The difference between the Brasilian work culture and America's is most striking in how much importance they place on building personal relationships. I have been to a number of lunches with Patrícia's coworkers and I am constantly amazed at how close people are, physically and personally. First there is lots of kissing on cheeks and hugging, and then there is a lot of personal interaction outside of the work place. For instance, at lunch the other day, they all planned evening get-togethers, rotating between each others homes. Tonight's event is going to be catered by a pizza company that brings its own pizza oven to your home and cooks to order. We will all split the cost, about $10/person plus wine. Luckily for me, almost all of her coworkers at this company speak English. It should be a loud, rowdy, good time.
The downside of this kind of interaction is that at her last job, she even was obligated to go to her boss's son's birthday party, despite the fact that her boss was a jerk. I guess a little sacrifice to improve workplace harmony is not a terrible thing.
I am also amazed at the quantity of sales people in the shops. In one small shoe store, I counted 8 sales clerks. Lower wages allow for more service, maybe not always good service, but lots of it. For most Americans this would seem like overkill, but Patrícia's reaction in another store perfectly illustrated the Brasilian opinion: we were browsing for a few minutes and no one came over to help us. She said, "I guess they don't want to sell us anything," and we went to another store with more outwardly helpful people. Where Americans expect to be able to browse alone until they ask for help, Brasilians expect the sales person to be right by their side to answer any question. It is weird for me to have someone watching me browse, but I am getting used to it.
