Ann about her Internship in Chile
Internship 2016/17
After my high school graduation, it was obvious for me to go abroad to talk Spanish.Added to this was the fact that a commercial internship was required for my desired study programs, why not go abroad, speak Spanish and get to know working life? My choice fell on Chile, because the country is considered not only the safest in South America, but also because of its stunning diversity, which aroused my curiosity.
I planned a four-month-stay with Chile Inside. I had learned Spanish at school, but quite some time ago, so I decided to do a four-week-spanishcourse to get to know linguistic characteristics and to refresh my grammar. After a short waiting time, my contact person sent me an internship offer from an export company. It sounded very interesting ,so I accepted.I arrived in in Santiago de Chile after a very long flight and was welcomed to the house of my host family where I lived for four months. The host mother The host mother Gladys lives in a very centrally located department with her daughter and her granddaughter. They offered two more rooms for rent, so I met international guests on my very first day. . The host family gave me a very warm welcome and introduced me to the delicious Chilean cuisine. At Christmas and New Years eve the whole family came together to celebrate and that made it a lot for me to celebrate in a foreign country, with my own familyfar away. It was also my first summer Christmas with 30 degrees. New Year´s Eve I celebrated with some friends in Viña del Mar at the beach with a big firework.
During my Spanish course I did not only learn grammar, vocabulary and Chilean culture, also made some friendships with Germans, international travelers and teachers. After class we had enough time to enjoy the city and the sun (it was winter in Germany). We did fun weekend trips to the nearby towns and beaches such as Vina del Mar, Valparaiso and Pichilemu.
At the beginning of my internship someone from Chileinside introduced me at my company. I got to know all the employees and was shown my working place: the sales department. The company export successful Chilean dry fruits and nuts to 62 countries around the world. During my time there they introduced me to a lot of aspects of international trade and I got in touch with many processes inside the company, so that I soon was able to complete sales on my own. Many funny mails and peculiarities of international customers sometimes made for laughs. Of course, I got to know the stuff very quickly at lunch or during the day and we also met after work to go to a Cumbia-Music-Festival or just an happy hour. Everyone was also feverishly excited as I awaited the promise of my favorite study or the arrival of a Christmas parcel (after 2 months in February it arrived). Everyone was really excited when I waited for the acceptance letter of my favored university or for the arrival of my Christmas parcel (wich arrived in February).
The 3 months of my internship passes way too fast went too fast over and it was time to say goodbye, not only tomy colleagues at work,but also to my new Chilean and international friends. I`m very thankful to Chileinside for organizing the Spanish course and the internship and that I could live this great experience. In conclusion, I would like to say that I absolutely enjoy the time in Chile and that I will visit this amazing, diverse country again.
Here you can find more information about our Spanish courses and the internships in Chile.