Well it looks like I might go from no job to two offers in a week. I guess that is how it goes. Problem is I quite like the look of both of them. Hmmmm. Any ideas people? One is with a medium to large company, that has offices across South America. They work to a pretty standard set of material, and it wouldn't be a particularly personal experience. They do offer two free weeks of spanish lessons, and are putting me through a fairly useful in-house training week at the moment. Doesn't look like there would be that much room for individual creativity though, which means less work, but means it is less interesting.

The other school is small and more community oriented. The teachers are expected to take part in training sessions and general group activities from time to time (which would absolutely suit me). They have been really helpful so far, copying a grammar text for me, and generally giving me plenty of advice. The courses are less rigidly structured, which means they are more interesting but take more planning, thought and general energy. However, the curriculum supervisor seems really nice and approachable. Also the director is young and really nice, and lives around the corner from where I am staying and has three dogs! And although I am not sure how that influences my decision, I am pretty sure it adds to the favourable list. Anyone who has three dogs can't be bad I reckon! So far I have changed my mind every half hour for the last two days.

Of course I haven't actually been offered either job so perhaps I shouldn't count my chickens!! It is only that every other indication has been positive. I should know by the end of the week anyway I guess.

And in other news? No that is about it. I taught my second demo class today, for the second school, and the superviser had nothing bad to say about it. She seemed very enthusiastic, and my student seemed to get the idea pretty well and have fun while doing it. I still need to talk less, but it is so ingrained into my personality (talking that is) that I am not sure how I am going to learn to shut up?!

Can't wait to get a job so that I can go shopping and get some new clothes! I have put myself on strict instructions that there is to be no shopping until I have a job. And I will be able to start looking for a house too once I have a contract. It is the lack of security that is getting to me at the moment. Anyway, should know really soon.

Will keep you all posted, and if anyone has any opinions on where I should work, please enlighten me. And before you ask, the money is about the same at both places.

Hasta luego,
KiwiKaz.

Hola!
Well it is Saturday and I have finally had a nice big sleep and am feeling almost back to normal after a fairly exhausting (but good) week. I have gotten a little used to being on holiday I am afraid! I have had Spanish every day this week which has been fantastic. It is 3hrs formal tuition from 10 - 1.30, and having to think that hard is something I am not usd to! I have learnt so much though, and all the time I am understanding more - especially when my friends actually speak at a normal speed rather than flat out with no breathing as is the typical speed for Chilean spanish (they are known for their rapid slang filled conversations!)

I have also been taking part in the activities after class. On Wednesday we had a winery tour which was really good. The guide would say everything in nice clear slow Spanish, and then in English which was great for me to check the meaning. We also got to taste a couple of wines. The Sav was nothing on a NZ Sav, but the Cabernet Savignon was right up there with the Australia ones. Similar climate I guess. We also had one of the Spanish teachers with us so it was good for practising speaking spanish, and three of the guys were from Brasil, and although their English was good it turned out to be easier to speak in a combination of the two languages to make myself understood. On Wednesday night I went to the movies with Tuca. We saw Revolutionary Rd, and it was in English with Spanish subtitles so I was able to understand. Was quite a good movie, confronting, but interesting.

On Thursday I taught my demo class for one of the English schools. I thought it went quite well, the students seemed to understand and enjoy it which is the main thing. The observing teacher seemed to like it, but had a few things for me to work on, including not talking so much, which is probaly fair enough. They want to put me through a training course, which totally clashes with Spanish next week which is disappointing as I would really rather go to Spanish. But I guess I need to get a job so had better go and do the training course. Hopefully I can do my second week of Spanish the week after. I will have to sort it all out with the school.The communication hasnt been wonderful about the training and everything though. There are six of us doing this training course, and I dont know how many jobs there are at the end of it. Though I guess that any training course has got to be helpful whether I get a job at the end or not. And it wouldnt be a bad place to work as part of the salary package is two weeks free Spanish, which would be awesome for me!

After Spanish on Thursday I went with one of the professors on a tour of some of the historic areas in Santiago. We spent quite a bit of time in Barrio Bellavista, which I have previously posted photos of, and then a little time in town, and some time in Barrio Brasil which you have also seen. It was a long afternoon of concentrating, and by the end I was understanding less and less, but was interesting all the same. I was carrying about 3kg of fruit though because we had been to the fruit shop as part of our Spanish class earlier in the day. Then I had to rush home to go out for happy hour with Tuca, Miguel (the people I am staying with), Chris and Paulina, and Juan. The happy hour here is pretty awesome - you get two drinks for the price of one, which is great in itself, but then each drink just comes as the spirit in the glass and they are big enough to make two strong drinks out of. SO that is really four quite strong drinks for the price of one. Which in my opinion is a great idea. We had a lovely night, chatting and joking. Said goodbye to Chris as he left for NZ on Friday night. Its all good though, as the others are such fantastic people, and I feel so lucky to have been introduced to them all!

Juan has actually just won a scolarship to study in Australia beginning in the middle of the year. His first preference uni is Monash, so I said that if he goes to Melbourne I will give him some of my friends numbers and hopefully they would take him out for a drink and maybe show him around a little... just warning some of you! He is fantastic though, extremely laid back and fun, and speaks good English, and I think it would be a pretty easy job!

Then on Friday, the other two people in my class didnt turn up to Spanish so I had three hours on my own. It was really great because it meant I had to talk all the time, and that I could get lots of questions answered. I was totally exhausted at the end of it. And last night Miguels father was staying here, although Miguel, Tuca and Juan left after tea for the beach. He doesnt really speak any English, so we had an interesting conversation that centred around my dictionary! He was extremely patient though and it was great practice for me. I really enjoyed it and it is nice to know that if I really have to make myself known there are ways and means. He works mining copper up in the mountains, driving enormous trucks, so it was quite educational for me.

This weekend I am going to be studying and relaxing mostly, ready for another full on week next week. Am starting to feel like I am fitting in a bit better, and am more confident at getting the things that I need (and making a fool of myself), though ordering food is still challenging as they ask give you a million options for every part of the meal. It usually means I end up choosing the only thing that I understand, or just nodding and smiling and hoping they make the decision for me.

Am off to the supermarket now, before all the Chileans get out of bed and block the aisles with millions of trolleys. Hasta luego,
KiwiKaz.

Last night for onces (tea, but because the main meal is eaten during the day it is a very light tea), I had my first completo. It was delicious, so I had couple more. It consisted of the best bread in the world, a hotdog type sausage, mashed avocado, pureed tomato (sp?), mayonaise, and ketchup. It is one of the best things I have ever tasted, and I also had one for lunch. I think I am addicted, and I might be the size of a house by the time I make it back to NZ. Yum. Also, I think my Spanish is getting worse, not better. I sat in class today and felt like a stuffed cabbage. Maybe the completos was affecting my brain - maybe I was dreaming about lunch, I dont know. I am fairly exhausted as I was all afternoon on a winery tour in Spanish, and all the concentrating is muy exhausting. Tomorrow I have my first demo class, and I have to get some sheets photocopied. It could be interesting, I am not sure how I am going to mime photocopying at the supermarket. I am too tired to think in any language right now, but just wanted to share my experience of completos with everyone.

K

I started Spanish lessons this week. I have only had two days but already feel more comfortable about going places and making a complete idiot of myself! On Monday there were 5 people in my class, but two them were deemed to good for us beginners and moved up, so today there were only three of us, which was quite good because it gives us all the chance to speak and practise a bit. The classes are conducted almost entirely in Spanish, but the teachers are really good at going slowly and demonstrating things to us - it becomes a bit like charades at times, especially with our second teacher who speaks German but little English. We have two 1.5hr classes from 10 - 1.30, with a half hour break, taken by two different teachers. The first teacher seems to focus on practical devices like telling time, numbers, pronounciation, meeting and greeting and wants and needs, while the second teacher focuses on conversation. It is great to have the contrasting styles, and today I found myself at the front of the class describing NZ to the others in Spanish - admittedly probably some form of pidgeon Spanish, but the others seemed to understand. We even ended up talking about the political system and the economics and industry of the country - who would have thought?! I am really enjoying the lessons, not just for the Spanish itself but also as an observation into teaching a foreign language to absolute beginners, which I am going to have to attempt quite soon!

I made friends with the two girls who got promoted on the first day which was good as it means I have other people to tackle ordering meals with at lunchtime. They are both Canadian, and really lovely. The school runs some excursions in the afternoons, and I think tomorrow we are going out for lunch and wine tasting, but I am not sure. If not, then the girls and I are going swimming - yay!! I think on the weekend there might be an excursion out of Santiago walking in the hills somewhere which I might see if I can get on. Sounds like too much fun, and too good an opportunity to pass up practising all my newly learned pidgeon Spanish!

I am staying in an apartment, and while I have a key to the apartment, I dont have one to the building. Luckily there is a doorman, however, as I speak little Spanish and him no English it has been a comedy of errors trying to communicate with him. I think we are improving though, and he definitly recognises me (probably as that crazy foreign girl who started talking about washing (lavar) when she was meant to be explaining about keys (llave)). I have been practising some things on him, and I even got a bravo from him last night, which I think is good. Anyway, each time he sees me he pretty much laughs at me. I am pleased that I bring joy and amusement to his life!

What else? Yesterday I had another job interview, and they also want me to teach a practise class. This Thursday, before Spanish. I was preparing last night, and went to the supermarket to try and find a world map as an teaching aid, but of course I forgot my dictionary. So I am standing in the supermarket (which is like a supermarket and k-mart and warehouse all rolled into one) trying to explain to the lady that I want a map of the world, and although I knew the word for map (plano), didnt know the words for world or wall. She gave me an atlas, so I was then standing in the middle of the supermarket miming the world, and a big map of the world. I got plenty of strange looks. Turned out they didnt have one so I had to draw one. My art skills are improving. Seeing as I am doing weather I just hope that my students know what a snowman looks like, because I couldnt work out how to draw snow, and have no idea how I am going to explain snow to them if they dont know what my snowmen are. I am imagining me somehow miming skiing, and snowball fights and being cold.... argghh it could be very amusing!

Last night when I got on the metro to come home someone said hello to me. After recovering from getting quite a fright it turned out to be the director from the school that I would quite like to work at. Turns out she lives one block from where I am staying, and has three boistrous dogs! She invited me in to meet them, and said I can help take them for walks if I want, which would be awesome. It was just amazing that in a city of 6 million people, I could meet someone on the metro who I know, when I really only know about 6 people in the whole city! And then this morning on the way to class I met one of the Canadian girls in the metro station. She was a bit lost so we went off to class together. Bizarre I tell you. Though I am fairly easy to pick out as I stick out - being nearly the only blonde blue-eyed girl who is a foot taller than all the other girls.

OK, thats about it for today.
Hasta Luego,
K

First impressions in Santiago

Hi all,

So I thought that I would have a go at this blogging thing, because well right now I have time on my hands and facebook is a bit restrictive in what you can do.

Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of apostrophes in this post. I know that English teachers (or prospective English teachers at least) are supposed to know all about apostrophes, but the fact is I cant actually find them on these South American keyboards. I also cant find the little at symbol used in emails. It is amazing what you can do with the copy and paste function though, which is thankfully the same the world over (the save function isnt though, which I found out after some rather disasterous losses of time). Anyway, enough on South American keyboards!

I arrived in Santiago about 10 days ago, pretty worried about everyting and unsure if I was doing the right thing. Thankfully Chris and Paulina were waiting for me at the airport, and took me to Paulinas sisters house and generally looked after me (helped me get some money and a new cellphone SIM etc). Booked into my hostel that night, after being warned again and again by them to hold onto my bag, dont go out at night by yourself, be careful in crowded places and that sort of jazz. Was pretty fair to say they freaked me out quite a lot, but I am sure they were just trying to be helpful. It is true that I stick out worse than someone watering their lawn in Melbourne.

Spent the first few days visiting a few schools and dropping of my CV, begging for a job, things like that. Turns out there is no work until the start of March, so I have the whole of Feb to waste. Have managed to have a few interviews though, and a couple of places want me to teach a demonstration class for them, so things are actually looking relatively promising on the work front. No one has looked at my CV and turned me away outright, so I guess that has to be positive. One of the schools, Grants English, have been really helpful, photocopying a whole grammar book for me to brush up a bit before my practice class. The owner is a Scottish lady who is full of enthusiasm, really easy going and has given me lots of pointers for fitting in and learning Spanish. I would like to work there, especially as they seem to have a high retention of teachers which is always very encouraging. Unfortunately I know that there are at least three of us doing semo classes and I have no idea how many jobs there are...

Speaking of Spanish, mine is not even passable. The first few days I couldnt even manage to seem to order anything to eat! So I start intensive Spanish classes on Monday for two weeks, which will hopefully give me the confidence to give it more of a go than I am at the moment. Everyone keeps telling me that the best way to learn is to get a boyfriend who speaks no English, and go from there. One guy even told me I will be married by the time the year is out. I dont think he knows me very well!! It is true that the men here stare at you, look you up and down, turn in the street and make comments (which thankfully I cant understand). I guess I really do stick out of the crowd - quite literally as I am a good foot taller than most of the women and some of the men! Anyway, tell Dad not to worry, no Chilean boyfriend yet.

Am staying with Miguel and Tuca at the moment, friends of Chris and Paulinas who spent 8 months in NZ. They speak very good English, and have a lovely apartment in a good area. There is a massive supermarket a few blocks away, so I have spent quite a it of time perusing the shelves. It is really very similar to NZ or OZ, except about four times the size and stocks absolutely everything - from electronics to school uniforms to fruit, veges, and alcohol. It really is a one stop shop.

Santiago itself is really big, as I guess a city of 6 million people should be. It is a mix of beautiful colonial buildings and plazas, ugly 1970s and 1980s style apartment blocks, bohemian brightly coloured streets, and poor areas where it isnt safe for me to go (I have only driven through one at speed on the ay from the airport). The area I was staying in first, Barrio Brasil, had truely amazing streets that reminded me of Barcelona, except everything was painted brightly in blues, reds and greens.

Barrio Brasil. I was surrepticiously taking photos from a park bench because I had been told to be careful with my camera in this area!

The area that I am going to Spanish classes in, Bellavista, is the well known night spot of town, that also does long lunches and dinners. It is more leafy than Barrio Brasil and the houses are quainter.

Bellavista. Very bright colours, with a laid back atmosphere. This is the area I am going to study Spanish in, starting Monday!

Plaza de Armas is the main square in the centre of the CBD. It is bustling with people, and is a very impressive square. I do suspect that most of the people ther were tourists though... Anyway, here are some pics.

I also went to Parque Santa Lucia, which was a pretty amazing piazza type thing with really old spanish archetecture, and a fair old climb to the top. The pictures illustrate a little bit what it is like here though with all the new development, and the smog! It was Sunday so the smog actually wasnt too bad as most people were at home or at church or something. The mountains that circle the city are simply enormous, I think that you can nearly see them in some of the pics. It was 33 degrees, and there is still snow on the top of some of the higher ones, demonstrating just how big they really are. I have never seen anything like it. I thought we had mountains in NZ, but they are nothing compared to these! The pictures really dont do them justice. Dont believe me - come see for yourself!!

And just to prove that I was actually there too - I havent just sent my camera off on this huge adventure without me!

Also went to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso last weekend with Chirs, Paulina and her sister and Aunty. Was a great day out at the beach about 1.5hrs from Santiago. Forgot to take my camera though. AM sure I will be back there and wont forget the camera next time! The two cities while lying side by side are total oxymorons to each other. Viña is a wealthy, modern beach resort, and Valpo is old, not very safe down on the flat area, with a big dirty port. However, when you get up into the hills of Valpo it is all tiny steep oneway cobbled streets with tiny terraced houses painted brightly hosting some of the trendiest restaurants, and nightlife in the area. Sush a contrast! Anyway, apparently my Spanish school runs trips to Valparaiso with a Spanish teacher to explore the area further and pracice Spanish, so I might try and go one weekend, and I will remember my camera!

Anyway, thisis a pretty huge post (see I am filling in time), and if yu made it this far you are probably doing quite well. Hope that everyone is doing well, and would love to hear all the news from you all.

Bye for now,

Karen the adventuring kiwi.