Chile Forum

Hi there

I have joined the forum as we are moving to Chile for my husbands work later this year. We live in Sydney Australia at the moment. We are a family of 4, myself, my husband and our 2 girls who are 3 and a half and 19 months. We don't speak Spanish but if time permits I will do an introductory course, I cannot wait to get there and learn it properly. I am currently organising for my girls to attend a Spanish playgroup here to become a little familiar with the language before we head off. Many moons ago my then boyfriend (now husband) and I backpacked through S America, travelling from the bottom to the top of Chile on the trip, along with other countries. He travels to Chile quite regularly for 2 weeks at atime, having been there 4 times this year already and his next trip is in 3 weeks time.

I spent some time reading threads and I can already tell its an excellent resource, and hopefully a great way to make new friends.

See you around the boards

Sam

Hi Sam.

Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure you will love living in Chile as much as we do. My 2 and a half yr old son has been in a Chilean nursery for 18mnths now and speaks as much Spanish as he does English so your kids will probably be speaking Spanish long before you will! I have no idea what my son is saying to me sometimes, especially as he speaks as the Chileans do rather than the Spanish I am trying to learn.

Maxine.

I thought that might be the case re the kids picking it up before I do. Thanks for the welcome Maxine.

Well final approval was given today, we are definitely coming
However, it will be earlier than expected, early to mid October
Not much time to get our crap sorted.
Cannot wait though

Well Sam, we won't get to meet, as we leave in two weeks, but do arrange to meet Maxine - she is lovely and lots of fun. Also have a look at the threads on what to do with young kids - the cafe's i've listed are a good way of meeting people. Also, arriving in October will be really nice weather for you. Your girls are the same age my boys were when we arrived, and after 2 years, my eldest - now 5 - rolls his eyes at me when i try to talk to his friends in Spanish, and they he goes and tells the in perfect Chilean whatever i was trying to say in my Spanglish. Hillarious.
Be prepared for some frustrations as well as the good times. Moving countries with two kids is not easy (I seem to recall a minor breakdown in a Starbucks about 4 weeks after we arrived ) but just remember - keep and ear out in the parks and introduce yourself to anyone speaking English. You'll make friends in no time. I highly recommend hanging out in Plaza Peru and Parque Aracano - great parks and locals and expats are always very friendly.
All the best for your move (make sure you bring plenty of vegemite and weetbix with you)

Aw, thanks Tam We are going to miss you and your boys

Trabajo - Yes, please feel free to contact me when you get here, if you want to. Good luck with the crap sorting.

Trabajo, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Edgecliff does a decent Spanish course, but you will have to drop the lisp when you get here!

I have a 6 year old, 14 month old and 1 month old. I'm South African and my husband a Sydneysider. We've been here for just over 2 years and loving it!

Hope to meet you some time.

Where in Sydney are you from?

SB thanks for your welcome, and sorry we won't get to meet. I hear you on the vegemite Best of luck with your move, where are you off to?

Maxine it would be great to meet you. Whereabouts in Chile are you?

Tombi thanks for the info re courses, lithp, which lithp and we live in Naremburn, lower North Shore (next to St Leonards, Willoughby and Crows Nest) although we are Adelaideans originally.

Should I bring my breadmaker? We don't eat white bread unless it is continental with a big thick crust and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dunk it in.
Should I bring my coffee machine and grinder? We do like a real coffee, but I read access to roasted beans may be an issue? Not a fan of filter/instant.
We are only bringing 20 tea chests in total. Packling light

trabajo en progreso wrote:Maxine it would be great to meet you. Whereabouts in Chile are you?

I'll PM you with my details.

trabajo en progreso wrote:although we are Adelaideans originally.

I have rellies in Adelaide (well, just outside in a place called Port Noarlunga. Not a huge amount to do there, although I love the drive through off licences where you don't even have to get out of the car to get your booze!) I went to a restaurant up in the hills with a gorgeous view over Adelaide but can't remember what it was called. Very good cocktails, which is probably why I can't remember the name of it. Yes, there is a booze theme here.

trabajo en progreso wrote:Should I bring my breadmaker? We don't eat white bread unless it is continental with a big thick crust and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dunk it in.
Should I bring my coffee machine and grinder? We do like a real coffee, but I read access to roasted beans may be an issue? Not a fan of filter/instant.

A bread maker would be good, I wish I'd brought mine over. The fresh bread here is great and the multigrain loaves are pretty good but I find the white sliced a bit sweet. Lots of people on the forum make their own bread because they aren't keen on the bread here. I find most of it ok but home made bread is much nicer.

You can get coffee beans here but as I'm not a coffee drinker I don't know how good they are. I think Starbucks do bags of beans and you can get them in the supermarkets too. You need a coffee drinker to answer this one.

trabajo en progreso wrote:We are only bringing 20 tea chests in total.

Impressive. Probably the best way to do it. You'll be taking a lot more back with you when you leave though!

Should I bring my coffee machine and grinder? We do like a real coffee, but I read access to roasted beans may be an issue? Not a fan of filter/instant.

Absolutely! The coffee in Chile is pretty hideous, but you do get used to it after a while. I buy Costa Rican beans, there's a gift shop in the Mariott that stocks Cafe Britt and they sell a bag of Organic Shade Grown beans for around AU$9. From time to time you can get it at Jumbo (huge Supermarket) at La Dehesa as well.

If you eat wholegrain or brown sliced bread, you will find what you want in the supermarket as Maxine said, but I agree with her, the white bread is pretty sweet and I'm still not used to it. You can get baguettes, ciabatta, cheese bread, olive rolls and these great bread rolls called "Maraquetta" here (amongst others), which is great for BBQ's and so on, but for everyday use, we just buy double fiber brown bread and it's very nice and light, in my opinion.

If you are planning on living in a house and happen to have a fold out clothes line (you know one that comes off the wall or the roll away type, good quality, Hills etc) I recommend you bring it. We have lived in 3 good quality homes in Chile, including Santiago and they most they can come up with for a clothes line is string strung on hooks. There is usually wall space to install at least the roll away type, and they are a much more efficient use of space and better quality than what you will get some handyman to invent for you here. That's my current thought anyway, if I were bringing a container or some freight from aus it would be the first thing to be packed.

I see you are only bringing 20 tea chests - that is likely plenty for your affects, obviously not furniture etc - are you aware that the furniture here is not what you are used to in aus? Might not be a big deal over all, certainly it is livable, but by comparison it is poorly made and often you have to search hard to find timber furniture that doesn't look like it came from a craft show.

Best of luck with everything - have you started the visa process?

Steph, sorry I missed your post, we were in Thailand on holiday when you posted. Clothes line, eh? Trying to negotiate a Dyson and having no luck dunno how I'll go with a clothes line...

Hubby is in Stgo right now for work, organising our temporary accommodation also. The plan is to rent a furnished house, have been looking around on the internet but it is very hard to tell from a picture if a place is any good. Spoke with husband today via Skype and he obtained his RUT (the temp one) today so we can sort a car shortly after arrival. Took a trip to IKEA today to pick up toys for the girls, why oh why no IKEA in Chile

As for visa, having read a few of Charles' articles I think we will be coming in on a tourist visa and then applying for a Retirement/whatever it's called. It's 2.20am and brain not functioning. Have told hubby to speak to Charles and get his advice to help sort his work stuff

It's all happening now, our dink car is at auction, the family car to go just before we leave. Packing underway, storage etc next.