Where Am I?

Sometimes flashbacks of a previous life assault me. At first glance, not many things would confuse me as whether I am here in Brazil or there in China. Yet at times, the other side of the world winks at me.
For example the other day I walked by a store on the W3 and saw a kitchen tool I needed, so I walked in to buy it: a battery-operated vinaigrette mixer. No comments please. As it was there on the shelf, and I walked in with the intention of spending less than 5 minutes in there, just enough time for the transaction to be validated on my card. Oh! what was I thinking again? A staff had to get a new box downstairs. Then record in one computer what I am buying. And ask me for my CPF and my complete address and all sort of very important details. And then send me over to another cashier, who would find my order in the system, pull it out, and complete the sale and print a few tickets. Then I would need to go back to the first counter, where upon presentation one of these coupons I would retrieve my purchase. Nothing short of 30 minutes.
Although the speed of the cashiers are not comparable, the process was similar in China when making purchases in department stores. Exasperating.

I found a number of other strange similarities with China:
- In a chicken purchased at the grocery store, I found not only its gibbets but also its feet!
- There rice is a staple here. Required by everyone for every meal. Ok, granted, it is not the same type and accompanied by much different fare. But no one would discuss the importance of this grain in these two cultures.
- One other thing that I found striking when comparing those two country-continents was the importance of the "face". We ear often about the Chinese face, and how messages might be conveyed in a rather indirect way, just to avoid de-facing an interlocutor. Surprisingly enough, the Brazilian will also take great lengths to convey their negative message in the less possibly direct way, wanting to preserve their relationships and the person their are dealing with. Like China, Brazil is a country where connections are essential to for many things in life.
- Generally, both Chinese and Brazilian are bad drivers. On this I might post more extensively later.
There has been a number of other "flashes" but for now I will leave you with this.