3 Months in Vina Del Mar

Overall I enjoyed my time in Chile through Adelante, and found it a good way to explore a new country while having support and help from others. The intensive Spanish course at the start was enjoyable and helpful, and the staff at the International Centre were great at resolving any issues I had.

There were several aspects of the program which I felt could have been improved, one of them being the excursions/cultural immersion aspect. Although there were some activities at the start, I felt like it would have been beneficial for the staff to organise a few more things throughout my time in Chile, even if it was just a get-together to help get to know more of the people doing the program.

I applied to do an internship at a graphic design studio, however was placed in a company which was more of a print shop. I expressed my concerns to Adelante, and they were helpful and responsive. In the end, I decided to stay at the same company, and enjoyed working with the other employees and helping out though I did not learn as much as I would have liked in relation to my profession, such as creating actual design work. Nevertheless I still enjoyed my time there, however I felt this could have been made a bit clearer at the start.

In the end, the experience was still a positive one, where I learned a lot about another culture, was able to travel to some amazing places on the weekends and met some great people. I always felt that help and support was available if needed, and enjoyed the experience of living in a shared apartment with other interns.