The Brazilian Dream: Why the US Is the Destination of Choice

Introduction

 There it was again, fam. I was like, lowkey starting to realize that this would be, like, a total vibe in Brazil, you know? In the following days, I would experience it so many times--random people straight up calling me japonês in public (like, for no reason at all), store clerks be like "hey japonês," some person on the street muttering "japonês" as I walk by, and questions ending with "japonês" and stuff. "You might as well get used to it," one of my nisei homies told me. "OMG, there are like, legit no Japanese peeps in Rio Grande do Sul. It's so rare for Brazilians there to even spot a Japanese person, like, ever."

OMG, like obvi, kids are savage AF when it comes to this stuff. They just react with zero chill, while adults pretend to be all sophisticated in public. I'll never forget this tiny Brazilian kid who was like clutching his mom's skirt and he's all like, "Mommy, Mommy." OMG, peep this! Ayoo, that's so japonês!" Ngl, I'll never forget the squad of lit Brazilian kids who rolled up on me on the street and greeted me with all the Japanese words they knew. Bye bye, thanks ...The other experience that's like, hella vivid in my mind was this lit bus ride I took from downtown Porto Alegre. So there's this lil' girl sittin' next to her mom on the other bench, and she's legit just starin' at me the whole bus ride. Her big and adorbs eyes are like totally checkin' out my face. I lowkey squirmed in my seat, looked away for a sec, then peeped back at her. The stare was straight up relentless. OMG, like after a hot minute, I was like, "No way, this is a lost cause!" Her eyes were totally laser-focused on me, no chance of escaping. OMG, this kid totally tried to stereotype my Japanese roots just by staring at me! Like, so not cool! 

OMG, adults are like so not as curious about different cultures as kids. 

They're all about being proper and stuff, and after a while, it's just not as exciting anymore. OMG, the gaze was always there, making me hella aware of my unique Japanese appearance that totally set me apart from the mix of Brazilian faces around me. Actually, this racial label as japonês isn't just limited to places like Porto Alegre where spotting someone of Japanese descent is pretty uncommon. It's like, everywhere in Brazil, even in São Paulo, which has, like, the most Japanese-Brazilians in the whole country. Ofc, in those areas, it's way less common and more like acknowledging our ethnic differences rather than being all like "wow, that's so different!" Anyway, when people use names based on looks instead of cultural stuff, it's like saying they're all about race and stuff (cf. Fanon 1957:109-112). OMG, like my unique Asian look was never a big deal in the US, you know? But then in Brazil, it's like my race became a major part of my "Japanese" identity and made me super self-aware.OMG, I was shaken! I turned around and saw a Brazilian street vendor flexing at me, trying to get me excited about his lit stuff.Yet, the gaze was like, so much more powerful and meaningful for me than any utterance, ya know? I could totally vibe with my own imagination and be like, "Yo, this is what a japonês looks like, fam." The lowkey chinky eyes, the straight up flat face, the tiny nose. How lit." OMG, even after I hopped off the bus, the gaze was like lowkey stalking me. 

"Only three thousand cruzeiros, bro," he flexed with a bag of apples.

 

"Mais barato do que nas lojinhas, bro." OMG, once he realized he had my attention, he continued with his lit sales pitch, talking about how his apples were both fire and tasty. I was like, umm, before the lit words in Portuguese came out: "Nah, passo." My hesitation stemmed from the fact that they directly called me out for my ethnicity, rather than the fact that my Portuguese skills were still not up to par. It was the first time a random person had greeted me in such a way. I pulled up to the well-lit downtown bus station, where a line of buses sat with their doors wide open, calling out for passengers to board. I noticed the signs flexing the various routes, you know? My bus hadn't arrived yet, family. But, since I knew nothing about the bus system, I just wanted to make sure I was in the right place (and to practice my Portuguese). So, after mentally rehearsing my question a million times, I approached this attendant who was just sitting near one of the benches on the bus platform. The chill attendant said, "Yasss, you're at the right bus stop, fam!" Then he said, "Yo, check out that bench over there."