Arriving in a new country filled with dreams – that was the beginning of my journey to obtain my master’s degree.
After 17 hours of travel, I finally arrived at UDM.
Arriving a week early gave me time to get around and try to know the place that would become my home for the near future.
Here I met several nice people who helped me with everything I needed.
A couple days later I found myself in a big Michigan event, the Woodward Dream Cruise. I did not know what to expect from this kind of event, but I really enjoyed almost everything there.
Well, an engineer who likes cars is a natural for an event like that.
Living in university housing is a new thing for me. In Brazil, it is not common, and as I studied my whole life in my hometown, I never needed to live inside the university that I attended.
After a couple weeks, I got used to my new routine: new neighbors, new school and a completely different food style.
Coming from Natal, a tropical city in Brazil where it is 75 degrees on cold days, I have one concern about being here. Winter.
Everyone is saying that last winter was really bad and this one could be as bad as the last one.
Well, I am not leaving so I’ve already started to prepare myself for the upcoming conditions.
I’ve been trying to get to know the state I am living in.
My first trip was to Grand Rapids to see the Art Prize. It was a beautiful place with many interesting pieces of art. The best piece for me was a cube with a light inside that projected all the details sculpted on the cube’s walls.
The sculpture was in Grand Rapids Art Museum. There I had my first contact with the combination of wind and low temperatures. It was not that cold, only 42 degrees.
Later on, I discovered a German City in the middle of Michigan, Frankenmuth. Beautiful city. I felt like I was in Europe. This city is known for different kinds of food they make. From cheese to chocolate and beer, everything was amazing.
Back in Detroit, I visited Henry Ford Museum. It is the most interesting museum that I have ever visited.
Because it is not an art museum, it shows the history of the industry and the transportation equipment. From carriage to trains and airplanes, everything was there.
Afterward, I went to the Greenfield Village. I did not have time to see all the places I wanted, but I saw the cool places there, like Thomas Edison’s workshop and the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop.
Experiencing these places, I found something interesting and common to all of them.
Everywhere I go here in Michigan I find good people, working happy and always ready to help with information, advice and recommendations.
Almost everyone asks me, “Why Detroit?”
First, I chose the program I wanted to attend, found it here and after doing some research, I discovered that Detroit is not as bad as people say.
After this time here, I realize that it is not that at all.
It is a city like others. There are some places that you don’t want to go.
Besides that, it is a very nice place.
