Entrevista: Mais um Australiano fala sobre o Brasil

Jon McNee é australiano de Mackay, uma cidade ao norte do estado de Queensland com 85.000 habitantes, onde a economia gira em torno das minas de carvão e do açucar. Ele veio morar em Brisbane para fazer faculdade mas também já morou em Perth, do outro lado da Austrália, e no Rio de Janeiro. E é por isso que eu o escolhi para essa entrevista.

Em 2007 ele morou durante oito meses no Rio a trabalho, e ficou em Ipanema, perto da Praça General Osório. Jon trabalha na área de Saúde e Segurança do Trabalho em uma grande empresa de mineração e mesmo aqui na Austrália ele sempre teve que lidar com muitos brasileiros – ou seja, antes de ir para o Brasil ele já conhecia um pouco sobre nós.

Jon é bem direto e não tem papas na lingua. Fala o que tem que falar e quando for pra falar, o que o torna um entrevistado ainda mais interessante.  

Jon no Corcovado.

(*) A entrevista está em inglês, mas se alguém quiser eu traduzo com o maior prazer – basta comentar aí embaixo.  

What were your expectations about Brazil before you got there?
This is a hard questions to answer, as I really tried to keep my expectations neutral. A way of trying not to be disappointed and ensuring that no preconceived ideas would hold back my ability to assimilate to the country. Things that I expected was of course beautiful women, great weather, sensational beaches and jungle etc. I also knew that Brazil was a “semi-developed” country due to dealing with Brazilians at work and from this I would see the dichotomy people; the smart educated well-off and the uneducated and poor.

People wise I generally expected them to be friendly due to my dealings with Brazilians here in Australia.  

Did Brazil (place and people) meet your expectations or was it very different than you initially thought?
Yes and no. Living in Brazil was easier than expected although I did miss a lot about Australia such as cricket and some foods but in general I found the people to be very friendly and helpful. In fact I am still being helped today be people I met in Brazil.

The traffic was a disaster and I was still coming to grips with the bus etiquette of Brazilians who on one hand are very laid back and unhurried to being almost frantic when coming up to their next bus stop.

I was also surprised by how close the rich and poor lived. I also found Brazil to be better assimilated to other races than Australia, but I found that Brazilian were more status driven than Australians especially in Rio.

However I was disappointed to find out how business in Brazil ran. I found some people in business to be very closed minded about things especially those who are educated but with no other world experience. They generally saw things as “the Brazilian way is best” and as such tried to put in place solutions without considering other cultures. I also found that work was very structured, formal and political in nature. Where if you went outside of this process you were castigated. I also found that people were more invested in ticking boxes rather than the actual results of those boxes…  

What did you like the most about Brazil?
The weather, food, lifestyle and general feel of the country. I really struggled in a personal sense getting used to being back in Australia. I intend to go back to Brazil at some stage in my life.  

What you liked the less?
Bus etiquette. It seemed to be so unbrazilian. Also the formal structure of business.  

What are the main differences between Australia and Brazil?
Being straight to the point especially in business matters. Formality of business and informality of life in Brazil and the informality of business and formality of life in Australia. Eg. Basically you can drink beers anywhere in Brazil where as you can’t in Australia. Where as in Brazil, everything must be done as per process even though it is stupid and wrong.  

How did the violence/safety bother you while you were there?
Not at all, but I did live in a nice neighbourhood. I was always acutely aware of socio-economic issues that faces Brazil and I planned for it (except for that one night in Copacabana…..). I always took cab even for short distances at certain stages of night, I dressed down (which for me was rather easy) and I never flouted my money, and I never went into bad areas. For me I treated it like being in the wrong suburb of Brisbane; you are perfectly safe as long as you watch what you did.  

Biggest challenge in Brazil?
The biggest challenge in my time there was the language difficulties, as even those who can speak English couldn’t understand a word I said, which made communication very hard. I also found it very hard to learn Portuguese. Something about those bloody vowels and sao words.  

Do you think Australian and Brazilian people are very different in their personalities? If so, what is different?
Yes. Australians and Brazilians are different, although we are both recognised for being laid back countries. I believe it stems from our history with Australians being English while Brazil is Portuguese-latin based. I find Australians are more direct and not as friendly in Australia (even though I consider us being friendly people) where as people in Brazil are not as direct but more friendly in nature (for me it was somewhat unnerving every one treating you as a friend). Australians love a drink as do Brazilians however Brazilians like the socialization of drinking more. However I do think that our personalities lend to Australians and Brazilian getting on as we both like to have a good time.  

Is there anything Brazil can learn from Australia and vice-versa?
Meeting each other half-way in life and business.