Moving to Brazil (Sao Paulo)

Welcome aboard Expat.com, jreid0
Did you get a chance to browse earlier discussions to find some tips?

This site is of, by and for expats living in São Paulo.  It will get you started in a big way. gringoes.com

Also, there are many blogs produced by expats that include detailed descriptions of our experiences making the move, learning the language, finding employment, etc. Most of those blogs link to other blogs. Do a Google blog search and start exploring.

Good luck and ~good choice!

Jim
http://qualidadedevida-jim.blogspot.com/

hmmm well getting married in sao paulo is a lot more difficult than in the US, so make sure if you are going to be getting married for your visa (or are you working?) then you need to get your birth certificate stamped by the brazilian consulate in the US before you move....

bring as little as you can in your suitcases and my suggestion is that you don't ship. if you are unlucky brazilian customs can be very brutal...

if you don't already speak portuguese, then don't put too much pressure on yourself for not learning it fast enough. without classes, it takes longer, so give yourself about a year to become proficient, but don't be embarrassed to practice it or else you will never learn.

if youre going to be looking for a job in sao paulo, remember that like the US most things are about connections and who you know. and if you are going to be teaching english, native speakers make a lot more for private lessons, just make sure you don't have USD debt to pay off because when you convert the salary it will be depressing.

you'll find many americans and expats from other nations in sao paulo so don't worry about finding friends, it will happen. they are there in strong numbers!

boa sorte!