Gaijin

This post is about nothing.

Which does not mean I have nothing to say - no, it’s about nothing as a concept. It’s about the fact that nothing, actually, is great.

Let me explain.

First of all, what’s great about “nothing”, is that it can mean “everything” at the same time - as in the expression “nothing special”. How’s life in Brazil, what are you doing these days? Oh, you know, nothing special. Which is a lazy way to say that all is so special, so magic, so overwhelming that you’d not know where to start, and that you’re sort of getting used to all these wonders as part of your everyday life.

The second “nothing” is what I have on my list of worries and concerns. I can’t remember any other moment in my life where my miscellaneous todolist has been this empty. I have nothing that I have to do, nothing I’m late with, nothing to worry about. Scary, huh? Never happened before (I mean, in recent life - let’s say in the last ten to fifteen years), so it took me some time to figure out what exactly this sensation was. Having an empty todolist means you can spend a whole afternoon reading on your hammock without the guilty sensation of having lost some precious time. It means you can walk around without a precise destination or goal. It means you can wake up late on sunday because of a long saturday night out, and still feel it’s OK, you have all the time you want to go to the gym, to read a comic, to write and tidy up your pictures (which is why you’ll find some on Gallery, as usual). You can even write postcards as if you were on holiday.

The fact that this country has been able to push this blissful nothingness into my head is not that surprising. They’re a happy-to-be population, and they’re contagious. What’s odd, is that the infection went that fast from zero to terminal state - I’ve even been strolling around in bermuda shorts and havaianas, which is close to be in disguise for someone who was used to long trousers and knee socks even in August and whose favourite footwear on the beach were usually a pair of old Tod’s loafers.

The only explanation I’ve been able to come about up to now (thinking about nothing does not mean shutting neurones off - it means your mind’s free to wander around with a child’s curiosity) is that the difference between Brazil and Europe mainly lies in the notion of “appropriateness”.

We’re busy all the time trying to categorize everything in terms of what’s appropriate and what’s not. Is this the right place and time for such a behaviour, for such a phrase? Am I appropriatedly dressed? Would it be appropriate if talked to her? What would be the appropriate date to organize a dinner with friends? Is it OK to wear this colourful tie or is it too much? Have I spoken enough in that meeting? Have I spoken too much? Have you seen her new outrageous boyfriend? Maybe I shouldn’t do that. Please respect the line behind the counter. Is this the right moment for such a major professional choice? What’s the ideal age to have children? Is two a reasonable number or should I plan to have more?
Chase: How would you feel if I interfered in your personal life?
House: I’d hate it. That’s why I cleverly have no personal life.

All this simply does not happen down here. Appropriateness has been cleverly replaced by good will and good faith - as long as you make your best efforts to be a decent man who helps other decent men around, you’re definitely doing the right thing. Adapting to Brazil is essentially about learning how to be good. Having a social or personal life is not even a point - it’s obvious. I’m even thinking about replacing Greg House as a role model - only, I still don’t know with whom.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 1:42 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.