Name: Oliver Carson
Program at Carleton: International business, third year
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
Oliver Carson here, and like some other Carleton students, I’m currently studying abroad until December 2012.
We bachelor of international business students have a mandatory year of studying abroad, so we have to commit to living somewhere around the world before we even finish high school; that’s pretty intense.
Speaking of intensity, to prepare myself for living abroad, I had to take intensive language classes for two hours everyday for the first two years of school.
The language I chose was Spanish because I already know French. The two languages complement each other (or so I thought). In reality, the two languages have just fucked with my head and I will be surprised if I can keep up my French when I get back from my exchange.
The country I chose to go to was Chile! All the Spanish country options are amazing, and I’ve heard great things about all countries, but I decided to study in Viña del Mar, Chile.
First off, this city has the best weather I’ve ever witnessed. It never rains here and I’m seconds from the Pacific Ocean. I have to stay in today because I’m so burnt from the sun.
Also, I was especially interested in Chile as a whole because the people there speak a very weird type of Spanish that I hope to learn by the end of my stay. Don’t you think it would be cool to come back from Sydney with an Aussie accent? Kind of the same deal here.
I’ve been here for a week now and time has flown by. From here on out, we shall see what the future has in store for me here in South America. The sky’s the limit.
