Even if Chile alone leaves nothing to be desired, I can recommend visiting other countries as well. If you head south, you often inevitably have to cross the border to Argentina and get new impressions of the people and the landscape. Since life and travel in Chile are not necessarily cheap, trips to Bolivia and Peru are particularly goodat. The landscapes are impressive, as is the traditional life of the people. Both countries are still very backward compared to Chile, which is reflected in significantly lower prices. However, one should also be aware that the standard of living is correspondingly lower and that there is sometimes neither electricity nor running water. For me personally, the trips to Bolivia and Peru were very special and I found it interesting and impressive to learn more about the traditions and everyday life of the people there. Apart from that, there are of course incredibly beautiful places to see, such as the Salar de Uyuni, Lake Titikaka and Macchu Pichu.

Costs and Financing

In terms of costs, life in Chile can be compared to that in Germany. Although there are cheaper prices in some areas, such as taxi rides, on the other hand, groceries, among other things, are comparatively expensive. In order to be able to finance the tuition fees, the monthly costs such as rent, groceries and going out as well as travel, I saved a long time. Another option is the BAföG abroad. Anyone who is already supported by the state in Germany will certainly receive financial help outside of Germany. I also applied for scholarships and ultimately received one from the DAAD, which made funding a lot easier.MicroEDU also offers various options for which you can apply with a letter of motivation. Creativity is always particularly rewarded. In general, you should be clear about the scope of costs before starting your studies in order to be able to prepare accordingly and not experience any nasty surprises.

Conclusion

What I particularly liked about my time in Chile is that I was able to gain practical experience that was also discussed in the lectures. In all courses the importance of cultural differences was emphasized again and again. Since we almost all lived in large shared apartments with students from all over the world, we were able to experience the effects, both positive and negative, first hand.

• Learn more about Chile and South America, please check commit4fitness.

From a technical point of view, I got to know many new methods of learning and, in particular, the large amount of group work challenged us positively, be it due to cultural or linguistic differences between the individual members. Studying in English was also completely new to me and I was able to improve my knowledge a lot.

Living in a foreign country has brought me a lot further personally. Even if there are everyday challenges, you learn to get involved in other circumstances and living conditions. You gain flexibility, understanding and learn to adapt. In addition, you become aware of many conveniences that you often do not appreciate in everyday life in Germany. Living and traveling with people from all over the world also represents an immense expansion of one’s own horizons.

As already mentioned, I felt well looked after at the Facultad de Economìa y Negocios at all times. The same goes for the support from MicroEDU. We got a lot of information about the course of studies and life in Santiago. If we had any questions, we could always contact the International Office and they quickly got an answer. Even in the case of personal problems, there was always a contact who was available to us with advice and action. Therefore I felt comfortable from the beginning and the support of the supervisors always gave us a bit of security so that we could fully enjoy our time in South America.

As a country, Chile is more than diverse. As mentioned, however, you should be aware that cities are sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart and that you need more time to cover these distances. In addition, you should in any case have at least a basic knowledge of Spanish, as little English is spoken. The very strong Chilean accent does not make it easy to communicate with the locals at first, but after a while you can get used to it with a little practice.

I would choose to spend a semester in Chile again at any time and I can recommend it to everyone.