Paper short abstract:

The social and historical realities through societies are quite diverse and there are many cultural differences between countries. An exchange program provides a social relation of cultural reciprocity, growth and respect among people of different realities.

Paper long abstract:

The approach of this work will focus on the experience the authors recently had while Brazilian undergraduate students on an international mobility program in Portugal.

We shall present the main perceptions acquired during this experience, taking into account the double face of exchange that is configured both on reciprocity of academic knowledge and professional growth, but mainly on the contribution of training and personal construction as social beings in an environment, which is politically, economically and culturally different from our homeland. We believe that learning the customs, traditions and the language differences of another country means much more than the simple exchange of knowledge, but most of all, it means to aggregate values and personal growth. Living with differences is learning to respect and understand that we are a possble culture among many other possible cultures.

Another important aspect to be highlighted is that this exchange of knowledge, not only enables growth for those who are moving abroad, but also for those who receive a foreigner student. So we want to put in account both our vision and experience as exchange students, and also the views and experiences of who constantly receive students from all over the world.

To conclude, taking part of an exchange is to learn to live with differences and grow with them, once the integration with aspects of the culture and local lives raises the possibility to be no longer just a citizen of a nationality, but a citizen the world.