I am a person who likes to set up and to follow (seguir) a schedule, sometimes it is really beneficial, some times it leads to selfish compulsion, but most times, it helps me to organize (organizar) myself and to add basic structure to my days and weeks, both at home and at work. As a professor, you have a lot of self-directed time, and I find that if I set a schedule (un horario) for myself each semester, I have a better balance in my life, both personal and professional. I have to make sure that I set aside specific time to exercise (hacer ejercicio), to learn (aprender) new things, to write (escribir) papers and to teach (ensenar) my classes. Sometimes, I even set up meetings with myself, so that I won’t give away the time that I might need to accomplish (lograr) my tasks, objectives and goals.
Yet, this fascination with order (la orden) and schedules can also lead to some interesting world views, in that at times, I am a bit too specific (bastante especifico) and schedule driven. As an educator, I make a big deal to my students that I start (empiezo) on time and end (termino) on time. In meetings (en las reuniones) that I lead, I am sure to set a specific agenda with a defined time limit (un limite del tiempo) that I send it out ahead of time. I often see this as a management strength (una esfuerza); something that is often echoed by my fellow North American colleagues, whom share my habits (mis hábitos) as well. We are taught in the US to value time and to do things quickly (rápido) and efficiently, which often translates to other cultures and uptight (tenso) and limiting.
For example, I live on the border of the US and Mexico and a number of our friends have roots (las raíces) in the Mexican culture, and when we are invited to their houses for a gathering, we will often ask them at what time we should arrive and how long the party (la fiesta) will take place. They often stare back in disbelief (la incredulidad) that we even consider both the beginning (la comienza) and the end (el fin) of a party, something that is defined more by the day than by the hour in the Mexican culture. It has even gotten so bad that we will ask that if a party is set to start at 7 PM, we will ask if it is gringo time, which means 7 PM on the dot (en punto), or Mexican time, which means about 9 PM, and we will adjust ourselves depending upon their response and direction.
In Santiago, this “gringo time” concept (concepto) has also caused us to demonstrate (demostrar) our differences with our Chilean friends, who like our Mexican friends, define events relatively, taking the time to enjoy (disfrutar) the moment, but also to extend (extender) it for a long period of time. A lunch in Chile can last 8 hours, and a party even more, and the idea is to set (emprender) a starting time, but the end is never scheduled and rarely discussed, it is something that just happens when everyone is ready to call (llamar) it quits. This is something that we have learned and have tried to be more flexible with throughout our time here in Santiago, but some times, our North American roots and love (el amor) of precision, even in public gatherings, comes out in public.
Recently, we had a gathering in our small apartment (nuestro chico departamento) here in Ñuñoa for our friends here and we set it up to be a 2-hour event from 7 to 9 PM that would be after work (después del trabajo) and before dinner. This is very common in the US, but it had our friends (nuestros amigos) here in stitches, unsure if we would make people leave at 9 PM, or just give each set of guests (los invitados) a 2 hour limit that we would somehow enforce with a list on a clipboard. Between snort laughs and of course, only in Spanish, we tried to say (decir) that we were flexible, while we desperately tried to cling (pegarse) to some type of schedule for the evening.
Our friends here got the last laugh (la risa final), as the 2 hour gathering was no less than 5 hours, and the lesson to be learned is that while it is good (bueno) to have a schedule, it is also best (mejor) not to limit those you really care about, and to enjoy all the time (todo el tiempo) you can together, regardless of the plan.
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