Rio - Oslo - London...

I know it's late and all, but I've had millions of reasons not to post as often as I would've liked to. You know when people say that the country stops when Brazil plays in FIFA World Cup? Here are some examples of what that actually means.

The first is a video of a motobiker going through the streets of São Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil, the economic hub of the country, city that doesn't stop (except for being stopped in traffic), etc, etc, etc. The streets he goes through are cities where you would expect to be crowded with bumber-to-bumper traffic. However he finds something else, as he is there during the second half of the Brazil vs Netherlands match, which took place at 11:00am local time, on a Friday. Funny enough, the Brazilian team was also completely stopped at that point...


Another important observation came from the Google blog. They compared different countries and the variations of searches during the World Cup. You can see how that analysis turned out in Brazil.





And one last thing, you might have also seen the logo for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Here is a small explanation about the creative concept behind our #facepalm logo. Enjoy!

Sometimes it can rain too much in Rio. But there's always a way to deal with it with a smile on your face.

Baixo Gávea Debaixo D'água from Mellin Videos on Vimeo.

Nope, this post is not about some random dude named Nordmann (some weird variation of Norman perhaps? ). Nordmann (pronounced something like "Noorman" when you think in English) is actually the local word for Norwegian people, like in Scotland you could say "Scotsman". So, with the traditional issue of generalizing, I'll write a bit about my impressions about the people in general and the local "personality".

If I had to define Norwegians with one word, I think I'd choose "Shy". Some might say introvert and these variations, but as far as I see, it's the same point... Norwegians are definitely not as outgoing as Brazilians. So a bit different to what I was used to back home...

What I mean with saying that Norwegians are shy - of course, coming from my Brazilian reference - is that in Norway, interaction of people with each other is very different. For instance, trying walking around Oslo and looking at people on the streets. It is very unlikely that anyone will look at you straight in the eyes. Notice in the subway or on the bus: people will look up, down or to the side, as long as they can avoid eye contact. And this just reflects a behaviour that will impact other things too.

They also don't tend to put themselves as superior to others, on the contrary. Sometimes they even need some cheering up and some help in realizing that they are allowed to be better than others (at least at some things) and worst at different ones. Before coming I was told that relates to the Janteloven which from my experience is something that is ingrained in the society, but not as strong as some might think. Here is a translation of Janteloven:

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone of us cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.

Sounds quite depressive and even a bit scary, right? Well, on the brighter side of things, Norwegians are very close bonding people. As I had been told before coming here, once you break the ice, once you get closer, to get to know them, changes are you'll become friends. You'll have amazing friends. It's really interesting to notice the difference on how you are slowly introduced to their lives as you grow closer, you can clearly see the difference. Can be really moving sometimes.

So this is a bit on my take on "the locals". Anyone can guess what will be the next subject I might talk about this weekend?