Jan-Jelle in Chile!

Hey! Who are you and where are you from? Where do you study/live/work?

Hi! I’m Jan-Jelle and I’m from the Netherlands. I study Human Resource Management at HAN University of Applied Sciences.

What was the first thing you thought when you got off the plane? (bus/train/car)

I was super enthusiastic and happy to make this travel. I arrived in Chile at 1am and was very tired because of the trip. Next to the airport are many industrial sites and the poor areas of Santiago but apart from that, Santiago started to look better when I got closer to the centre (for what I could see at that time). At first I thought Chile was a bit of a poor country because of those areas next to the airport, but after being in the city and looking back at it, it turned out to be better than expected.

What was the most shocking difference between your home country and your new country?

The landscape. You just don’t get bored of all the wide views and landscapes that Chile has. In the north, there is the Atacama desert (driest desert in the whole world) and in the south are glaciers and ice landscapes. Around Chile are also hundreds of non-active volcanos spread in the Andes mountains. These big differences make Chile really impressive to visit. It is an extreme difference from the landscape from the Netherlands. 

Did you ever feel homesick? How did you cope with this?

I didn’t cope with homesickness.

Did you feel at home in your new country? Why (not)?

I feel quite at home in Chile because the people are so friendly. I slept in a student house with 15 other people and everyone was so helpful, nice and friendly which made me feel at home. It’s also much more fun to discover Chile with others.

Please give us tips about who to befriend when living abroad. The Russians? The Irish? The Chileans? (Honestly, we want to know some gossip about other internationals you’ve met.)

This is a hard question because from every country each person is different. I can say I befriended people from diverse countries (Germans, Mexicans, Dutch, Belgium, French). I did notice that the Spanish are more on themselves here in Chile. In terms of tourists, there are many French and Mexican in the parts of Chile that I visited. Of these two the Mexicans are best to be friends with in my opinion.

Describe the inhabitants of the new country in three words.

Hospitable but lazy.

Was there a type of local food you could NOT handle?

No, from what I ate it was all good and I haven’t heard from others about bad food.

What did you learn from your experience abroad? Was it the loving community you liked? The cheap cocktails? The overwhelming nature? Or was the experience less helpful than expected? Details, we want details!

I learned that there are cultural differences all over the world and that people can live in different circumstances but still have a good life. The community I stayed in was very nice but also very good to have when you needed help with anything.

I learned that Chile is a prosperous country despite it’s in South America. You pay for your living almost the same prices as in the Netherlands. The gorgeous nature is definitely worth to see and I recommend to go there. My experience was not less than I expected before. Nice parties, friendly people, gorgeous nature and not too expensive.

Apart from the nice country side it’s still a country that has poor neighbourhoods. Don’t go out alone late at night in some areas, pickpockets are present here as well! But all benefits do weigh up to the few disadvantages that you’ll find anywhere in the world.