Happy New Year to ....

... everyone of my dear friends out there in the wide wide world !!!
Hope you are starting the new year in a great company, and additionally staying healthy and having success with every aims you are having during 2011 !!!

Im taking off soon to the coast, will be celebrating with friends and people from "couchsurfing" at someone's place on the beach !!!

Take care !!!!!!!!!

HOLIDAYS !!!!!!!!!!

Since Wednesday Im having holidays, or lets say I dont have to go to university anymore - had my last exam and now I know that I passed all of them and can concentrate finally in my work and save money for my planned journey in February - I cant wait ;)


Greetings from sunny Chile :p

Pichilemu...

I had a really good time going to the beach again for the weekend and escape from Santiago. Now Im back and have to study for my last exams,


See ya !!

Heat..

There is approximately 30 degrees in my room on the third floor and still a lot to study left - tomorrow french and the following weeks several other exams. I hope I will be done by the 15th of dicembre, and then be able to use most my time working for my vacation - would like to go up the coast until Columbia in mid-February for around 4 weeks...

Oktoberfest in Chile...

Yesterday I went to the "Oktoberfest" - No, I didnt fly back to Germany, it was in Chile. Sounds strange, but its right. Had a great time there, even though it was quite expensive !!

Prost


Here I got a link to watch a video made by a friend of the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu6EwFmfXr0

It's getting..

.. hot in here !! 00:34 - thats the local time. 21 - thats the number of degrees in Santiago and in my room on the third floor probably more. Summer is coming and Im already enjoying those nice temperatures and sunshine everyday...
Yesterday we had an amazing Halloween-Party at our place with plenties of nice people. Tomorrow Im off, no classes at university, not going to work, just relaxing and finishing some stuff,


Bye bye

Amazing trip..

Hey guys, how are you doing ?
I just came back from one of the most amazing trips in my life. I have been travelling a lot the last years, but never seen so many amazing sights in such a little time. Will be creating a video with pictures the next days and load it up.

Cheers

"Fuerza Mineros"...

Right in this moment more than half of the 33 miners have left from their underground bunker. Its amazing that they have been living down there for more than 2 months. The escape spectacle is shown on television right now all over the country and many people are celebrating on the street. Even the friend of a friends uncle was down there - he told me yesterday night ...

More than a 100 people...

.. at my place having one of the craziest parties ever !!!
Last Friday I had such a weired night - The whole house full of people and afterwards even more fun stories to tell. But now its getting serious again - Im will be having a few important exams this week before I can go for another long weekend (Monday public holiday :D)..

Many greetings from crazy Chile !!

200 years...

.. of Independence to celebrate in Chile NOW !!!
I just came back from my last term of work and will be off until Monday. The next 4 days there will be a lot of ceremonies around the whole country. Im really looking forward to have a good time, getting to know new people and simply enjoying comfortable temperatures (around 25 degrees at the moment)and freetime - Because from university Im already off since last Friday ;)

Take care

Best of Bolivia-Video...

And again I`ve got some pictures to watch for you - I was creating another videoclip, this time a "best of" from my vacation in Bolivia. Enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzTwxhQePu4

Best Of Video...

I just created a video with the best pictures I have made during my time staying in Santiago, just check the following youtube-link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybNnVW2q0h4&feature=search


Greetings

First semester over..

Hey guys,
How are you? How is everything going?

Im very good, last week I finally finished my first semester at university and actually Im quite happy about the results and that I
don´t have to repeat any course. From now on, I will have a 2 weeks holiday until the 16th of August (!!)

Next week I will be working almost every day and on Saturday, the 7th of August, Im heading first to San Pedro de Atacama and then to Bolivia - im really looking forward.


But let me tell you first something about the previous semester:

Well, when I went to university the first weeks, obviously everything was quite exciting, everyone very friendly, etc. But what I really didn´t like was that I had almost too much freetime and too little money. I actually didnt expect to be able to work, but our french teacher invited us for an job interview at the company where he was / is still working: www.turistik.cl

We had to learn something about the history and sights of the city and express ourselves (other classmates and me) in English - and if I remember well in the beginning of May they accepted me and now Im working part-time (3-4 times a week) at the already mentioned company.

My job is to attend to all the turists who enter the red double-decker buses, give information about the city, help if they have any questions. Compared to Germany, my earnings are quite low (~ € 2,50 an hour), BUT anyway its a good practise working in tourism, speaking different languages - and additionally I can get some credits as an internship at my university. So you see, there are just advantages and even though I wont get rich, its a nice feeling to earn my own money - and in the end of the months it is about having € 200 extra or not (that you realize how much Im working actually)...

At university I wrote my first exams in Spanish, gave the first presentations in my life in Spanish AND English, and additionally was starting to learn another language - FRENCH !! Last week I went to a group in Santiago who is meeting once a week to just speak french and I honestly was surprised about how much I could already express myself - I hope I will have enough time to go there in the future again ! I really like french, its an interesting language !

About the other subjects: I was going to the English advanced classes quite a while, I enjoy(ed) the company a lot as I really like the teacher and the small group of other students. But I got to a point where I said to myself that I didnt really need those classes as I got always the best marks, so I spoke with the teacher and we made the agreement that in the future I just have to come once a week and also for the exams. So I have another day available for going to work, what I really appreciate ;)

My worst mark I got in geography which was simply a lot of material to study and in general many many new words for me in spanish. But still I passed the course with a 4,8 (best mark is a 7)...

Algebra was the only subject I was really disappointed by. The only difficulty in the beginning was to understand the questions in spanish. The material we did remembered me of the 6th class in Germany when I was like 13 years old. The teacher and the classes sometimes were just ridiculous. In the end we did at least some more sofisticated stuff and I was free of the final exam: mark 5,9 !!

About turism itself I learned a lot in "Introduction to the turism industry" where I actually don´t have my final result yet

The administration classes werent that interesting, but in the end I got a remarkable 6,0 =)


But I also had a life outside of university:

The first months I didnt do a lot of sports as I was either working or having classes at university almost every day. It must have been around the middle of June when I realized that I have to go out to play some soccer again, what was not that easy actually. I went to a place to ask for an amateur soccer club close to the house where Im living, but it was more difficult than I expected. At university the service was quite bad as well, as the guys at the reception just gave me an E-Mail-adress and then no one responded my mails asking about the days when the soccer team is playing.
Where Im working people are meeting every 2 weeks to play some soccer, what I actually enjoyed a lot, but one of the problems in Chile is, that everyone tries to commercialize as many things as possible - in this case charging for renting a soccer field ( ~ € 3,00 - 4,00 per person per hour)...

So I knew a lot of people who were asking me all the time to play soccer, but I just didnt want to pay everytime for it as Im simply not used to pay for playing soccer or in general doing sports (except of going to a gym)...
Fortunately I discovered a beautifull park close to my place where a public soccer field is located. Only last week I went there 3 times and every time I enjoyed it more =)
The first two times I went there with one the best friends I made from university called Mehdi, a guy from Marocco. Every time we got to know other people playing together great matches. And last time we both met with other guys from university just playing amongst us. The soccer ball we bought was definitely one of the best investments of the last weeks =)

One of the highlights was definitely our 3-days trip at university to the central coast region, where I have never been before. There we had to analize a lot concerning touristic sights, attractions, restaurants, etc. but I also had the chance to get to know some class mates a little bit better outside of the university.

To summarize the first semester with the party I had last night at my place, I have to say that I definitely got to know the chilean culture in a very deeply way, I learned a lot about turism in general and in Chile, could improve not only my Spanish but also my English and French language skills and by the way made very good friends - Im feeling good in Chile !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here I`ve got a video from a city-tour I made with some couchsurfing-people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Lh8T1Kvg0


Take care guys,
I hope I get some answers from you, because Im also quite interested in what you are doing, how you are, etc..

Bye bye


Sven Bornemann

Elena Blanco 993
Providencia / Salvador
Santiago de Chile

+56 9 84 98 46 48 (mobile phone)
+56 2 69 23 00 (landline telephone I)
+56 7 61 83 16 (landline telephone II)

svenbornemann87@gmail.com (E-MAIL I)
svenbornemann@gmx.net (E-MAIL II)
www.sveninsantiago.blogspot.com (my BLOG)
redman87@web.de (MSN)
svennaughty (SKYPE)

Bolivia...

(<<<--- Today`s view from my window)

Today I finally bought the tickets - from the 7th of August I will be staying in the north again for one week getting to know Bolivia. Tomorrow, on Monday and Wednesday I will have my final exams and by next week Thursday the first semester will have come to an end. I will let you know about the results, but in any case I didnt have any big problems at university...

Lost against the World-Champion...

It is a pitty that Germany the last years has lost always against the future Champion (2002 against Brasil, 2006 against Italy, 2008 and 2010 against Spain)..
I really hope this team can win a cup one day, because they really deserve it !!
Im very proud of what I have seen during the World Cup anyway, even though could "just" get the 3rd place..

In any case I really enjoyed the World Cup time as I wasn`t only watching with germans but also going to celebrate on the streets with thousands of Chileans - Thank you South Africa, the World Cup was a great success !!!

Bye Bye England !!!

What an amazing match !!!
Thanks to every player who was on the field - it was a pleasure watching you guys !!!
I followed the match at a friends place with 2 other germans who you can see on the picture - hopefully there will be more for the next one: Argentina, we are not scared of you !!

Thank you GERMANY...

Even though I didn´t see a great match, Im happy that Germany won against Ghana and qualified for the round of the best 16. During the whole day I was really nervous, but now relieved and I hope to see an amazing fight on Sunday - Go Germany, you can make it !!!!

Thank you ...

.. very much for all your greetings - I had a nice party last week celebrating my birthday !! The following day I went to the world-famous winery CONCHA Y TORO with a good friend of mine. Fortunately I was able to join and bring a friend for free as Im working for the same company...

The weather isn`t that great anymore, its raining a lot nowadays, but at least not really cold. I will have some final exams at my university the following weeks, but then a 2 weeks holiday from the 01.08 - 16.08, where I might be heading north again going to Bolivia. I will anyway let you know !!


Many greetings

Some pictures...

I left some pictures for you guys from my trip to the coast !!!


(Houses in "Valparaiso")


(Beach in "El Quisco")


(Port in "San Antonio")


(Sunset in "Algarrobo")


(At Pablo Nerudas house "Isla Negra")

Off to the coast ... !!!

Its 23:22 local time and tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning we are leaving to our 3-days-trip to the chilean coast, around 2 hours away from Santiago.
There we are going to analize everything concerning the touristic atractions or sights and afterwards every single group has to hold a presentation about a certain topic, what includes videotaping a promotional video ;)

Im pretty curious about everything we will be doing the next days !!


Take care,

I will be back to the capital by Friday evening !!

Studying & working ...

I promised you to let you know about the results of my job interview and according to my headline you can already imagine what Im going to write about :)

Yes, I got the job and now Im working 3 times a week in one of the touristic buses finally earning some extra money and getting more experience in tourism.
Im still doing quite good concerning my studies, was even presenting the first time in my life in Spanish and also something in English. And next week we are going for a 3 days trip to the coast - Im looking forward already !!!



Take care ..

Its slowly getting cold..

Hello there,

I hope you are very good - I am, even though winter is coming soon and sometimes I already have to get out of the house with a jacket in the morning !

Everything concerning my university is going far better than expected, and at the moment I even try to find a job to earn some money - thanks to our french teacher, me and some class mates might have the chance to work for a touristic enterprise which runs the typical red buses of Santiago. Tomorrow we will have a job interview in English and Im already very curious about it. I will definitely let you know about the result !


Many greetings from Santiago de Chile

1st day at the university..

Hey guys,
How is it going over there ?

Im absolutely fine, had a good first day at my new university. The classes were quite interesting, the teachers motivated and the first new classmates I got to know very nice people. Tomorrow we will have just one class and afterwards we are going to go to someones place - to chill out and get to know each other.


Have a good time,


Peace

Everything has an end..

.. only the sausage has two !!!

Im sitting in Antofagasta in the university where a friend of mine is studying. Later on I will take the bus back to Santiago and so to say my holidays are coming to an end.

Im really impressed of the north of Chile. I met a lot of nice people, could enjoy pure sunshine and really stunning landscapes. Like you know me I took plenties of pictures and will load them up soon.

On Monday I will enter to the University and cant wait to start a new chapter...


Cheers from the coast

The beach..

Im sitting in an internet cafe in Calama, which is located in the northern territory of Chile, where Im waiting to get the next bus to Iquique. Im really looking forward to hang out on the beach again, what I havent done for more than one year.
My plans changed and after a few days in Iquique I will be going back to San Pedro de Atacama, where I got to know wonderful people and where there is still plenties things to see..


Many greetings from Chile

Heading north .. !!

Hello there, hope everybody of you guys is doing good back home. I do, enjoying my last working days at my Hostel, until I will be heading to the northern territory of Chile on Thursday morning.
Im really looking forward to get to know some new parts of this amazing country, especially because I was actually just staying in the capital the whole time since I have come back. My plans consist of going to the desert capital SAN PEDRO which is located 24 hours by bus away from Santiago. Then I would like to see the biggest salt desert in the world, which is in Bolivia. Then I would like to visit a friends place in Iquique, which is on the northern coast. And in the end of my trip Im planning to visit another friend who is studying in Antofagasta, as well located on the coast, just a few hours down south of Iquique. I will be coming back on the 21 th of March, and will directly be moving to my new place close to where my university is..
So, I wish you all the best, when Im back I will try to upload some pictures,

Cheers

Newspaper report..

Bräunlinger erlebt Erdbeben in Chile
Sven Bornemann berichtet aus der Hauptstadt von der Katastrophe

Bräunlingen. Er kam um zustudieren, jetzt ist er Augenzeuge eines derschlimmsten Erdbeben desLandes: Der Bräunlinger Sven Bornemann erlebte das Erdbeben in Chile haut-nah. Dem Schwarzwälder Bote berichtet er von der Katastrophe: Es war 3.30 Uhr am vergangenen Samstagmorgen, SvenBornemann lag in seinem Bettim Hostel in Santiago de Chileund schlief – bis die Erdeunter ihm bebte und ihn ausdem Schlaf riss. Der 22-jähri-ge Bräunlinger blieb liegenund dachte an die vielen altenGebäude in dem Stadtteil, indem er sich befand. Er habeAngst gehabt, berichtet erdem Schwarzwälder Bote, so-fort sei er »mit den Gedankenbei den Ereignissen in Haiti«gewesen. Kurz nach den ers-ten Erschütterungen kamendie Hotelbewohner beim Pooldes Hauses zusammen. »Auf-grund der recht frischen Tem-peraturen hat jeder eine De-cke bekommen. Ein Feuerwurde auch gemacht. Als esnach zwei Stunden kein Nach-beben gab, durften wir wiederins Bett«, berichtet der Bräun-linger.Kennt man die verheeren-den Daten des Erdbebens –8,8 auf der Richterskala, mehrals 700 Tote – ist Sven Borne-mann glimpflich davon ge-kommen: Das Hostel, in demer zurzeit arbeitet und lebt ha-be das Beben wie die meistenGebäude in seiner Nachbar-schaft überstanden, erzähltSven Bornemann. »Es sindzwar ein paar kleine Steinevon der Decke geflogen, inden Wänden gibt es ein paarRisse, aber eingestürzt istnichts.« Doch nur zwei Häu-serblocks von seinem Hostelentfernt, konnte der Bräunlin-ger die Ausmaße des Erdbe-bens betrachten: »Ein kom-plettes Haus ist eingestürztund auch eine nahe gelegeneKirche wurde schwer beschä-digt.« Als er das gesehen ha-be, sei ihm »definitiv sehrmulmig geworden«, berichte-te er unserer Zeitung. Überallin der Stadt seien Schuttresteder Gebäude auf den Straßengelegen.Jetzt erlebt Sven Borne-mann die Folgen des Erdbe-bens. »Am Tag nach dem Erd-beben waren die meisten Ge-schäfte geschlossen. Manmusste in kleinen LädenSchlange stehen, um etwas zuessen zu bekommen.« KeineU-Bahn sei am Wochenendemehr gefahren, alle musstendie öffentlichen Busse nutzen.Auch das Kommunikations-netz ist zusammengebrochen.»Ich konnte bis heute nichtnach Deutschland telefonie-ren trotz mehreren Versu-chen.« Per E-Mail habe er eini-ge Freunde darum gebeten,bei den Eltern in Bräunlingenanzurufen, um ihnen zu sa-gen, dass es dem Sohn gut ge-he.Wenn auch die HauptstadtSantiago de Chile vom Bebenempfindlich getroffen wurde –noch schlimmer ist es südlichder Hauptstadt, weiß derBräunlinger: »Wenn ich nunBilder und Videos im Fernse-hen aus dem Süden Chiles se-he, muss ich sagen, dass wir inder Hauptstadt mit einemblauen Auge davon gekom-men sind.«

On television..

I finally have found the interview we had about COUCHSURFING like 3 weeks ago. I only will be shown on screen about 3 seconds, what Im a little angry about, because they asked me many different questions about the topic and in the end they are showing only a few of other people. But anyway, I was on television in Chile :D

http://www.24horas.cl/videos.aspx?id=34436&tipo=185

Earthquake..

What a crazy night. I think I have never been that scared in my life. When I was asleep at around 3 am last night, suddenly the whole room was shaking and little stones were falling down from the walls. I dont even know how long it was, but I thought it was about 1 hour..

But anyway Im fine, nothing happened to me. Fortunately, because Im still living in that Hostel where Im working in one of the oldest areas of Santiago and like 2 blocks away an entire Hotel fell down...

Sorry for posting that late, but Im really fine !!

Sun is shining ...

.. weather is sweet here !
Hello again. Im really sorry for not having written the last 2 weeks. I was quite busy and the internet in my Hostel didnt work the last days either.

I want to inform you that now Im doing really good in Santiago. Im feeling very well enjoying the big city vibe. I have already seen many old friends, but also got to know a few other nice people on different events, parties, etc.
The work in the Hostel is quite relaxing. This week there are just 15 hours to complete. The mayority of the people Im working and living with is really nice and come from all over the world (New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, US, France, etc.).
Since Friday last week Im even owning my personal chilenian Identity Card - kind of a nice feeling beeing part of this amazing country.
My future plan is staying at the Hostel until around 5th, 6th, 7th of March, going for a short vacation to the coast and move in to my new home at the 15th of March. I visited that place last week and Im really happy to have made the right decision - quiet and secure area, 20 minutes walking distance to my university, comfortable room, all bills and WIFI included, backyard with couches and BBQ possibilities, televisions, etc.

Like I already mentioned in my title the weather is still great. I could enjoy sunshine every single day..

So I really hope you are fine back in Europe, enjoying Karneval and having a good time,
Take care !!!

Slowly settling in ...

First of all. I had a good journey. Everything worked very well at the airports, even with the transport to a friends place. But I arrived a little bit sick and couldnt enjoy the firstdays that much. Anyway I have to say its great to enjoy summer again, sun is shining every day. And that I already had the chance to see old friends again .. but there are still many ones to meet. Im looking forward.
So what did I do so far ?
I was already walking in the centre, visiting some sights. We went to a friends birthday up on the San Cristobal hill to have a Barbeque. That was really nice. And we went very spontanously to someones place 2 hours outside of Santiago, where simply the nature rules. A very beautiful huge house, surrounded by mountains and the river which crosses the city. So far about the main events. At the moment Im sitting in the Hostel to wait for somebody. Its my first day and Im curious about what will happen in the future. I hope everybody of you is doing well, I would appreciate knowing something .. TAKE CARE

"Bräunlinger will Metropolen dieser Welt erleben"

BRÄUNLINGEN. Sven Bornemann ist Südamerika verfallen, seit er sieben Monate in Chile verbracht hat. Jetzt fliegt der 22-Jährige nach Santiago, um dort zu studieren ...

Am Mittwoch, 27. Januar, fliegt der 22-Jährige aus Bräunlingen wieder nach Chile. Nicht nur für einige Monate - dieses Mal will er mindestens vier Jahre dort bleiben. Denn Sven Bornemann beginnt, Tourismus-Management in Chiles Hauptstadt Santiago de Chile zu studieren.

Studienwunsch war schnell klar

Die Entscheidung für den Tourismus war schon bei Svens erster großer Reise 2007 nach dem Abitur gefallen: Damals absolvierte er ein Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr (FSJ) in Süfafrika. Er arbeitete in einer kleinen Küstenstadt rund 100 Kilometer von Kaptstadt entfernt in Hausgemeinschaften mit behinderten Menschen zusammen, unterstützte sie in ihrem Alltag. Doch vor allem die vielen Reisen, die er in diesem Jahr unternahm, überzeugten Sven: "Die Erfahrung hat mich bestärkt, Tourismus studieren zu wollen."
Vorher sollte es aber noch einmal nach Südamerika gehen. Dort wollte Sven unbedingt seine Spanisch-Kenntnisse erproben und verbessern, die er in seiner Schulzeit auf dem Donaueschinger Wirtschaftsgymnasium erworben hatte. Von Januar bis August 2009 reiste er mit einem Freund aus Argentinien durch Südamerika, arbeitete in einer Tourismus-Agentur in der südchilenischen Stadt Pucon, später in einer Jugendherberge und als Übersetzer für die Internetseite einer Sprachschule.

"Man lernt ständig neue Leute kennen"

In dieser erlebnisreichen Zeit entschied sich Sven, in Chile zu studieren. Nicht nur, weil er in Deutschland nur wenig Möglichkeiten für sein gewünschtes Studium gefunden hatte. Den 22-Jährigen hatte der Charme Südamerikas und seiner Menschen erfasst, vor allem die Offenheit und die Gastfreundschaft: "Man wird ständig zu jemandem nach Hause eingeladen", erzählt der Bräunlinger mit einem Funkeln in den Augen.

Ob er auch nach seinem Studium in Südamerika bleiben will, weiß der 22-Jährige heute noch nicht: "Da will ich mich noch nicht festlegen." Grundsätzlich reizten ihn große Städte.

Silvester hat er bei Bekannten in Berlin verbracht - und auch Deutschlands Hauptstadt gefiel ihm: "Da zieht's mich auch hin." Wahrscheinlich habe das mit seiner Herkunft zu tun, auf der Suche nach dem Gegensatz zum kleinen beschaulichen Bräunlingen bei Donaueschingen bedeutet das: Ab in die Metropolen dieser Welt. Die Koffer sind schon gepackt, das Flugticket gekauft.



That's what people can read today in the newspapers. Tomorrow I already will be heading to the airport of Frankfurt. Im kind of nervous, it will be a big journey if Im finally entering my little room in Santiago in the beginning of March.

Im wishing everybody the best, success during the whole year 2010, but especially that you guys stay healthy !!!

I'll miss you !!

Preliminary farewell..

I would like to say THANK YOU to everybody who joined my farewell yesterday night. It was great to see you again - I really had a very good time !!!

Although Im looking forward to go soon, I will definitely miss you and the time we spent together ..

Now just 3 days are left to handle all organizational things - and to enjoy the cold hahahaha :)



Bye bye

2 weeks missing..

Time is running fast and soon I will be taking off to Chile - can't wait !!
Im really looking forward to start a new life, see friends again, make new ones, enjoy the south american summer :)

I will keep on trying to let you know about my last days in Germany .. !!