One of the reasons why I feel like I just arrived in Chile was that this past week was the first week of regular classes in my university: the first time I was in a classroom entirely filled with Chilean students. After getting very comfortable with the schedule and routine I had established the first three weeks here, I felt like this change sent me back to square one, and I was completely lost again.
My experiences in the Chilean classroom have thus far been quite different from classes in the US. For one thing, I was not informed of where my classes were actually being held beforehand, so I had to arrive at the university early in order to do some investigative work (aka ask about 50 different people) and locate the classrooms. Once I jumped that hurdle, I had to tackle the atmosphere of the classroom itself. Unlike in the US, all Chilean students in the same major and class take the same classes together every semester. Therefore, the Chilean students in my classes are all well acquainted with one another. I felt like quite the outsider. Secondly, since this is the second semester of the year in Chile, two of my classes have pre-requisites that the other students took the first semester. However, I clearly did not have the option to do so, and I therefore appear to be missing a good chunk of background material. This, coupled with the fact that I am taking these classes in my second language, produced a good deal of stress and confusion. Finally, my experiences with the Chilean professors has been much different than my experiences with professors at SLU. I am used to professors coming in on the first day of classes with syllabi and calendars that clearly outline the course requirements and schedule. I am used to professors introducing themselves and having the students go around and introduce themselves as well. In contrast, here, I don't even know the name of one of my professors. However, this is not to say that everything about my first week of classes was bad. I did get a chance to talk to some nice Chilean girls in one of my classes, and we made plans to work together on one of the group projects. I hope that in the next few weeks I can find a way to meet more Chilean friends and that I will get more comfortable with the classroom environment here.
Additionally, after such a stressful week, I got to unwind in the best way I could possibly think of... skiing in the Andes!!! My friends and I woke up around 6 am yesterday (Friday) morning to rent equipment and meet our group to head into the mountains. I have been skiing before, if you can count skiing at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, but I had never skied in the mountains. What an indescribable experience. Even the drive up was nothing like I have ever done. The road up to the resort was a winding road that slowly crept higher and higher into the mountains. Looking down from the window of the bus made me slightly sick to see just how steep of a climb we were making. After about an hour and a half of twisting and turning, we finally made it to Valle Nevado, one of the best ski resorts in Chile. There were several of us in the group who had never skied before, or who were beginners like me, so we took a beginner lesson in the morning. After that, we were turned loose on the mountain. I quickly realized that the beginner runs in the Andes were more challenging than some of the harder runs I had done in Wisconsin. However, my prior ski experience served me well, and I managed to stay on my feet the whole day. I returned home that night exhausted, but completely exhilarated. I felt like I had been to the top of the world and back.
In the gondola heading up the mountain
10, 827 feet
Having also grown up in the Midwest, I know the feeling when you get to ski on your first real mountain. Before I did Winter Park in Colorado with Julie, my only previous experience was Cascade Mountain in Wisconsin, which was completely different. I am very happy that you had the opportunity to go skiing in the Andes and that you stayed on your feet the whole time. You are welcome to come skiing with us in Colorado any time.
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