Packing and other prep

ZOMG. Whodathunk it would be so stressful to pack for an international move? It shouldn´t be that difficult. Boy, is it. I started official packing procedures this weekend. It nearly drove me to drink (and by "nearly" I mean "twice"). I think I almost have everything under control, but there will be a lot more learning as I go.

Speaking of learning, that was a big theme of the weekend. I spent hours reading about culture shock, googling rando facts and stories of Chilean experiences, and youtubing educational videos about the city of Santiago. On top of this, I also practiced my Spanish by reading a portion of "Freakanomics" to myself aloud. The more information I took in, the more I realized I was lacking. I feel like my Spanish is horrible and I don´t know anything about how the people really operate. This should be the second stage of culture shock, not the pre-step. Oh dear. I´m already behind. Hopefully the brief vacay in Denver/Dallas will shake me out of it. I´ll work on taking in as much information as I can until that time and then just relax. Good plan? It probably is because I thought of it.

My living room right now

Ok, back to packing. I´m pretty sure I´ll end up down south with a lot of stuff I don´t need and will have neglected to consider some of the items that will be obviously needed at a later date. Am I the only one who has to choose between their unicycle and juggling clubs or a suit jacket and a couple pair of pants? That seems like a pretty difficult decision. I also regretted having to leave certain things behind like my wifi scale and backup protein shake blender. First world problems, I guess. That´s how it goes. I always envy those people who pack for a trip in 30 minutes with a bag that can easily be carried anywhere. They always seem to have the most appropriate items: nothing more and nothing less. Maybe I´ll learn that skill during this adventure. The Chilean people seem to be used to living a little learner. That´s a good thing.Here goes. Stay tuned.

Bonus - I  found out the significance of the fish on the cover of the book in the last. The image was chosen because one might feel like a fish out of water in a new culture. This came from the publisher.

Preparing for Culture Shock

Well, I'm a week away from my escape out of Wyoming. Things should start getting real right about now. I've done just about all the research I can do but know that there will be lots of unexpected obstacles. My major concern at this time is culture shock. I ordered this book from Amazon the other day and expect to read quite a bit of it during my journey.Come on, Amazon Prime. Bring it to daddy!

CultureShock - Amazon

I have a read a couple other guides and lots of articles online. Hopefully I can remember at least a little of this stuff and put it into action. BTW, if anyone is looking for a good book to brief them on expat life, I recommend the e-book below, "Cultural Dimensions of Expatriate Life". Even if you don't plan to move to Chile, it offers some great suggestions to adapt to new cultures towards the end of the book. The questions it offers are very relevant. I hope to crack it open with some locals and really learn about their way of thinking. Don't ask me why it has a picture of a fish on the cover. The good thing is that it's only $2.99. If anyone has a kindle and wants to borrow it, hit me up.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DW3R5Y/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Aside from this preparation, I think I have made some great contacts in both my professional and personal life. Hopefully I can count on these folks to be patient with me while I struggle to understand their culture and communicate in their language.

Regarding the subject of language, I'm feeling a little uneasy about switching from English to Spanish. It seems like lot of my work will actually be carried out in English, but I can't say for sure just yet. I've communicated with people there in Spanish over e-mail a lot, but speaking and listening in real time is a whole different animal. I bet I'll have lots of fun stories about how I misunderstood something. Just the other day, a friend of mine was telling me about "tacos" on his way home from work. Whodathunk that "tacos" means traffic in Chile? Eeeek. That wasn't the first time I mistook a word to mean something it didn't and it certainly won't be the last. Luckily, this blog will be entirely in English. Stay tuned....

Here we go

It´s a bird. It´s a plane. It´s offish!

I´m going to Chile, and it´s finally official. Today I give notice at work that I only have three more weeks left in this place. I also received some final confirmation on my internship in Santiago today. It sounds like a pretty interesting gig. The hope is that I´ll do well, learn lots, and be in the running for a permanent position in the company. That is if we all get along and it seems like a good fit for me. It´s time to re-examine things in my life. If it´s not going to be a great situation, I´ll find something else. All I can do is try it out. Either way, it´ll be a great learning experience.

I have about four more weeks in the states: two weeks until Christmas, holiday week, drive to Texas and hang out for a week, then fly to Chile via Mexico City from Dallas. This should be interesting. Making an international move can be a overwhelming chore. I still have to get rid of lots of things, figure what I´m going to pack for the Chilean summer, and fit the rest of my life in my little Honda Element.

There´s a lot to figure out. In the meanwhile, I might as well make a blog of it. I decided to write about my experiences in the city of Santiago in the Latin culture of Chile from a prospective of a twenty-something trying to make it in the world.  My last seven years have been spent in a Wyoming university while working (at times two jobs) fulltime+ to support myself. For future reference, my take on future experiences comes from a place that most people will be unfamiliar.  I am used to what most would consider a small city and have lived in the least populated state in the US for most of my life. Alrighty, here goes. Let´s see what happens as a Wyoming country boy tries to clean up and jump into life into the big city of Santiago. Just for fun, here's a pic of my car in the snow. There will be no more of that down south for awhile. Stay tuned.