"My name is Raúl Cárcamo, I am a 5th-year civil engineering student, and I live in the city of Valdivia. In mid-June, I enrolled in the XPA Work and Travel program. After going through the personal interview and program stages such as the contract and the interview at the US embassy, I was ready to work.

I traveled to the USA in mid-December, directly to New York, and from there, took a bus to my workplace.

I worked in the state of Massachusetts, in the town of Hancock, approximately 4 hours from New York; I worked at a Ski resort called JIMINY PEAK. This is a large-scale resort that in winter has one of the best slopes and snow in the area, in addition to having an advanced artificial snow system. The resort had a large hotel, bars, shops, cabins, spa, pools, restaurants, etc.

I was hired as a ski instructor, and my job involved teaching ski classes to children of different ages, from 4 to 12 years old. It was a ski program, in which I started working around 9:30 in the morning and finished at 3:30 in the afternoon. I taught different levels of skiing, from beginners to advanced, spent the whole day with the children, including lunch, and interacted with instructors from different nationalities and, of course, with Americans.

After my working hours, I had the afternoon free to ski with friends, enjoy the resort's amenities like pools, spa, etc. Or, if I preferred, I could work a second job within the same resort: I worked sporadically as a private ski instructor, in snowmaking, housekeeping, and tubing.

I lived in a large house 15 minutes from the ski center, and we had transportation provided by the resort. Moreover, all international workers lived together, and I met many people from different parts of the world, such as Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and, of course, Chileans.

As I said, it's a great experience. Besides learning much more English, recovering the investment, making many friends, and experiencing a different culture, I also visited other places in the USA, like New York, specifically Manhattan. It's an experience I definitely recommend; in fact, it's an experience worth repeating. That's why this coming summer, I want to do it again."