Canada is not a cold country for me anymore. It is the place that hugged me with a lot of amazing people, good food and natural views that made me fell in love.