Chile Forum

I live in what seems to be a cycle here that does not seem to be going any where. My interest is to travel and experience the world and get on my own. I'm 23 years old living at home with family, studying graphic arts (I recently decided Graphic Arts was not for me) which I only have 2 semesters left untill I finish. I don't have anything tying me down here, I am spanish (puerto rican and cuban) I speak spanish fluently and can carry a conversation although my reading and writing skills are not up to par . A friend of mine whom I've known for a long time asked me to visit but I brought up the idea of me moving there and he is more than willing to have me as a room mate. I am a person who loves adventure, travel, hiking and just to see the beauty in this world before I die. Being here (New Jersey) struggling to find a steady decent paying job I don't feel like I'm going any where. I'm trying to plan things out the right way but I have some minor concerns and hope to hear some advice from people on this forum who have been where I am or have more knowledge about my situation than I do. My concerns are:

-Education, Should I finish my schooling here or is it possible to finish there? How is schooling in Chile compared to US? Through out my life I will not stop seeking knowledge no matter where I end up i will always try to study topics that interest me, psychology, biology, astronomy, my interests go on but to be smart about this I need to study what I do best and it seems to be technology.

-Work, find technology is my nitch I've built 2 personal (average) and 2 gaming rigs (high end), I am very good at troubleshooting issues and I'm the guy everyone calls to fix their problems which I seem to do effortlessly. What is the job market for PC techs or something in that field?

-Prepare, I plan on working with a friend to save up some where between $2-3,000USD (travel expenses not included). From what I understand $1,000USD would last me a long while, but my concern about this topic is the immense decline of the USD. Should I be saving more? I don't plan on mooching off of that but use it for ONLY emergencies, I want to try and build myself up from scratch,

-Entertainment, I know the US is pretty much leading this dept but how far behind would Chile be? Also as many of you kind people read above I enjoy technology and I am a gamer, I would love to game with my friends here in the states (PC and PS3) but how is the internet speeds in chile? This is a minor concern but it's something I'd like to know.


I apologize if any of my questions seem ignorant but if I knew the answers I would not be here and also for the long post. I just wanted to try to get everything out that was on my mind. Also I thank those who took the time to read I greatly appreciate it and I hope ingest as much advice as I possibly can.


-Frank-

Hi Frank,

Speaking Spanish is the big hurdle, the main problem to overcome. You have that taken care of. I think people wanting to live in Chile or other Latin countries may tend to discount how important it is, I did. It can open a lot of doors for you to speak the language. So, problem ONE, language, not a problem. Chilean has tons of slang and it takes getting used to, but if you are fluent in Spanish you will get it very quick.

2. Money. You can live here on "backpacker" money, I have, but IMO you will want as much money as you can get your hands on, and then some more on top of that. And then even more. Especially you want to live here and open a business. And with your skills I think you should dive right in building high end and low end computers here. Get a word of mouth going among the gamer geeks here. Bring A LOT of parts and stuff if you can, computer stuff is really expensive here. Business-wise importing anything is very expensive here . 24% tax I can tell you my experiences trying to import things if you want to know, PM me.

Finish your education first. Plan your trip here like a military operation it is. Think of it as an exploratory trip, a recon. A recon in force, to establish a beachhead. Im not trying to be funny, though I may be unintentionally. But considering to move and live in a foreign country is a life change that has to be treated with the proper respect for its magnitude. Its good to visit first and check it out to see if its really for you.

E,

Because you are young its very simple and I'll get straight to it. Don't take it hard I'm just trying to help. I don't want to be the dream crusher but you have asked so I will tell you and its good for you to know.

1)Finish school in the USA or don't go to CHile until you have it done. Chilean education for americans is worthless.

2)Don't go to CHile until you have 10k usd in cash. If you have that amount you can:
a. Change living arrangements when you get in disagreement with roomie
b. If you run across an opportunity you can go with it.

3)Computer work like you are saying you do will be slim. Chileans don't have money for it and if they did, most have people like you already. Any problem you have with computer things will be near impossible to fix as they don't have the product...in a fast way like they have it in the usa, your cash flow will kill you. You might get a job at a Chilean firm but you won't make much, your skill will decay and you will get very frustrated. Remember they have Chilean tech guys that know how to work with the missing parts they have there...

4)If you go to CHile, then go with the idea to have only a good time and if something happens then go with it. I have found when you set an expectation that is based on a USA template it will not happen and you will go back to the usa worn out and behind.

5)Watch your money and be as tight as the Chileans are. Right now you have a lot of time so use time in your favor not spending money to get where you want to go.


Good luck,

P out

Wow, great advice!! IMO as a "survivor" here.

Yes, get the education done in the USA and save big. Learn to be thrifty there so you can be thrifty here. You will be tempted to do something when you get here but the better plan is to hold back and not do anything; at least for a year or two OR NEVER. You will understand this advice much better if you do last one year here.

-eeuunikkeiexpat Survivor of seven years, living my life, free from the Matrix USA ....

Good advice indeed EP, I had started a reply earlier along the thread "save up your pennies" but deleted it due to lack of Spanish.
I routinely blow $2500 during a 10 day stay in Santiago/Valpo, what with renting a car for a week or so, a middle of the road hotel, meals and fun. Frank, don't go off half cocked. Your education here is almost finished. IMO a degree counts more as a badge proving "I can start and finish a task" than a "look how smart I am". Finish up and then start planning prudently. And leave the games alone for a while, out in the job market they don't reset when you fail.

MikieO wrote: And leave the games alone for a while, out in the job market they don't reset when you fail.

Congratulations...That is most memorable quote ,so far in this forum...