​​Lena as a Work & Traveller in Santiago de Chile

​  Work & Travel 2017  

​On Monday, October 30th, my two-month program started in Santiago. I arrived at the hostel at noon, where I worked for the next two months. Right at the beginning I met some of my colleagues, who all immediately seemed very nice to me. On the other hand,  the first three days where quite chaotic because I had been informed that I would get an an orientation session, but this did not happen. Finally, on Thursday I had my first work day without knowing how everything worked, but I did everything just great!

At first, I was uncertain and was afraid to do something wrong, because I worked at the reception, receiving guests and doing the bookings. So, I had to teach myself everything. When my colleagues were around, they really helped me a lot and I later learned from my colleagues that they had not been really introduced either, and that this is the Chilean way. That calmed me down a bit, because then I knew at least that it was not my fault, but just "normal".

Thus, I recognized that I was already in in the middle of the so called "cultural shock". I realized that in South America everything is just much more chaotic as in Germany and people here are much more relaxed about  punctuality and appointments than we are. People are simply more easy-going than in Europe and I got used to it quite  quickly. On Tuesday we celebrated a Halloween party in the hostel and I immediately felt well and in good hands, since I got along with everybody very well. I also enjoyed working at the hostel and my work got better every day. On days off, I explored the city of Santiago and I also did  excursions to the beautiful surroundings. I visited the Cajon del Maipo, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar.

Right from the beginning I was thrilled with the friendliness and warmth of the people. I met great people and will never forget my Working Holiday with Chile Inside.