Today I will be talking about the drivers in Brazil. In general, the drivers there are maniac. Most of them don't really obey the laws very much. If someone is in a rush to get somewhere, they will definitely speed to get where they want to be. And if someone is driving slow in front of them, they will cut them off and give them the finger. If a pedestrian is crossing the street slow while someone is trying to turn, the driver will open the window and tell them to hurry up. Another thing, if a pedestrian is trying to cross and steps down from the sidewalk waiting for the light to turn green and the driver is gutsy, he will carefully graze the pedestrian just enough to scare and teach the pedestrian to stay on the sidewalk. 
     

Not only the drivers were crazy enough to do things like this, but the pedestrians had no respect for the drivers either. They would cross anywhere if they have the chance and has no considerations for the drivers either. In general, if anyone does things like this in U.S. they will get fined or even worse. But in Brazil, people are most likely to get away from it. Im not quite sure if they are still like that but about 10 years ago this was happening. Im just glad Hawaii isn't like that.

Today I will talk about the school I went in Brazil. It's actually pretty different compared to Hawaii's school. Well… for one, if parents don't have money to pay for their child's schooling, then they can't attend school. Ten years ago, the unfortunate ones whom weren't able to go to school, didn't know how to read and write correctly even when they became adults. I'm not sure if it is still the same today, but back then many lacked even the basic education.  Compared to Hawaii's elementary schools, where there are good public schools and free until high school, in Brazil,  people had to pay to get an education. Luckily, my parents were able to pay for my private school and after school classes. The name of my school was called "Escola Barifaldi". It was one of the best private school in São Paulo, Brazil. It was in the middle of the city next to the police station. One of the interesting fact, is that we had a 12 story-high building where we used the elevators to get to different classes. We also had the regular building blocks for pre-schools, patio and cafeteria area. Another difference was that I don't remember having field trips anywhere while in school. The area was pretty protected with fences and security guards, that way the school had no problems dealing with the outsiders. In general, I like Hawaii's schools better.

One of my favorite things to do in Brazil is to eat. Brazil's food is so rich in any type of foods. I think is because Brazil is a big place with lots of food products and production. Not like Hawaii where almost everything is shipped from somewhere else filled with pesticides and chemicals for preservation. There, almost everything was fresh. One of my ultimate favorite food in Brazil is called "feijoada". Its soup-like filled with every kind of pork meat embedded in black beans. Its a complete meal with Brazilian rice, veggies, wheat grain "farofa", lomi lomi salad, and a hint of tabasco. The history of how 'feijoada' came about was way back during the slavery times. The scraps of meat the slaves used to get from their owners were preserved with salt to keep them from getting spoiled faster. It wasn't just scraps, but the weird parts were saved. The pig's ears, the nostrils, pig feet, stomach, tail, etc… When the slaves would eat their scraps of meat, they would add black beans and make it into soup to make the meal filling and heavy. And so "feijoada" came about. Today, the original feijoada has changed, but its still one of my favorites.

Well… this is my first blog.. don't really know how to work this. On top of that… I don't think I understood the assignment very well.. but.. here it goes

My name is Bruna Joo, Im full Korean born in South America, Brazil. I am fluent in Portuguese and understand Spanish a lot because of the similarities between Portuguese and Spanish; Im fluent in Korean, English and now learning Japanese. I've been in this Island for about 10 years now and the funny thing is that I still have a hard time with English. Im pretty sure if anyone finish reading my first blog, the person will probably find an error or more.
Anyways, now let me tell you why we moved here. My parents were very rich in Brazil. They gave me everything in their powers to get the best education and protection from the unfortunates that lived there. But that wasn't enough in my mother's eyes. She wanted me to have a good career, a normal life, and live in peace without worrying about my surroundings if maybe one day I get shot in the streets or get kidnapped or killed. Being a rich kid, isn't very fun in Brazil. Always hiding and studying, can't go out to have fun without supervision, no sleeping over at friends house, limited time to do things, and so on. I wasn't a happy kid when I was a child, but people on the outside didn't know anything and always told me I was lucky. Was I really lucky? Should I have compared myself with other unfortunate ones? Did I not appreciate my childhood life?