Brazilian Culture 101 for your Working Holiday Adventure

Surprising aspects of daily life in Brazil

For many foreigners, seemingly mundane aspects of everyday life in Brazil offer a chance to experience culture shock. The way Brazilians view relationships, meals or just public space is likely to be different than what you’re used to… or not, depending on where you’re from!

Either way, you will probably appreciate how friendly and helpful Brazilians are. It is an awesome country, after all.

The lack of personal space

Most people value their personal space, but the definition of personal space is very different from one country to another. North Americans typically need more personal space than Europeans, who still need more personal space than… yep, Brazilians.

Brazilians love to chat with perfect strangers, so you may be asked questions that are considered “personal” back home. It’s also perfectly fine from a Brazilian perspective to sit next to a stranger in a food court. Basically, Brazilian take the space their need without much care for your own “personal” space.

People tend to speak loudly and use their phone to call, watch a video or listen to music in public spaces. Many beach bums bring their own portable speaker—beaches can get pretty loud but on the plus side, you will learn the lyrics of all the top Brazilian hits pretty fast!

Don’t see this as a lack of respect—it’s just the way things are in Brazil. 

Sharing a meal, Brazilian style

Depending on where you’re from, you may find Brazilian eat fast and have “bad” table manners. For instance, Brazilians don’t wait for everybody to be served to start eating, and they don’t wait for the last person to finish to leave the table. You’re supposed to help yourself, your host won’t serve you water, rice, etc. 

Brazilians tend to mix foods that aren’t mixed in other countries—for instance, rice, pasta, meat, salad and dressing on the same plate. This is especially true in “comida por kilo” buffet restaurants.

However, Brazilians rarely eat directly with their fingers, even street food that would be perfect finger food—they use a napkin to avoid touching food directly.

You will also notice that even before COVID, Brazilians have great hand hygiene—even hole-in-the-wall restaurants usually have easily accessible clean bathrooms, or at the very least, a sink with soap to wash hands before and after eating.

Social relationships

Generally speaking, Brazilians are very polite and friendly. Greetings (“bom dia,” “boa tarde,” “boa noite”) preface all interactions with strangers. It’s rare to see any aggressivity in everyday situations (public transportation, supermarkets, etc.) and people who don’t follow the rules (i.e. jumping the queue, being impolite, etc.) are usually called out on their behaviour by the crowd. 

Brazilians are so friendly you may be invited to parties, birthdays, etc., even if you don’t know the group well. Make the most of the opportunity but keep in mind that this doesn’t mean you’ve made lifelong friends, many of these relationships are superficial. To quote a Brazilian, these kinds of relationships are a case of “right now, I like you, so enjoy!”

Brazilians don’t like to say “no,” so you may hear a “maybe” or some kind of excuse instead. Just get used to it and learn to know when it’s a hidden Brazilian “no”! 

But overall, despite some social aspects of life that may be disconcerting at first, Brazilians are lovely people and they will make you feel welcome. 

A last anecdote: two Brazilians bump into each other in a busy market and hug like long-lost siblings. Best friends? Nope, turned out they barely knew each other, forgot each other’s names, and only met once at a party!