I've had some things in the works for awhile now and although I still don't know it all, I will share with you what I do know. I've given my notice at my institute and I'm leaving Chile to head back to the USA on June 15th. A few months ago, after a lot of thought about what I wanted to do next, I decided that I didn't see myself living here long term and that it was time to go back and make a new life in a new place back in the States. It wasn't a decision that I made lightly, and I still have a few lingering doubts about whether it was the right one or if I jumped the gun...
I resigned from my old teaching job back in February, my townhouse is now rented until August of 2012, and as of this moment I don't have another job or a place to live. I do have some job opportunities at home that I'm still waiting on, and I know deep down that if those don't pan out that there are other options here in Chile should I decide to come back at some point.
I really like teaching English and working with business professionals and I've enjoyed my opportunities here to gain more professional teaching experience and to improve my Spanish.
It's definitely an "in-limbo" period, but I think for now I'm doing the right thing. I'm sad about leaving Chile, it's been a good home to me, I've made some really good friends here, and I've loved my English students.
Whatever comes next, I know that I made the right decision in coming here in the first place!
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Animal Moments
I've already posted disclaimers about my lack of crazy cat lady-ness, but it's no secret that I really miss my little guy. I think he misses me too, as evidenced by his curiosity with my voice when I'm talking to my mom on Skype or when she has me on speakerphone. He starts rubbing his little whiskers against the phone and purring, while staring at the receiver with a very confused look due to his curiosity about where my voice is coming from...
Sometimes when I'm walking home from class at night and spacing out, I'll think about Cameron and often times feel guilty about leaving him for so long, and to comfort me momentarily a random kitty will pop out of nowhere on the street or from a tree up above and give me a reassuring meow.
This semester my night class in on the other side of the city, so my new route has me getting off the bus and returning from the opposite side. You'd think I'd be smarter than the dog, but it never fails, this guy scares the crap out of me every time. He's black so I never see him, and he hides on the step until I turn the corner and then sneaks around behind the cars to the gate just as I turn the corner, ferociously bouncing up and down like a pogo stick. Seriously, this little guy can catch some air, and I don't think this video captured any of his record jumps, in fact this time he kind of looked at me like, "Why are you stopping for film footage lady? I'm much more confident in my terrorizing skills when you just keep walking by."
Sometimes when I'm walking home from class at night and spacing out, I'll think about Cameron and often times feel guilty about leaving him for so long, and to comfort me momentarily a random kitty will pop out of nowhere on the street or from a tree up above and give me a reassuring meow.
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| A random favorite photo of mine that I knew would fit in somewhere |
Friday, March 18, 2011
Changes and going with the flow
Do you ever stop and think about how life seems to be going perfectly in one direction and then suddenly out of nowhere something pops up to take you somewhere completely new?
It happens on a small scale, like when I leave the institute thinking that I'm going to go and do one thing, and then suddenly I bump into a friend and end up at happy hour, and it also happens with the big things, a conversation in passing that sparks an idea that takes you off to a completely new place, either physically or mentally...
A fleeting thought about the beauty and grandeur of the Great Wall of China and a week a later appears a grant opportunity for foreign language teachers. Coincidence, or destiny? The trip to China somehow leads to me living in South America, and here I am looking at the next "next step"...
That's exactly what they are, steps to something bigger and better if we allow them to be. If we knew what was ahead, would we ever take the small steps? If someone told me that this move to Chile would result in me going back to the USA to leave my old teaching job and look for another job would I just opt to skip the Chile part and make only one change instead of two? Sometimes we prefer the easiest course of action, but isn't that where we'd miss the learning?
I want to emphasize that I would classify my time here in Chile as exactly that, a learning experience. Yes, I've traveled and shared lots of photos with you here on this blog, but I can assure you that when I look back on this experience I'll remember more about all the things that I learned, both big and small. Yes, I came to Santiago to gain English teaching experience and to put my Spanish into a more practical context, and in the meantime I learned about a new culture and embarrassed myself a few times in the process. I didn't write much about my daily frustrations on this blog because I try to focus on the bigger things and frankly with everything that's going on in the world I don't think my minor setbacks would always be very well-received.
It is appropriate to share, however, that my experience here isn't about how many people cut me in line or stared at me or grinned when I opened my mouth and actual Spanish came out. I've tried to take a better look at myself and how I react in these moments and also keep in mind that there are plenty of crappy people in my own country. When you move to a different country you realize very quickly that the easiest course of action is not to try to change or be bothered by how everyone else does things. The best way to assimilate is to get with the program and quickly set your own expectations aside. At the end of the day it boils down to how we adjust, grow, and internalize these little changes that we've made and put them into practice when the next opportunity for change appears in our lives. For me, patience and acceptance are two big things that I hope to be able to take with me when I go.
It happens on a small scale, like when I leave the institute thinking that I'm going to go and do one thing, and then suddenly I bump into a friend and end up at happy hour, and it also happens with the big things, a conversation in passing that sparks an idea that takes you off to a completely new place, either physically or mentally...
A fleeting thought about the beauty and grandeur of the Great Wall of China and a week a later appears a grant opportunity for foreign language teachers. Coincidence, or destiny? The trip to China somehow leads to me living in South America, and here I am looking at the next "next step"...
That's exactly what they are, steps to something bigger and better if we allow them to be. If we knew what was ahead, would we ever take the small steps? If someone told me that this move to Chile would result in me going back to the USA to leave my old teaching job and look for another job would I just opt to skip the Chile part and make only one change instead of two? Sometimes we prefer the easiest course of action, but isn't that where we'd miss the learning?
I want to emphasize that I would classify my time here in Chile as exactly that, a learning experience. Yes, I've traveled and shared lots of photos with you here on this blog, but I can assure you that when I look back on this experience I'll remember more about all the things that I learned, both big and small. Yes, I came to Santiago to gain English teaching experience and to put my Spanish into a more practical context, and in the meantime I learned about a new culture and embarrassed myself a few times in the process. I didn't write much about my daily frustrations on this blog because I try to focus on the bigger things and frankly with everything that's going on in the world I don't think my minor setbacks would always be very well-received.
It is appropriate to share, however, that my experience here isn't about how many people cut me in line or stared at me or grinned when I opened my mouth and actual Spanish came out. I've tried to take a better look at myself and how I react in these moments and also keep in mind that there are plenty of crappy people in my own country. When you move to a different country you realize very quickly that the easiest course of action is not to try to change or be bothered by how everyone else does things. The best way to assimilate is to get with the program and quickly set your own expectations aside. At the end of the day it boils down to how we adjust, grow, and internalize these little changes that we've made and put them into practice when the next opportunity for change appears in our lives. For me, patience and acceptance are two big things that I hope to be able to take with me when I go.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
What are you eating there?
Mark, this post is for you! When I went to China, I posted so many pictures of food it was ridiculous. The food was so unique and the presentation so beautiful that you couldn't help but get your camera out at every meal. (Carol!) I haven't said much about the food here in Chile and it's mostly because my eating habits aren't really that different than before.
I thought I would really learn how to cook, but as it turns out I really don't put together full meals really well. I check out all of the beautiful fresh fruits and veggies and just start cutting up what sounds good at the time. Yesterday it was a tomato and avocado salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar with the tomatoes from yesterday's feria for 300 pesos a kilo!?!
It's also choclo, or corn season around here too, so the other day Ita brought me a stew-like dish with finely ground corn, white beans, and some other veggies. Many of the veggie dishes that I love are winter foods and are way too hot for the summer.
So, here are some pictures of things that people eat around here, and I'm sure you'll be able to distinguish the things that I eat from the ones I'd never touch!
I thought I would really learn how to cook, but as it turns out I really don't put together full meals really well. I check out all of the beautiful fresh fruits and veggies and just start cutting up what sounds good at the time. Yesterday it was a tomato and avocado salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar with the tomatoes from yesterday's feria for 300 pesos a kilo!?!
It's also choclo, or corn season around here too, so the other day Ita brought me a stew-like dish with finely ground corn, white beans, and some other veggies. Many of the veggie dishes that I love are winter foods and are way too hot for the summer.
So, here are some pictures of things that people eat around here, and I'm sure you'll be able to distinguish the things that I eat from the ones I'd never touch!
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| Can't get enough of this stuff |
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| Peruvian salad |
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| Chilean salad |
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| Aji de gallina, a Peruvian spicy chicken dish that's not made as spicy here in Chile since people like things a bit more bland. |
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| Baked seafood empanadas, one of my favorites |
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| Merluza, a typical whitefish with salad. It's pretty plain so you grab the lemon and squeeze it on everything and then salt away! |
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| Fried conger eel with some kind of puree |
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| Chorillana. Red meat, onions, eggs, fries, etc. Thankfully this is supposed to be for more than one person. Thankfully I don't eat it. |
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| Bistec a lo pobre. Another heart stopper. |
Thursday, January 6, 2011
I know some of you out there have sent cards and I really appreciate that in an old-school, running to the mailbox to see what I got, sort of way. Here the mail just gets tossed onto the driveway through the gate so it's fun to take a peak when I come in to see if by chance anything has arrived for me. The only Christmas card related mail that I have received so far is cards that were mailed in November, so if you did send me a card and I never said anything it's because it still isn't here yet. :)
Yesterday I received a package from a friend that was postmarked November 24th, and it caused a funny situation with the mailman. I was walking down the street and saw a guy lurking around the gate so I kind of did a little detour off of the sidewalk and into the street so I could ignore him and walk by the house. He called me by first and last name and because of how he was dressed it still didn't hit me that he was the mailman until he held up the package with my name on it. He explained that he rang the bell and was about to leave since no one was home, and then he saw a tall gringa coming his direction and decided to play the odds. I was a little out of sorts since I had just been to the bank and was nervous about the cash I had on me so I must have looked like an idiot as I fumbled through my purse trying to find my newly issued ID number that I still haven't memorized yet and all the while just trying to get into the gate with all of my belongings properly secured.
We had a laugh and he asked me how in the world I would ever expect to get packages delivered if I avoided the mailman?!? Makes me remember fondly the days of my Amazon.com packages just sitting there, awaiting me on the front porch, untouched. My how times have changed!
Yesterday I received a package from a friend that was postmarked November 24th, and it caused a funny situation with the mailman. I was walking down the street and saw a guy lurking around the gate so I kind of did a little detour off of the sidewalk and into the street so I could ignore him and walk by the house. He called me by first and last name and because of how he was dressed it still didn't hit me that he was the mailman until he held up the package with my name on it. He explained that he rang the bell and was about to leave since no one was home, and then he saw a tall gringa coming his direction and decided to play the odds. I was a little out of sorts since I had just been to the bank and was nervous about the cash I had on me so I must have looked like an idiot as I fumbled through my purse trying to find my newly issued ID number that I still haven't memorized yet and all the while just trying to get into the gate with all of my belongings properly secured.
We had a laugh and he asked me how in the world I would ever expect to get packages delivered if I avoided the mailman?!? Makes me remember fondly the days of my Amazon.com packages just sitting there, awaiting me on the front porch, untouched. My how times have changed!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Bad Weather Karma
If you look at the Weather Channel feed on my blog today and it says rain and 43 degrees Fahrenheit and you think, hmm, that's strange that it's as cold in Chile as it is in Chicago, um well, IT IS STRANGE!. I'm a little confused as to why the Chicago weather of 84 degrees one day and 40 the next had to follow me here. Ok, so I'm being a little dramatic, but this is the second extreme temperature swing that we've had in the last several weeks. When I wheeled my bike around the back to put under the covered patio on Saturday, it was blazing hot and sunny and Ita looked at me like I was crazy for even mentioning the word rain. In fact, I was joking with some friends last weekend that I was starting to get my Fahrenheit and Celsius confused since my Weather Channel feed for Chicago said 26 and it was 27 degrees Celsius here. I rubbed it in that while they were shopping for winter coats, I was sitting at an outdoor patio enjoying a beer. And that my friends, is bad weather karma.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Celebrating the Miners
I haven't been here in Chile long, but one day I will look back at my blog and remember this historic day. I'll remember that I was here in Chile the day that the trapped miners were rescued, and that along with everyone else in Chile and around the world, I stayed up late watching each miner be rescued one by one. I heard the horns honking in celebration around Santiago as the last miner was rescued. I'll remember that I lived here in 2010, the year of the earthquake, the bicentennial, and the year that the trapped miners were rescued.
I'm truly impressed and amazed by the strength and patriotism of the people in this country.
Thanks to everyone back home who's been asking about the 33 miners since they were discovered on August 22nd. Please continue to keep the miners and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Viva Chile!
I'm truly impressed and amazed by the strength and patriotism of the people in this country.
Thanks to everyone back home who's been asking about the 33 miners since they were discovered on August 22nd. Please continue to keep the miners and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Viva Chile!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Teaching Here 'n There
I will try to take a break from the "look at all of the day-trips I am taking" picture portion of the blog that seems to have taken over and focus on the reason why I actually came to Chile, to teach English. I haven't said a lot about this yet and I can't give any specifics about my institute on my blog, but let me take this opportunity to report my experience teaching English here thus far.
As a teacher by trade, my observations could be vastly different from those who have never taught in a classroom in the U.S., but maybe not? I think with teaching your first language comes a certain level confidence that one doesn't ever have with their second language. Of course, there are exceptions for people who grow up other countries, live there for many years, have bilingual parents, etc. My experience in learning Spanish was in school so I became a lot more adept at learning grammatical rules of Spanish and how to use it "correctly" and completed ignored all of the English grammar rules in English class and continued to speak as I always had. This combined with several years of teaching Spanish translates to me being able to explain those rules of the Spanish language pretty well. Sure, my students here might laugh because I can't say my "r's" exactly the way that a native can, but I do have the benefit of understanding the grammatical structures of Spanish and how my students think. I know why they want to say "Have your parents any car?" and that learning "do" is difficult concept because it's so opposite the Spanish structure.
What I don't know all that well quite yet is how to explain English rules for things that I can repeat to myself 2-3 times and still not know which is the correct one since they both sound "right" to me! These are the moments that frustrate me since students seem to get caught up on some of those rules that I'm not accustomed to teaching. Meanwhile I'm waving my arms and saying "look over here at this awesome thematic lesson that I've planned" and never mind the picky grammar rule, let's just continue the conversation we were having about gossip and its negative effects. Over the course of the last few years I had stopped teaching grammar as a separate lesson and begun incorporating it a lot more holistically, hence the difficulty I'm having of doing things the "old way". I'm also working on an online TEFL course that wasn't required of me since I have teaching experience, but I want to complete one just to have the extra practice as well as the certification.
Two months into my experience I'd have to say that for me the positives outweigh the negatives. I love the change of teaching adults as well as teenagers. I love not having to spend hours and hours grading papers and being able to put that time into planning lessons for 8 students instead of 27. I'm also fortunate to be able to dip into my previous lessons that I used back home and try to use them here as an English lesson. I love being able to explain vocabulary as it comes up in class and tell an accompanying story in my first language. (last week it was "leftovers")
The schedule isn't always optimal, but I do often have time during the day to catch up on email, Skype with my family and friends at school, and possibly take a quick nap if I'm exhausted from teaching til 9 and then running home and having to be somewhere else at 8 the next morning. When you look at the breakdown of the hours, it doesn't look like much compared to what I was doing at home, but it does begin to wear you down. It's impossible to get home at 9:40 and get anything done and also be in bed at a decent time to feel rested enough for the next day's early class. That combined with also working early on Saturday mornings makes the week feel a lot longer.
Overall, I've found that it's just like anything else in life, create a balance for yourself and learn what works for you!
As a teacher by trade, my observations could be vastly different from those who have never taught in a classroom in the U.S., but maybe not? I think with teaching your first language comes a certain level confidence that one doesn't ever have with their second language. Of course, there are exceptions for people who grow up other countries, live there for many years, have bilingual parents, etc. My experience in learning Spanish was in school so I became a lot more adept at learning grammatical rules of Spanish and how to use it "correctly" and completed ignored all of the English grammar rules in English class and continued to speak as I always had. This combined with several years of teaching Spanish translates to me being able to explain those rules of the Spanish language pretty well. Sure, my students here might laugh because I can't say my "r's" exactly the way that a native can, but I do have the benefit of understanding the grammatical structures of Spanish and how my students think. I know why they want to say "Have your parents any car?" and that learning "do" is difficult concept because it's so opposite the Spanish structure.
What I don't know all that well quite yet is how to explain English rules for things that I can repeat to myself 2-3 times and still not know which is the correct one since they both sound "right" to me! These are the moments that frustrate me since students seem to get caught up on some of those rules that I'm not accustomed to teaching. Meanwhile I'm waving my arms and saying "look over here at this awesome thematic lesson that I've planned" and never mind the picky grammar rule, let's just continue the conversation we were having about gossip and its negative effects. Over the course of the last few years I had stopped teaching grammar as a separate lesson and begun incorporating it a lot more holistically, hence the difficulty I'm having of doing things the "old way". I'm also working on an online TEFL course that wasn't required of me since I have teaching experience, but I want to complete one just to have the extra practice as well as the certification.
Two months into my experience I'd have to say that for me the positives outweigh the negatives. I love the change of teaching adults as well as teenagers. I love not having to spend hours and hours grading papers and being able to put that time into planning lessons for 8 students instead of 27. I'm also fortunate to be able to dip into my previous lessons that I used back home and try to use them here as an English lesson. I love being able to explain vocabulary as it comes up in class and tell an accompanying story in my first language. (last week it was "leftovers")
The schedule isn't always optimal, but I do often have time during the day to catch up on email, Skype with my family and friends at school, and possibly take a quick nap if I'm exhausted from teaching til 9 and then running home and having to be somewhere else at 8 the next morning. When you look at the breakdown of the hours, it doesn't look like much compared to what I was doing at home, but it does begin to wear you down. It's impossible to get home at 9:40 and get anything done and also be in bed at a decent time to feel rested enough for the next day's early class. That combined with also working early on Saturday mornings makes the week feel a lot longer.
Overall, I've found that it's just like anything else in life, create a balance for yourself and learn what works for you!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Mercado Libre
In the States I wasn´t much of an Ebay or a Craigslist kind of girl since if you needed to exchange some kind of goods or services with someone on Craigslist there was always that chance that you could end up well, dead. For this reason I was very cautious about using it to sell any of my belongings before I came to Chile. I know many people swear by Ebay, but I am more of an Amazon girl...yeah, go ahead and click on one of those links on my blog and buy something so I can make 50 cents!
When I began the search for my bike, a friend of mine recommended a site here called Mercado Libre, I didn't really know anything about it and I can't say that I'm an expert on it now by any means, but I can say that I've had two successful experiences here to date and would recommend for people here to at least do a search to see if someone here might be selling what you are looking for. Both of the items that I purchased were right here in Santiago and I was able to meet with the sellers face to face to complete the transactions in cash. Since many of these sites like Ebay rely on seller ratings, the sellers seem to go out of their way to be extra accommodating.
This week I used the site again to find a new camera, and I found an honest young man who was selling a new one in the box with the accompanying sales receipt. It only cost a few dollars more than I would have paid for it in the US, minus the hassle of shipping, insurance, and customs. I met up with him at Starbucks to pick it up, so as soon as class ends in a few hours I´ll be on my way to La Serena and ready to take pictures as if nothing had ever happened!
When I began the search for my bike, a friend of mine recommended a site here called Mercado Libre, I didn't really know anything about it and I can't say that I'm an expert on it now by any means, but I can say that I've had two successful experiences here to date and would recommend for people here to at least do a search to see if someone here might be selling what you are looking for. Both of the items that I purchased were right here in Santiago and I was able to meet with the sellers face to face to complete the transactions in cash. Since many of these sites like Ebay rely on seller ratings, the sellers seem to go out of their way to be extra accommodating.
This week I used the site again to find a new camera, and I found an honest young man who was selling a new one in the box with the accompanying sales receipt. It only cost a few dollars more than I would have paid for it in the US, minus the hassle of shipping, insurance, and customs. I met up with him at Starbucks to pick it up, so as soon as class ends in a few hours I´ll be on my way to La Serena and ready to take pictures as if nothing had ever happened!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Is it ok to jump on the bandwagon?
Ask any of my family or friends and they will tell you that I'm a sports girl, I always have been. Maybe it's a Chicago thing, maybe it's just how I grew up. I watch the Bears games, attend at least 8 Cubs games a year and watch a good majority of their games since my summers are work-free. I was here for the Bulls 3-peats of the 90's and experienced the White Sox World Series of 2005.
This summer I entered into a different realm of the sporting world here in Chicago, as I was more than happy to jump on the Blackhawks bandwagon. For many of my younger years, the Blackhawks was a successful franchise, but games were unavailable on television and attendance was poor. My brother moved to Colorado and was a huge Avalanche fan who questioned my loyalty to our home city's team. I always shrugged off my lack of devotion to the fact that many other Chicagoans weren't watching the games either. Well this year both the Cubs and Sox are pretty darn bad, so I'm officially a Stanley Cup/World Cup girl. I'm not ashamed to admit it at all. I wasn't out buying Patrick Kane or Team USA jerseys, I have merely been enjoying the atmosphere and excitement that comes with a Stanley Cup victory and the playoff run that went along with it. You hardcore fans can call me bandwagon, but is that such a bad thing, to have the sports fans of the city congregate at friends houses or at local establishments to support a winning team? The Cubs have broken my heart so many times that I deserve a chance to displace my loyalty somewhere.
And as for you World Cup, a die-hard soccer fan I am not, but a supporter I am. Thank you to my friends Meg and Javier, who encourage me to participate as a fan of the US or of Chile, my country to be, or for whatever team I may choose that day. Whatever kind of ball or puck is flying around, it's always exciting to support a team that is passionate about what they're doing. It's inspiring for me to watch Chile and the excitement that has enveloped the country from afar. I'm ready to pack away my Cubs jerseys in exchange for my "I Heart Chile Futbol" t-shirt. (thanks Javier) Although I will arrive in Chile upon completion of the World Cup, in my heart I will know that I got up early, wore my shirt, looked at all of the pictures, and felt the surge of pride that came with Wednesday's victory and hopefully with the games to come.
This summer I entered into a different realm of the sporting world here in Chicago, as I was more than happy to jump on the Blackhawks bandwagon. For many of my younger years, the Blackhawks was a successful franchise, but games were unavailable on television and attendance was poor. My brother moved to Colorado and was a huge Avalanche fan who questioned my loyalty to our home city's team. I always shrugged off my lack of devotion to the fact that many other Chicagoans weren't watching the games either. Well this year both the Cubs and Sox are pretty darn bad, so I'm officially a Stanley Cup/World Cup girl. I'm not ashamed to admit it at all. I wasn't out buying Patrick Kane or Team USA jerseys, I have merely been enjoying the atmosphere and excitement that comes with a Stanley Cup victory and the playoff run that went along with it. You hardcore fans can call me bandwagon, but is that such a bad thing, to have the sports fans of the city congregate at friends houses or at local establishments to support a winning team? The Cubs have broken my heart so many times that I deserve a chance to displace my loyalty somewhere.
And as for you World Cup, a die-hard soccer fan I am not, but a supporter I am. Thank you to my friends Meg and Javier, who encourage me to participate as a fan of the US or of Chile, my country to be, or for whatever team I may choose that day. Whatever kind of ball or puck is flying around, it's always exciting to support a team that is passionate about what they're doing. It's inspiring for me to watch Chile and the excitement that has enveloped the country from afar. I'm ready to pack away my Cubs jerseys in exchange for my "I Heart Chile Futbol" t-shirt. (thanks Javier) Although I will arrive in Chile upon completion of the World Cup, in my heart I will know that I got up early, wore my shirt, looked at all of the pictures, and felt the surge of pride that came with Wednesday's victory and hopefully with the games to come.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
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.
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.
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