Photo Update

So here are some photos of the last couple of weeks!

Amazing sushi boat!

Yellow day!

Chilean Casuela cooked by my housemate Mauricio.  Made of chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, pumpkin, rice and normally sweetcorn.  However, the supermarket had somehow run out of sweetcorn!  For Chile this is unheard of- sweetcorn is like the national vegetable- like the UK running out of tea!  But still it was an amazing meal for an equally amazingly freezing day.

El Colorado ski resort- 3300m above sea level!  Never been that high before, and I had a slight headache and weariness whilst I got acclimatised.

The hole with all the smog in Santiago!  Trapped on all sides by mountains, the pollution cannot escape the city causing it to be one of the cities with the most smog in the world.  Apparently breathing the city air is the same as smoking 3 cigarettes a day!  Sorry Mum!

Ummm nice photo of me on the andarivel (chairlift).

The view from my office window of the snow-capped Andes.  I will try to get a better photo on a clearer day but I keep forgetting to take my camera to work.

Another view from the office window.

Hope you enjoy the photos, I think I will start doing more photo blogs so you can see what Ive been getting up to :D

Bank Holiday

So the past weekend was a bank holiday here in Chile so I wanted to make the most of it.  Straight after work on Friday I headed to Bellavista (the Bohemian quarter), where most of the pubs and restaurants are, to a karaoke bar with two workmates and their friends.  Being amongst young Chileans speaking at the speed of light was a little shocking to begin with, but slowly I got used to what they were saying, and after some pisco and dancing I ended up signing in Spanish!  It was a good night and some of the Chileans were having an argument over which football team I should support in Chile.  I also got my new Chilean name “Lucho” which is much easier to pronounce. 

Saturday I spent chillaxing, catching up with some TV programs and talking to friends back in the UK and those in Santiago I haven’t seen for a while as we are all busy working. 

Sunday was ski day.  My housemate Javier and my other housemate´s brother took me to El Colorado ski resort high up in the Andes at 3,300 metres above sea level!  I think I suffered from a little bit of altitude sickness whilst I got acclimatized- but it was the highest place I have ever been in my whole life, and the views were fantastic.  The journey up was hair-raising at times as we wound our way around the 46 U-bends up the steep mountain side.  As we got to the top of one mountain, we turned the corner to see another taller mountain, and passed through the clouds to get to the resort.  We hit the slopes straight away and I was surprised at how quickly I got back into my parallel turns- needless to say I won a race between the three of us :D  After 6 hours of fantastic skiing, we headed back home down the mountain in the dark to the City of Smog (Santiago).  It was such a clear day from the mountains with brilliant sunshine that you could see the bath of smog covering the capital city.  The view was pretty disgusting and it made me realize how unhealthy the air is that we breathe everyday.  One Chilean informed me that it does the same amount of damage as smoking 3 cigarettes a day.  I wonder how long it will be before I get ill?

Monday I got up early to head to Estación Alameda with some friends so that we could catch a bus to Valparaíso for the day.  However, when we tried to book the tickets we discovered that being bank holiday we could get there but all the buses back were completely full!  So I decided to head home to catch up on sleep, do some shopping and talk to mum.  My housemate Mauricio then decided he wanted to cook me a Casuela- Chilean casserole.  And it was AMAZING!  The best meal I have tasted since being here, and I have eaten out quite a bit!  Just goes to show you can’t beat simple, home cooking.  In return I cooked a peach crumble which after a few nervous moments turned out really well.  It got wolfed down pretty quick too which is always a good sign.

So here I am with a spare moment at work keeping you all up to date with the comings and goings of Chilean life.  I will put some more pictures on the blog sometime soon for you all to see what has been going on!

10 Interesting (or not so interesting) Observations of Chileans

So there has been a few small things I wanted to blog about but thought Id save them all up into a bigger blog to save time and make reading a little more interesting.  So here is the top 10 observations of Chilean life in no particular order:

1.They are extremely welcoming
So nearly all Chileans seem to have a natural talent for being extremely welcoming.  Random people in the street are always willing to help if you have any problems.  One of my managers at work gave me her number and said whatever and whenever I need anything just give her a call, even if I need to be bailed out of prison at 4am!  Hopefully, I won't need that, but it's good to know the support is there if needed!

2.They only have two temperatures
Everything is either boiling hot or freezing cold!  This includes the weather, water, food, and heating in buildings (if youre lucky enough to have it!).  I always opt for the boiling hot shower in the morning, and I am very lucky to have constant hot water.  Lots of people have to light the boiler whenever they want warm water and then wait for 30 mins or more.

3. They love to queue
Most places such as bars, restaurants, banks, post offices, cinema, bowling alley etc will have 2 queuing systems.  The first one will be to take a numbered ticket, then wait for your number. When your number is called you may then have to wait again.  On 2 occasions whilst waiting to play bowling we have queued for 3 hours and our number still didnt get called- all part of the fun I suppose.

4. They have a different word for everything
Strawberries aren't fresas but frutillas, peaches arent melocotón but durazno, peas arent guisantes but arvejas, buses arent buses but micros, apartments arent pisos but departamentos, and maracas arent definately not a musical instrument but someone you may pay for..... the list goes on and if you arent careful you can quite easily find yourself the laughing stock!

5. They have no sense of time keeping
Starting work at 9am can mean anything up till around 930am.  En un rato literally in a minute, can mean hours!  The other day my manager said he would check my work en un ratito, but after he left for lunch, had a meeting, went for a smoke, replied to some emails, he finally checked my presentation!  Ive got used to Chilean time now, and it's good if youre running late for something.

6. They have the most amazing street dogs
These dogs are super clever.  At pedestrian crossings they will sit by the side of the road and wait for the green man, crossing with the humans.  They are loved by Chileans who feed and water them, and even knit coats for them- it is all part of their civic duty.  And the most surprising thing is that these dogs are of the best breeds- Darwins survival of the fittest it would seem.  Labradors, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers- all of the favourite pet breeds in the UK are street dogs here!  But like I said they are looked after really well!

7.They have a person for every task
There are doormen, bag packers, metro platform supervisors, cleaners in even the smallest of offices and buildings, valet services whilst you shop or visit a friend.  Literally there is a job for every person which is a really good idea and I think with all the unemployment in the UK something the British government could learn from.  The only problem is that it could be quite easy to get lazy out here!

8. They work hard, but play even harder
So my standard working day is 9am till 6:30pm which in itself is fairly long.  But then people I work with have up to a 2 hours commute in each direction to get to and from work!  That literally gives you time to eat and then go to bed before work the next day.  But when Friday comes there is no messing around!  People take a bus for a weekend away, or head straight to the pub for food and drinks before dancing the night (and the morning away).  It isnt rare to get home at 7 or 8am!

9. Their food comes in strange packages
Mayonnaise, jam and ketchup that comes is a squeezable foil bag is just too weird!  And forget squash- it comes in powder form which you then add water to and whisk! Yes, whisk!

10. They are proud of their country
I think Chile has got to be one of the proudest nations.  If there is something they don't like they will let you know about it.  To protect their history, their identity, their children!  Chile is very much a peoples' nation, and they have everything to be proud about!  This doesnt mean to say they dont recognise and dont remember the tradegies of the years gone past, but in fact these events have developed and defined the nation into the way they are today! 

So there is my brief list of observations so far!  Some of them have taken a while to get used to, especially number 4!  And I think I will keep discovering new words the whole time- well at least if I actually understand what theyre saying in the first place.  Despite their relaxed culture, there is one thing Chileans love more than anything- and that is speaking FAST! 

Take care people x

First Week at Work is Over!

So I’m now at the end of my first working week.  It has been a very mixed bag of tasks, from the very interesting and new, to the quite boring waiting around at the end of the day to finish work when I’ve done all my tasks for the day.  Overall, I have learnt a lot this week about practical marketing, market research and tools used by media agencies.  Hopefully I will get my email account on Monday so that I can start my online training and learn all the necessities for the job. 

The working environment is really weird here which is taking some time to get used to.  We all work in a medium sized open plan office, but it isn’t very sociable.  Everyone listens to their own music, but it’s quite comical listening to everyone signing in English to songs from the past 40 years.  Both my managers love talking to themselves.  I often think they’re talking to me and that I haven’t understood them before realising they weren’t.  The Spanish here is really quite different especially at lunchtime when everyone speaks in more informal Spanish and I am struggling to keep up with it all a little bit.  At the same time I have learnt some words and the people I eat with try to talk slow and explain things I do not understand, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll be able to cope with the speed and accent.  I think it may take a bit longer to learn all the new words they have for everything here compared to in Spain, but it should be useful for the future as I’ll be able to understand Spanish from most parts of the world.  They do say Chilean Spanish is really hard to learn and even some Spanish people I know have problem with it!

I am looking forward to the weekend as it’s been a very tiring week waking up at 7:30am and not getting home till at least 7:15pm followed by shopping and cooking before bed.  It is going to be a good lay-in tomorrow but I’m really looking forward to pizza tonight!  Let’s see what next week brings…

Work and Moving to My Apartment

Monday 1st August- It was time to start my first placement in Media Edge Comunicaciones Chile (MEC).  I woke up extra early as I had to check out my hostel room, put my bags in the luggage store room and take the bus some 5 miles across the city towards the mountains.  And what an experience taking the bus was.  As the bus pulled up empty, people pushed past to try and get on first as though they were going to win the lottery if they sat down first… the old people had no chance of getting a seat.  Within 2 minutes the whole bendy bus was full, and we hurtled down the main street just missing several cars, buses and pedestrians.  Several times everyone flew towards the front of the bus as the driver attempted to stop at bus stops and to avoid collisions.  An hour later and just on time I arrived at work.  I met the manager I was meant to be working with, had a quick tour of the building, met a few people and then started the laborious job of filling forms in, before being shipped off to a new manager.

The view from the office is amazing.  Floor to ceiling glass windows give a panoramic view of the snow-capped Andes- just awe inspiring.  Despite not facing the windows, I can see the reflection of the mountains from my big office desk but often find myself staring at them instead of working!

So my new department is MEC Interaction and in particular digital media (basically anything on the internet including Facebook and Twitter).  My manager Rodrigo gave me a quick insight into the area and I realised how much I am going to have to learn but it seems exciting and an invaluable experience for the future.  I also realised that the 50pounds I thought I was getting a week, I’m only getting each month, so it’s time to tighten the belt on spending!

So after lunch and meeting some more people, my computer was finally set up and I got my first project to complete in 24 hours!  I had to research the best uses of social networking by universities in the UK and the USA, so that we can develop some of the ideas to help one of our clients here in Chile.  Soon enough 6:30 came round and I got the less hectic bus back to the hostel to pick up my cases, say my goodbyes to some great people I met there and finally at 9:30 move into my new apartment (apartment blog will follow soon- with pics!).

Tuesday 2^nd August- Now living only 2 miles away from work, I decided I would walk in the freezing cold.  Taking the wrong road I arrived a little late for work but there was only one other person in the office anyway.  It would seem people can turn up to work up to 30 minutes late and nothing will be said- I may need to remember this for the future :D  I was meant to start my e-learning today but my email account wasn’t set up, so I carried on with the presentation on universities and presented it to my manager, who then said it was so good he wanted me to show it to another manager working on that account.  To be honest I do not really think it was that good but…  So what happens when you finish one presentation? You get another!  This time I had to research the digital marketing methods of consultancy companies in Chile so we can help our client to grow their client base through effective advertising.  I had to analyse potential possibilities and locations of where we could publicise the company through digital media.  A complete lack of information on the competitors’ marketing strategies, meant I had to dig deep, research the values and mission of the firm and basically create my own strategy for them.  Not pleased with my progress I headed home to finally unpack my cases after living out of them for 2 weeks and head to buy some food, from the even more expensive supermarket.

Wednesday 3^rd August- After an even colder walk to work (it had been below freezing all night) I carried on with my presentation.  Getting a bit bored I whacked on a bit of Adele to keep me going, and had a quick catch up on Facebook!  The best thing is that I have to use Facebook for my job, so it looks like I’m “working.”  After lunch I presented my findings which totaled a mediocre 10 slides of what I considered rubbish and what would be nothing new to my manager.  But he commented that a couple of my ideas they had discovered for the first time too, and the next thing he said surprised me completely! “We’ve got a meeting with the client tomorrow; can you go through your presentation with them?”  Well I tried to say I didn’t think it was a good idea, but we will wait until tomorrow to see if I actually present it or not!  So here I am now with free time till home time catching up on bits and bobs, and writing this blog.  I think I will really enjoy just chillaxing in the department tonight after some very busy days!  I’m not sure what the rest of the week will bring as I’ve got to wait 4 more days to get my work email address which will allow me to complete my online training and start my proper job-  apparently the delay is caused by the American office! Says it all really… but a few of us managed to have a laugh over it at lunchtime and I feel I’m starting to bond with some of my colleagues.  All in all the future looks bright :D