Celebrating Christmas in Portugal

On September 13th, I left my small town in Southern Alberta to embark on a journey that would hopefully impact the rest of my life. I will be living in Portugal for a total of ten months, going home on June 20th. My main goals for this experience are to understand and live a different culture, to gain a different perspective of life, to have the chance to see outside of my small world back home, to learn a new language, and to acquire a new sense of self.

Portugal is a small country located on the west side of Spain. The people here are social and family orientated. They will go out of their way to help you in any situation. They enjoy life and are very friendly. The countryside is beautiful. The city that I live in is called Viseu. It is a small city with many fountains and gorgeous buildings. The cathedral and church located in the center of the city are very picturesque. Viseu is less than 1 hour from the sea and the city Aveiro, an hour and a half to Porto and the River Douro, 30 minutes to Coimbra and 3 hours to Lisbon – the capital of Portugal. So it is very easy to go to everywhere and most important the beaches are very close to Viseu. The city name goes back to the end of the Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages where its name is derived from the Roman term “viso” which means a good view. This was in accordance with where the original settlement was formed in Roman times and was the highest point. The city is rich in churches, convents and chapels. In addition to the cathedral there are six major churches, four chapels, two convents, and the bishop’s palace. There is also a sacred art museum in the cathedral. On New Year’s Day we visited a place called Póvoa Dão about 15 km from Viseu. It is one of the oldest villages with its existence referred to as far back as Alfonsine Inquests prior to 1258.

My host family has four members, a mom, a dad and two children, a boy age 14 and a girl age 10. Four days a week my host mother’s mom stays with us as well. They all have welcomed me into their home and lives. I feel very comfortable with them and I really appreciate every opportunity they have given me. Sofia and Luis own a language school called FunLanguages and I spend a lot of time there chatting with the English teachers as some are from Canadá, USA and England.

My Portuguese school is called Escola Secundária Alves Martins. It starts at 8:25 in the morning from Tuesday to Friday and ends at different times during the week. Sometimes I do not finish school till 6:00 in the afternoon. We live in the center of the city close to the school. My host parents arrive home at 8:00 in the evening from work and my host brother from his after school activities which are soccer, English and Spanish lessons. So far I found the meals here are very different from back in Canada as we spend a lot of time seated talking about everyone’s day at school or work. Food varies a lot more here and meals every day always start with soup made from fresh vegetables and end with fruit or a sweet dessert. At the beginning I had to learn how they conducted themselves when sitting at a table for a meal – many things are different and much more formal. It is common to have meals in a restaurant 1 or 2 times a week as well.

On the weekends I watch TV, go to the theatre with my host sister, help my host siblings with English homework, go on the computer, or read. Also we as a family sometimes go shopping – to the supermarket and mall. Many times my host family takes me to new places around Viseu that are important and useful to see like old villages with houses made of granite. I have seen many new fruit trees such as chestnut, pomegranate and persimmon. For the first time I roasted and boiled chestnuts that families here have every day during November and ate marmalade that is made from a fruit called quince ( in Portuguese this fruit is called Marmelo so Marmelade...). I have visited the local museum of paintings – Museu Grão Vasco and the Cathedral. The area around the Cathedral is the oldest part of the city and it is the favourite place for the secondary students to go during the weekends to chat and have a pleasant time.

Christmas here is a lot different as well. People eat Bolo Rei (king cake) and a lot of fried sweet desserts made with bread, pumpkin and eggs. Codfish is the national dish and we ate it for Christmas dinner. Overall, the meals are very different from in Canada. Here we eat homemade soup with every meal which is made every 2 days and everything is made from scratch. The bread and pastries are extremely good and small coffees are very popular. Food is a lot healthier with the range of meats and variety of fish and seafood being a lot larger than I am used to. It is very nice to be able to try so many new things!

In school I am enrolled in the art division, something we do not have in Canada. Portuguese students have to pick their division in grade ten, like art, humanities, sciences, languages, etc. They also stay with the same people in their class each year. I really enjoy my class colleagues. They have welcomed me as part of the group. The school building dates back to 1920 and is considered an art monument that was renovated and has very good facilities. In February I will travel with the school to Madrid, Spain and I will visit museums and the International Art Fair there. Europe has so much history and art everywhere I look!

People have more personal relationships in Portugal and I really enjoy each other’s company. One of the biggest differences in our two countries is that in Canada we do not do the two kisses as they do here. In North America we hardly ever learn or hear about things happening in other places in the world unless its big news and we rarely hear other languages in our regular daily life and don’t get a chance to learn new languages or cultures. Coming here I realised the influence North America has on the world through the media like movies, advertisements, internet, even phases people say, and much more. One thing I really miss from back home is the ability to drive, and, of course, all my friends and family.

City Hall, Viseu. Randi Uhl and her host father Luís

I would recommend the ASSE Outbound Program to everyone who wants to take a step out of their comfort zone and truly deepen an understanding of the world. On this program I am learning independence, courage, perspective, appreciation and an endless list of valuable skills, and most importantly I am learning a lot about myself. I would also recommend this family and this city. My host family is very welcoming and kind, they are helpful and fun. Viseu has a perfect balance. Everything is within a short drive, if not within walking distance. Viseu has everything I need: a nice mall, a cinema, schools, supermarkets, and a wonderful host family!

In the end the decision to become an ASSE Exchange Student was one of the smartest I have made.

Randi Uhl and her host family in Viseu, Portugal