Today we met our second professor, Jose Luis. He arrived at
the university at around 10am for our first half of the lecture, all about
Chilean geography, culture, and business practices. Jose is extremely
knowledgeable, and also very engaging in his lecture style. We learned about a
few policies in Chile to improve its development and economic standing. He
mentioned the need in Chile to expand to outer regions outside of Santiago, and
that there might soon be monetary incentives for businessmen to move to other
regions. We also learned about different Chilean drinks and pastries. My
favorite part was when Jose told us to ask any questions we had about Chilean
culture. Of course we asked about stray dogs, crazy drivers, and why people in
Chile love The Simpsons so much. The picture below was taken from the third floor of the building where we had our lectures; I never get tired of the views here.
After a break for lunch in the cafeteria, we returned for
the second half of the lecture. Jose showed us a few advertisements and spoke
about differences in Chilean mindsets. For example, Chileans very much tend to
avoid conflict and uncertainty. In business, they will do as much as possible
before submitting a proposal so that the manager will say “yes” immediately and
avoid any conflict. They are also short term thinkers, and a portion of their
salary is immediately set aside for savings, otherwise they will not do it on
their own.
The most interesting aspect to the second half of the
lecture was a video about a program called “Start-Up Chile”, whose mission is
to bring entrepreneurs from other countries to Chile. A person may be provided
$25,000 to move to Chile and start their business, thus establishing a
communication network and bettering Chile’s position as a world power. Jose
also gave is advice about what to do in case of an earthquake, as well as
information about the different types of Chilean music. My favorite was
Francisca Valenzuela. We’re about to head out now for a bit to eat and drink
with the Chilean students.
No comments:
Post a Comment