There are some perks to teaching business people, although I wouldn't know because most of my students are young college-goers. I do, however, have a friend who is well acquainted with such benefits, and he was kind enough to share them with me on this particular occasion! But before I get to that story, let me tell you "our" story.
Dan is a gringo like me, but he's been living in Chile since 2010 (arrived just a few days before the big earthquake, in fact). He was actually the first person I talked to about coming to Chile before I did. Ever since I did my study abroad here, I'd been trying to find a way to come back. It was around 2010 that I heard about the TeachingChile program on a "Teach English Abroad" website. But, as you all know, I'm pretty skeptical and I have to read tons of testimonials and reviews before buying or doing anything new. It was difficult to find third-party opinions on this program, but through some searching I happened upon
Dan's blog. He was already writing about his experiences on the blog, so I thought I'd give it a try and e-mail him for some advice.
To my surprise, he responded and we started a year-long cross-continental correspondence. He gave me some advice about the program and did his best to prepare me for the upcoming challenges. After helping me through so much, I was finally able to meet him in person at a BBQ when my group arrived in Chile. We've gotten to hang out a few times since then (and he's still always there for me with tips and tricks for living in Chile when I need it), but it's usually pretty casual like BBQs or pizza/game nights. When he invited me to go out on a Wednesday night, I knew it had to be pretty special (we're both kind of nerdy and usually reserve weekdays for planning, etc).
Dan works for an institute that caters more to business people in one-on-one settings, so he's gotten to know some fairly successful people here. One of his students works as an event planner for the Asociación Nacional Automotriz de Chile (
ANAC), an association of importers and sellers of all brands of automobiles in Chile. It's a pretty big deal. Every 4 years or so, the association throws a huge car show, the
Salón del Automóvil, to feature all the new models available in the country. The event lasts two weeks and is open to the public for most of the event.
Except opening night. That night is reserved only for VIPs and their invited guests. Being one of the main planners of the event, Dan's student was of course a VIP. He managed to procure some extra invites, and gave them to Dan as a gift. Dan is only one person but had two tickets. So, I got the honor of going as his date for the night (sorry, Scott!). It was a black-tie affair, so I did my best with my limited wardrobe to dress as nicely as possible. I think I did OK; my students would surely be surprised! Dan looked great in a suit and tie. The only problem was that neither of us owns a car, so we had to take a bus the half hour or so to the event center. It didn't start until 9:00 p.m., so at least the bus wasn't too full, but we did comment on the irony of traveling to a car show on a bus. We got a couple of weird looks when we walked through the gate as opposed to driving, but we can just chalk that up to our gringo-ness.
We were disappointed that we had to hand over our beautiful invitations before we were allowed in, but we were so awed by the sites that we soon forgot about that. Neither of us know very much about cars, but were still fascinated by the sheer number of different types of them all in one place! There were about five different pavilions, each home to different brands of cars. We walked past a stage (we realized too late that it was for the opening speeches) and into the largest of the pavilions. Most of the cars looked pretty similar to me, but what I found most intriguing were all the different female models standing next to the cars. My first thought was pity, because it was a pretty chilly night and most of those models weren't dressed appropriately for such weather. Then, I wondered why they were all female. Don't us girls deserve some eye-candy, too? All of the models were very gorgeous, but my favorites were the ones hired by Jeep. I'm not even going to try to explain; just look at the picture.
As we meandered through each display from each manufacturer, we were offered drinks (champagne, wine, and pisco, of course) and small hors d'oeuvres. They were very elegant, I have no idea what any of them were made of. But they were delicious (especially because I'd come straight from work and hadn't had time for dinner)! I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, so I only managed to make it through one glass of champagne. Actually, Dan even had to help me finish that one off! But they did offer soda and juice, as well, so I didn't feel lacking. I know I'm so sophisticated, but my favorite snack was the kettle corn we were given by a race car sponsor.
In addition to getting our fill of food and drink, we also did admire some of the cars. Dan told me how he always had a special place for Subarus (it was the brand he grew up with and learned to drive on), so we stopped by the Subaru stand to snap some photos. I don't remember what brand of car I learned to drive on (I just remember it was awesome because it was green and sparkly and had mood lights and a tube tv inside). Dan was also a German teacher back in the States, so we checked out some of the German manufacturers and he helped translate the signage for me. My favorite stand was the Kia display. Not because I have any great feelings for Kia as a brand, but because theirs was the only car that was painted rainbow! I know absolutely nothing about it as a vehicle, but I am determined that that is the one I am going to get!
We walked through most of the pavilions, checking out the displays and trying to find Dan's student. I wasn't much help because I'd never met him before. But I did my best based on Dan's description of him being "kind of tall with brown hair." After a couple of hours of wandering, we were both starting to get tired (and all the free alcohol wasn't helping). We still hadn't been able to find Dan's student, but decided to call it a night and Dan would call him the next day to thank him for the invitations. On the way out, we passed by a display near the exit with life-size, real car characters from the movie "Cars." We almost passed right by it, but it was so neat that we decided to take a quick detour for the photo opportunity. As we got to the front of the line, we heard someone call out, "Daniel!" Dan turned to look, and it turned out to be his student! After all our looking, we finally found him just as we were about to leave! He was there with his wife (also a former student of Dan's), so I was introduced to both of them, and amazed at their English ability--both had only studied a few months! They insisted on taking pictures of Dan and me at the display. We could hardly say no; it was a pretty awesome display after all!
After a quick chat and some pictures, we said our good-byes and headed back to the bus stop. It was a few blocks from the event center, and as we got about a block away we saw the bus we needed drive by. By now, it was pretty late and we weren't sure how often the buses came. Even though we were a block away, Dan waved at the driver to get him to stop, and we chased down the bus like there was no tomorrow. It's a good thing that my highest "heels" are just boots, or that could have been dangerous. Luckily, the driver saw us and waited at the stop for us. In fact, we were the only people on the bus at that point. He actually apologized for not stopping closer to us, but said something about it being illegal or something. We were just happy that we weren't going to have to wait out in the cold for another bus!
The bus ride back was much faster than on the way there (traffic sure does die down quickly in a couple hours), and we got off near Dan's house. He helped me catch the correct bus to get back to my place. By the time I got home, it was nearly midnight and I was exhausted. I went straight to bed, and dreamt about my future rainbow car. All in all, it was a great experience and I'm so glad I stepped out of my routine do something a little different that night.
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