Closing Up Shop

Last year at this time I was busy finishing my school year and beginning the organizational stages of my summer away in China.  It seemed like everything revolved around that trip.  Nope, can't do that, going to be in China then.  Sorry, won't be back from China until right before school starts.  This year I am kind of feeling the same way.  My usual 11 weeks of bliss are going to be packed into about 9 (cue the tears, I know) since I will be spending my last week in the U.S. in Boise for my brother's wedding and then I take off for Santiago the week before school would normally begin.  This compresses and intensifies the social calendar a bit.  No complaints on this end.  Cubs games, barbecues, extra yoga classes, Tuesday lunches with friends just because, none of it a bad thing.  I like to socialize.  I like to walk around Target for 2 hours on a Wednesday morning, just because.  This summer it will be interesting to see if I can that without actually buying anything since it's a little counterproductive to pack up most of your belongings and then hit up Super Target for more "just in case" things.  Kitchen towels? Don't need you.  Flip-Flops?  No way.  Certainly no more cute outdoor garden stuff either.  Adios.  This is a habit that I hope to break while living in Chile, shopping...just because.  I've already been practicing detachment to all of my "stuff" and I think it's a practice that would lead a lot of us out there to more fulfilled lives, but that is a topic for another day.

So as I pack away my house and my classroom on my final day of school, I wonder what the future has in store for me.  It hasn't really all sunk in yet, as my decision to leave next year is still a part of the future and not quite yet a reality of the present.  Should I be crying as I take down my posters and hug my students goodbye?  Should I have some sort of regret about giving up the familiarity of the last nine years?  Not yet.  I'm sure at some point in the next two months the weight of it all will finally catch up to me.  But until then, I will enjoy Target, Starbucks, Dairy Queen, Tacos el Norte, and all of the other comforts of home.

Hot Dogs, a cultural phenomenon

When your assignment for Spanish class involves a "tour" of a Spanish speaking country, the most logical food sample to share from Chile is a completo, right? 

Chicago and Santiago, not really that different?!?


Side note: 45 degrees in Chicago today and 73 in Santiago. Hmmm, I thought it was spring here.

Why I Chose Chile

Lately, the most common question that I have had to answer is "Why Chile?"  According to a colleague of mine, I chose Chile because a palm reader in Hong Kong told me that she saw me living in a country south of the equator.  I can assure you that there was no self-fulfilling prophecy at work here. While I can credit my seminar in China studying English teaching methods for inspiring me to teach English abroad,  I had actually forgotten about my fortune teller until about a month ago. I found the tiny piece of paper that she had given me with some notes about my "future" and it actually indicated that I would be heading to Australia.  The ironic thing is that my original intention was to go to Spain, and it appeared that I was hitting wall after wall in terms of trying to choose a city or lock in a job. I also had to consider taking a leave of absence from my current job and how it would coincide with the school year here in the States, which of course wouldn't naturally direct me toward a country the Southern Hemisphere where the school academic calendars would be different.

So, to answer the question as directly as I can, I actually chose Chile due to a natural process of elimination.  I won't mention any other countries, but you know who you are.  When I started reading about Chile I already felt welcome there, even without my feet ever having stepped on its soil.  It will pay me a decent salary to teach others a second language, the only job that I have ever been employed to do since I graduated college.  It won't freeze me out in the winter (OK, so I am learning that I might be wrong about that), and as I keep reminding my Mom, it will provide me a pretty safe and modern environment to enjoy the next chapter of my life.

I have read multiple perspectives written by those who are just beginning, continuing, or even ending their love affair with Chile.  Whether they went there originally to study or just to explore the geographical wonder that is Chile, it strikes me how many people are returning for the second, third, or even fourth time.  I spent my study abroad time in Costa Rica, and although I loved that time of my life, in no way did I feel such a strong pull to lead me to live there a second time.  To me this speaks volumes about the kind of experience that I'm hoping to have. While I know that being an English teacher in Santiago is not all that unique, I know that my own experience will be unique from everyone else's and that is what I'm looking the most forward to.