Assessment - Cultural Values

Professionals living and working in another country should adapt to the cultural ways and values of the host country.

Migration has some high and some low points. People are becoming more and more ambitious because they are always looking for better conditions in other countries. Consequently this brings an exchange of information between two different cultures and it causes an acculturation between cultures. Acculturation is a learning process of living successfully in a different culture by selecting the best cultural elements of the new culture.
While some people claim that we must forget our culture others believe that we must try to mix the two cultures. In one hand, people say that a person in the acculturation process will adhere to some selected values as well as rules of the new culture in order to be integrated in the social life. Thus, this person will enrich his culture due to the fact that he did not forgot his first culture and he will select some aspects of this host culture, focusing in a positive valuation of the aspects of both cultures. A further argument is that the majority of the people think that acculturation is the most appropriated process because, for instance, when I contact with another country, especially with a different culture, I need to be really careful because what I say or how I behave in my own country might not be appropriate and it might be an enormous offence to the people from the host country (the values, signs, behaviour and gestures interpretation change one country to another). Therefore I need to rethink all of my actions to avoid bad situations.

On the other hand, if I get new cultural habits, my culture will enrich but if I lost the majority of my cultural traces and my traditions, my culture may disappear and I may lost my social identity and my cultural patrimony thanks to this cultural shock that confuses people. They may lose their strong and positive identification to their mother culture. They should live their cultural differences in order to avoid the lost of their cultural identity. Certain habits may be forgotten by replacing new habits that belongs to the host cultures and for this reason they may lose their cultural patrimony.

To sum up we can say that it’s important to learn and respect some aspects of that new culture however our social identity can not be forgotten. The person that moves to another country needs to change a little his cultural habits to be accepted, yet this new society needs to be open and tolerant so that not only people get along well but also they feel a social integration as well as social cohesion.

Written by Carina Ferreira

Mr. Sawyer and the missing paiting

Mr. Sawyer was sitting on his chair. As many other times before, he was thinking of her. The day they met, their first date, the time they first kissed, the marriage where both families were there… It is incredible how those five years (perhaps the most special ones of his life) had ended in that car crash…
Suddently, the phone rang. A new case to solve. The famous painting by J. Black had been stolen from the National Museum during a Modern Art exhibition.
When he got there he told everyone not to leave the building and they started looking for the stolen canvas when suddently someone entered the room where everybody was and said that the lost painting had gone to the cleaning room and one of the employees had forgotten to make the report on that.
Everyone was quite relieved, this time Mr. Sawyer did not have a case to solve. Perhaps the following week… But that is another (short) story…

Written by Joana Vasconcelos

My life

I was born in Lisbon where I lived for 7 years, the time when I moved to Paço de Arcos (in Oeiras, in the so called Linha de Cascais because of the train). Here I moved three times always without moving this place (luckily).
Paço de Arcos is a good place to live because it is smaller than Lisbon (and it isn’t as noisy and polluted) but we can find everything we need here. Furthermore, there are places nearby which look like the countryside (where people have animals and plants like on a farm).
I now live in a house near the train station (which is good for me to go to college everyday) with my parents and my brother Zé and sister Luísa. I also have a sister, older than me, named Rita, but she already has her own house in Pontinha.
I am 19 years old and I first went to college last year on the International Relations degree, but although I’d now be in the 2nd year (because I didn’t fail the first one) I knew I liked languages and I was gifted for them) and as I wanted to Know more about the English and French cultures, I decided to apply for the LLC- English and French Studies at Nova. As I did it on my own, my parents and family were very surprised about my decision, but they accepted it.They even said to me I should have made this choice last year instead of going on the International Relations degree.
I don’t regret having done things that way because at my former college I didn’t waste my time (specially because I learnt new things I didn’t know existed. Besides, a new experience where we learn something is always a good one, isn’t it?).Plus, that way I got to know how college is and when I got to nova I didn’t feel as “lost” as the year before.
After having this degree, I intend to finish the International Relations one and having already the 1st year done makes things easier.
Another reason why I chose this degree was because I got to the conclusion I really wanted to do it, that is, I was a bit afraid of ending the International Relations degree and after that I didn’t feel like studying a lot again or having to work (and not having time) or even not having money to do this degree course.
I don’t have a current hobby, but there are many things I like doing, such as going out with my friends, reading, listening to the music and writing (which used to be my hobby, but as I didn’t have much time last year, I didn’t practise it that much. This year I am trying to find more time to do it).
I am also interested in very different things: photography, music, art, building necklesses and earrings and what we call in Portuguese “malha” and “ponto Cruz”. These are all things about which I don’t know much about yet, but I am starting to read about them (concerning photography, art and music, which have a more theoretical part than the other two things. So if you happen to know about some books or something about that, could you let me know?)
I also have other two interests which are practicing tennis and travelling.Concerning travelling, I have already been to countries such as Spain (where I visited Salamanca, Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada, where I went to Allambra, which I really loved, when I was 11), Norway, where I visited Oslo (when I was 9) and Sweden where I went twice to visit my aunt who has a vacation house there, in a small village, 1hr30 away from Götenborg. In the future, I’d like to go on ERASMUS on a country like England or France (the two ones I’d like to visit first).
Although I like travelling, it is good to have a place to return, which is, for me, the place where I live, Paço de Arcos.
For me, the most important people are my family and my two best friends (one of them I have known since I was 8 years old!). It’s been 11 years since we met and we’ve been through a lot of experiences together).
For someone who didn’t have much to tell, I have ended up writing a whole paper! It usually happens when I think I have nothing to say, but then I start having ideas and I write big pieces of paper. Well, this must be the longest letter I’ve ever written, but I hope it doesn’t have many mistakes (at least not very serious ones).
Goodbye for now,
Joana Vasconcelos

I realised she was gone...

Her name is Rita. We met in Primary School, and since then, we became best friends. I was there for her, as she was there for me to. We talked about everything, we did everything together. She was one of the most important persons I’ve ever met.
But, one day, everything changed. She started to act like she didn’t know me anymore. She started to walk away from me, trying to avoid me. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, or what have I done to her, but the more I tried to talk to her, the more she ran away from me. Then I realised what was happening: she was trying to separate her past from her present. She met some girls in her new class and started to act just like them, and forgetting all the old friends.
One day, I finally caught her. I told her everything that was stuck in my throat. I felt relieved, and turned my back at her. I couldn’t hear any noise, not one singe whisperer. And as I turned my back, I realised she had gone.

Written by Ana Castanho

A strange Halloween

I had experienced a strange situation last Halloween. My friends and I had been playing tricks on people who were in the streets. It was fun! But we were not prepared for a really strange thing.
When I had been making a trick on a boy who was in the street, a strange girl joined us. She was so pale, cold and she had a strange look in her eye. We wanted to know where she was from, but she didn’t respond. It was really scary! We thought she was deaf, and we tried to talk with her with signs, but no response. We were afraid of what she was thinking: what she was doing here, and so many questions we had in our heads that didn’t have answers!
We continued playing tricks when we passed near a forest. It was a beautiful image, the night, the stars and the trees. Then I looked for the strange girl and as I turned my back I realised she had gone.

Written by Natacha Graça

A lost Memory

She was running down the street as fast as she could. Not as fast as she could when she was younger. Yet, what she had just seen made her remember her remote past. A past she wished had gone a long time ago. However, that painting seemed to have emerged from a dream born from another dream. Deep in her heart she knew she wouldn’t avoid it forever. She was just not ready to face it at the moment. The painting remained just like the last time she had looked at it. It was small in size, yet it transmitted the image of a young girl. The day-light toned down in her round face revealing her beauty, purity and innocent personality. Returning into the world of that painting, to the world of silence, to the world of forbidden love and servitude was just too much for her to remember.
On that cold and grimy afternoon, while she was buying vegetables and meat to take home, she recognized a familiar voice behind her. “Griet…” the voice whispered in her ear. She froze from heard to toe, especially when she felt a hand down put on her shoulder. There he was right behind Griet. She could hear his breathe upon her and his voice seemed to be in pain. What had happened to him? There was no time for speculations. She immediately withdrew from him and started running through the alleys without looking back. She had promised to herself years ago never to meet him again. Despite this, he had returned to haunt her past, those hard times when she had little choice and was not able to speak her mind.
What about the painting? It exposed her. It exposed her soul. It made people mad. It was supposed to be forgotten. It was expected to disappear to the place where it should never have been created. So much was going through Griet’s mind. So many feelings she could not define herself. When Griet finally stopped to take a deep breathe and recover she decided it was time to put an end to his past. There was no point in fighting back. Nevertheless, as she turned back she realised he had gone. Had he gone forever? That was now Griet’s main fear.

Written by Celina Martins

Picasso's blank canvas

Yesterday I was invited to Picasso’s birthday party. He wanted to show his closest his most valuable painting, that no one had ever seen and he wanted to sell some paintings and sculptures that no one had bought because no one was able to understand them.
I drove to the salon were the party was taking place, and when I got there Picasso surprised me with a little kiss on my cheek.
I thanked him for the invitation and gave him a huge blank of canvas that had a shape of a woman. I thought it was an original gift because with it, I was giving him the opportunity to unite, once more, women and art, his biggest passions.
I was looking at him, waiting for some words, when suddenly he started to cry.
He was very pleased, and he told me that the reason why he got emotional was because no one had ever given him a present that expressed him so well.
After this roller coaster of emotions, one of Picasso’s friends, who was a visionary, made a toast to celebrate his professional and loving life. We were all raising our cups when of a sudden a man entered the salon, walked up to Picasso and started to threaten him with a criminal charge. The man said that he had bought one Picasso’s painting some time ago and this morning a boy had knocked at his door to deliver the painting and when he unpacked the package, he saw that he hadn’t got a painting but a blank canvas.
While we were listening to this real life story, we looked at Picasso, he was turning red, so I closed my eyes and opened them to see if that was a dream because I couldn’t believe that my friend had been a fake all these years.
I looked at him again, he was putting a brush out of his pocket and he pointed the brush at that man and BANG! He hit him (that brush was also a gun…).
I grabbed my cell phone and called the police.
Now Picasso is in jail and that man is alive in the hospital with the real painting beside his bed.

Written by Carina Ferreira

My life

Well, I won't speak to you about my personal characteristics because I would prefer you to discover them, but I am going to speak about my life that is just like so many others.
I live in Santa Iria de Azoia with my Parents, a sister and a brother (both younger than me), with my paternal grandparents, and with three dogs that were abandoned and that we took from the streets. My brother is possibly the most important person to me, first for being only six years old and being very intelligent (he knows how to play chess and sudoko), and for having been born with a problem called 'buraco de sapateira' (his chest is different, he has this hole that presses on his vital organs) that puts his life at risk and for this reason
the whole family is very attached to him, and we treat him in a different way.
I have been creating strong links not only with my family but in other communities also, like my old schools; my first school was Adventist we were few, about a hundred and seventy students, and because of that we all knew each other very well. One different characteristic of that school was that we could neither eat meat nor fish! We use to used to laugh at the names from the menu because they didn't coincide with the dish, for instance:
lasagna without meat, cod to brás without cod...but the food was really tasty.
We had to pray three times a day (to thank the day before to ask for a better day, to thank for the food and finally to ask for a better day for tomorrow), and we always had one hour to listen stories from the bible (this is why I think I am one of the few people that read the whole bible.) Every Fridays we went to the scouts where frequently we had to help people in need (homeless people, handicapped people, old people, orphans...). Those experiences helped us to see the world in another way.
Then I moved to another school, Rainha Dona Leonor, and I felt ah enormous difference because there were lots of students. I studied five years there and didn't meet half of all the students nevertheless I made friends for life (few but good!). In that school I had. the opportunity to develop my passion volleyball. 1 was the captain of the female team and we played against other schools. I met a lot of people with the same passion as me and I could improve my technique as well. My trainer used to call me 'magic hands' because he couldn't remember my name...
This year I got in to FCSH. I left my passion but I didn't forget about my old friends. We still go out together. We are not very adventurous but we like to do different things: we go to museums, exhibitions (especially when it’s for free). We go to coffee-shops, pubs, gardens, we like to walk without any where specific in mind (we go where the wind takes us).
At FCSH I study English and Spanish. With this course I intend to work at TAP, or in another air company, or even at a travel agency! Where 1 can make a lot of money, travel a lot and get to know people from different countries and cultures. I want to take the degree and make a lot of friends. Up to now l have known great people and I hope it continues like this.
Kisses and good luck to you all.

Written by Carina Ferreira

Kiss and blank canvas

She loves to paint. She’s an artist. For her, a blank canvas is just the beginning of an amazing adventure in a new world. She loves the smells and the textures involved in the process. Painting is her life.
Her husband was her life too and she loved him. She saw him, for the first time, in college, and it was love at first sight. They started to date, and when he proposed, she thought that her life was going to change.
And it did. For worse.
The first year of her marriage was like a fairy tail: he was kind, he loved her, he respected her. But suddenly he started to act in a way that she didn’t recognize him. He was violent, intolerant. He was a living nightmare.
One day, she decided to put an end to this situation. She went to the police and presented a criminal charge. That night, he came near to her, hugged her and told that he knew what she had done, and he was proud of her courage. He gave her a kiss, and went to bed. She felt his respect again, and, inside her heart, she forgave him.

Written by Ana Castanho

Mr. Brown and his piece of art

There he was near the fireplace in his mansion while outside the dreadful weather frightened all life around. Yet, Mr. Brown just stood firmly in the middle of his large cosy room totally petrified. He was astonished with his recent masterpiece. There it was, the compelling proof of his creative and ingenious work. He was pretty aware of the impact his work would bring into society: an impressive mixture of dark colours and deforming shapes represented Mr Brown’s vision of the perfect representation of a kiss.
The results were quite amazing and never seen before. Mr. Brown just felt the message contained in that magical blank canvas and thought how important it was to keep it behind closed doors. It was too late.
In the main hall a suspicious human shape had already entered in the house and went directly to the second floor where Mr. Brown remained. It seemed to have a good knowledge of the interior. Suddenly, the intruder invaded Mr Brown’s room screaming impatiently for his last creation. Mr. Brown froze from head to toe at hearing the man’s voice. Though the man was dressed in black and had his face hidden, his voice would always be identifiable to Mr. Brown. What a disappointment! His younger brother had been filled with jealousy and the confirmation was obvious. Fortunately, the maid who was supposed to be cleaning that afternoon had noticed the drops of water and dirt left by the “intruder” and so went upstairs to figure out what was going on. She turned up unexpectedly with the two brothers face to face getting ready to start a quarrel. Due to that her first reaction was to call the police. Everything went really fast from that moment on.
Even though Mr Brown’s brother hadn’t suffered criminal charge nor Mr Brown’s work had been stolen, the truth is that rather than a piece of art, a whole treasure had been lost: a friend and a brother!

Written by Celina Martins

My life

As we are at the beginning of the year I think it would be a good idea to introduce myself a little so I’ll tell you something about my life.
To start with, my name is Celina and I’m an 18-year-old girl from a little town called Fundão which is near Serra da Estrela. I like doing what an ordinary teenager does: going out with friends, laughing, listening to music, dreaming, singing, among other things.
At school I was never keen neither on sciences nor maths which explains why I took arts instead at high school. Languages were and are my passion so my childhood dream remains in becoming a teacher.
As far as my experiences with languages are concerned I attended Spanish and English classes at a Cambridge School in my town where I got the opportunity to take the FCE exam. Unfortunately I couldn’t pass the CAE exam but I’m still looking forward to take that challenge in the future. At Spanish I hope to try the Cervantes exam.
At present I’m studying at the Universidade Nova in Lisbon on the course of English/Spanish and I’m really enjoying it. The course takes three years. After that I hope to carry on studying and who knows, travel as an Erasmus student. As I like travelling this may be a good opportunity to open my horizons, meet new people and develop my skills in languages.

Written by Celina Martins

A passion crime.

Elizabeth was accused of killing a famous painter, Joseph Curtains. Evidence that incriminated her was a kiss on a blank canvas and some hair on the chair. This criminal charge was obvious she was the killer! The criminal investigators said that she had been the painter’s girlfriend, and they had gone to a restaurant to celebrate their first year of love but she had thought that the painter had betrayed her, and after the dinner, they had gone to the painter’s house to see him painting and he had asked her to kiss the blank canvas. Then a brutal scene of horror: she killed by cutting his throat without him noticing. When she was going home, she was caught by the police, and she was accused with a sentence of 22 years in jail.

Written by Natacha Graça

My life

I’m Natacha and I live in Margem Sul with my family. I’m one of three children and the oldest. At six years old, I was the only child. It was good! I had my parents just to myself, but I needed a brother to play with. My brother was born healthy, I was so happy! But three years later he had some hearing problems, and he was two years without hearing. He was operated on the ears and now he has no problem.
When I was eleven years old my little sister was born, and my brother and I were so happy. We wanted to hug her so much! My mother is so warm and helpful but my father is a little scary, and cold, but he is like that because he didn’t have a good childhood. I understand him because it was difficult for him, but I love him. I have some good friends at school, some were at my seventh year, others from the tenth to twelfth, we played football, we went to the cinema, and we helped each other in school.
When I was fourteen years old, I wanted to do some sport and I chose football. In the first year we had problems, because the majority of the team was fourteen, fifteen years old, and we were playing in a championship with players who have eighteen years old and more. But I love playing with my friends, girls versus boys, its fun.
Now I’m eighteen years old and I love my life. I do sport; I have friends that help me when I need and a family that I adore.

Written by Natacha Graça

My life

One of the most important things in my life is definitely music.

Since I was younger, I remember that music always had an important place in my house. Everyone of my family loves music. Of course, we have our preferences, but in general, we have the same taste.

My mother likes a lot of the sixties bands, like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Janis Joplin. When I was fourteen years old, I started to listen to these bands, and from that moment on, I became a fan of the Sixties. I love the rhythm of the songs, especially The Beatles songs, and I start to imagine what it would be living in that decade, not only musically speaking, of course. I think that the Sixties were one of the most important decades in the twentieth century. It completely changed the mentality of people, and the songs that characterized this époque show that.

Besides sixties bands, I also like “old school” bands. I got this taste from my brother, because when he was my age, he also listened to these bands. One day he presented me with some music of Nirvana, and I didn’t care. But one year later, I listened to those songs again, and I just loved them. And now Nirvana is one of my favourite bands, just like The Cure, The Clash and The Ramones.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that music was, is and it will always be extremely important in my house, because everyone from my family just can’t live without it.

Written by Ana Castanho