A day-to-day Adventure

Studying abroad in Santiago, Chile was an unforgettable experience. I would highly recommend prospective students to consider choosing either this location or one equally "non-traditional". This way, you can gain a more intimate feeling within your study abroad program. The IES Santiago program fit perfectly with my interests because the smaller program size of 20 students made it easier to make friend within the program while offering ample space to make friends with the locals.

The most challenging aspects about my study abroad experience was adjusting to the Chilean dialect and to the university grading system. However, the IES staff were more than willing to answer any/all of my questions. The best memories I have of this experience is the traveling we were able to do throughout our semester. Chile is an extremely geographically diverse country and transportation is very accessible both domestically and internationally.

Not getting discouraged by the difficulty of communicating goes a long way. I personally benefited from plugging into a local Korean-Chilean church where I met friends who I continue to keep in contact with. I highly recommend finding a certain niche of local friends who can not only help you improve your conversational Spanish, but who will also show you parts of the city/country that you may never have stumbled upon on your own.