Gringoes.com: Knowledge not transferrable

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Ferguson21
Senior Member

Joined: 06 October 2009
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Posts: 431

Posted: 23 April 2012 at 20:38

Originally posted by cara0910

Hahaha. It's true, they all think we eat eggs and bacon for breakfast!

Not true, everybody knows that Americans have breakfast at McDonalds.

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Megabyte
Senior Member

Joined: 31 March 2012
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Posts: 438

Posted: 23 April 2012 at 21:02

Originally posted by cara0910

@Megabyte, what makes Wal-Mart "American?" What about Coca-cola? These are global companies, more like empires. They have roots in the US, but they aren't American anymore...

You know, your paragraph raises very interesting questions.

1. What makes a company "American"?
2. How can we define how "American" a company is? On what grounds do we define this?
3. When is a company not "American" anymore?

Edited by Megabyte - 23 April 2012 at 21:03

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cara0910
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Joined: 20 May 2011
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Posts: 608

Posted: 23 April 2012 at 22:38

Originally posted by Megabyte

Exactly. I don't have the answers. I know that a company like Coca-Cola certainly makes more money outside of the US than in it, no doubt about it. As for Wal-Mart, I'm sure the US is their big market for now, but they have expanded rapidly in Mexico.

Petrobras is Brazilian as it's tied to the Brazilian state. Coca-cola is certainly not American as there is nothing uniquely American about it and it has no serious ties to the US.

Edited by cara0910 - 23 April 2012 at 22:38

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cara0910
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Joined: 20 May 2011
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Posts: 608

Posted: 23 April 2012 at 22:38

Originally posted by Ferguson21

Originally posted by cara0910

Hahaha. It's true, they all think we eat eggs and bacon for breakfast!

Not true, everybody knows that Americans have breakfast at McDonalds.

pahahah

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harun55
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Joined: 18 April 2012
Location: India
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Posts: 12

Posted: 24 April 2012 at 06:39

Originally posted by Grantham

Has anyone experienced frustration with the fact that knowledge between the USA and Brazil is not directly transferrable? When I lived in Brazil, I couldn't use any of the skills I learned in the USA. Social skills, you have to learn them again in Brazil. Well, this is primarily academic. Math, grammar, reading, writing papers, literature, study skills, classroom skills, test taking skills, etc. etc. Everyone in Brazil, upon learning I was a gringo and thus spoke fluent English, was like "Wow! I'm so jealous, that's so cool!" You can only use English in Brazil to teach English. Not much use elsewhere. Yet people pay big money to learn English? 2 + 2 = 5?Plus the fact that curriculums don't directly transfer.Upon returning to the USA, I am slowly discovering that knowing Portuguese won't get me anywhere. It's just a decorative asset. People are like "Wow, you lived in Brazil, and you speak fluent Portuguese!" Now, does that transfer to anything practical? Does that go towards college credits, can I put that on my resume, is that attractive to employers, do I receive any awards or recognition? No, no, no, no, and no. Nothing, nada. I spent four years of my life racking my brains out to learn this stupid language, only to come back and have it on the list of things that make me "interesting" at most. Add to that I have to relearn skills that I knew but had to unlearn in Brazil in order to learn the Brazilian skills. What the hell?Similar experiences are welcome.

I am only listen about Energy which is not transfer from one form to another.haaaa

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sven
Gringoes.com Guru

Joined: 14 March 2007
Location: Brazil
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Posts: 12800

Posted: 24 April 2012 at 09:52

No?

They are what then???

The Coca Cola company's board of directors are all americans. Same goes for wallmart. They are american multinationals.

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cara0910
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Joined: 20 May 2011
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Posted: 24 April 2012 at 11:55

Originally posted by sven

No?

They are what then???

The Coca Cola company's board of directors are all americans. Same goes for wallmart. They are american multinationals.

I don't think that makes Coca-cola in any way "American." What does it mean to be American? In 10 years Coca-cola could very well be "Chinese." Nothing really ties that entity to the US in any real way.

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sven
Gringoes.com Guru

Joined: 14 March 2007
Location: Brazil
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Posts: 12800

Posted: 24 April 2012 at 12:42

Originally posted by Ferguson21

Originally posted by cara0910

Hahaha. It's true, they all think we eat eggs and bacon for breakfast!

Not true, everybody knows that Americans have breakfast at McDonalds.

Yes, bacon and eggs at Mc Donalds.

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Grantham
Senior Member

Joined: 22 October 2010
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 392

Posted: 24 April 2012 at 13:45

Brazilians are not happy. They are only joyful. I have found many more happy Americans who are truly "happy" with their lives. I have only found a few Brazilians who are happy with their lives. They compensate for their unhappiness with alegria and carnaval and beer and samba. They think theyre happy. They dont know what theyre missing. And the ones who leave Brazil are usually happier out of Brazil than in it. I have met plenty of Brazilians who swear they will never return to their country, not even to visit. They talk with their relatives by email or by phone, but they will never even step foot in Brazil again. I imagine why. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, inflation was staggering! The government froze people's bank accounts! Talk about unstable! I wouldnt want to live in a country where that happened!

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Megabyte
Senior Member

Joined: 31 March 2012
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Posts: 438

Posted: 24 April 2012 at 15:07

Originally posted by Grantham

Brazilians are not happy. They are only joyful. I have found many more happy Americans who are truly "happy" with their lives. I have only found a few Brazilians who are happy with their lives. They compensate for their unhappiness with alegria and carnaval and beer and samba. They think theyre happy. They dont know what theyre missing. And the ones who leave Brazil are usually happier out of Brazil than in it. I have met plenty of Brazilians who swear they will never return to their country, not even to visit. They talk with their relatives by email or by phone, but they will never even step foot in Brazil again. I imagine why. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, inflation was staggering! The government froze people's bank accounts! Talk about unstable! I wouldnt want to live in a country where that happened!

I was hesitating to say anything, but your statement is quite big. "Brazilians are not happy." But what is happiness? Is it a state of everlasting bliss? And where does it come from? A good job? A family? Money?

Because you're talking about "inflation" and "bank accounts," I'm assuming you're talking about money, as in "Brazilian people are unhappy, poor people." While that may be true, there are poor people that can find peace of mind, and rich people that can't.

Let's take Amy Winehouse: she had everything to be successful: a beautiful voice, an unique singing style, tons of people that admired her... money. Everything.

And yet, she drugged and drunk herself to death. Why? You could say she wanted to try some drugs to feel some temporary happiness, but wasn't she happy before? Or... was she doing that to feel some sort of void, just like "Brazilian people" do with "beer and samba?"

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