I decided to go to Starbucks to study this afternoon because last week I met with a group to work on a presentation for Spanish class and discovered that it is actually a nice place to work. So here I am, sitting in Starbucks on Avenida Pedro de Valdivia in 90 degree (Fahrenheit) weather, listening to Christmas music and seeing the Christmas decorations with images of evergreen trees and people skating on ice. The only places where there is ice in Chile right now (apart from in refrigerators) are up in the Andes and in the far south. It's almost summer (think early June at Stanford). And just when I was thinking how fitting it would be to hear "White Christmas" in Chile, sure enough, "White Christmas" started playing. Almost all of the songs I've heard here refer to cold weather at some point, and a lot of Christmas commercials on the TV seem to feature snow. I'm torn between which is more strange: to be in the Southern Hemisphere in December when I automatically think of cold weather and Christmas going together, or the fact that in Chile there is a clear association between Christmas and cold weather in advertisements and popular culture while it is abundantly clear to me that the weather on Christmas is probably usually 80 degrees and sunny here. Of course, all of the music I've heard at Starbucks is in English (and the same recordings I recognize hearing year after year), so Starbucks is probably an unusually strong dosage of imported culture from the United States.
They've played "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" three times since I've gotten here. That may be bordering on excessive.
Another small thing I've noticed is the location of the sun. My bedroom window faces south, and I realized a week or so ago that the light never shines directly in. Of course, this makes perfect sense, but that's one of those things you never think about.
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8 comments:
How does the Starbucks menu in Chile compare to the US?
Have you heard "Frosty the Snowman" yet?
The Starbucks menu here is extremely similar. They have coffee, lattes, frappuccino, tea, and chai. I think the food selection is pretty similar, though perhaps more predominated by muffins.
However, if you want milk in it you need to order a latte because they do not have milk available in the stations where you get sugar.
And, no, Andrea, I have not yet heard "Frosty the Snowman." Or "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for that matter.
Update: I am currently at Starbucks and they are playing "Frosty the Snowman."
Now "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" as well.
hahahah, wow.
the christmas soundtrack is limited.
and it gets old really fast, unfortunately.
which basically means they need to stop playing the soundtrack and play some other music.
maybe if i sent them my store of asian music??? hmm...
but really, is Starbucks seen as evil around there? because there was all this talk about free/fair trade coffee and how Starbucks exploits the people, etc..
So far as I can tell Starbucks seems to be a place where
a) gringos hang out because they miss home.
b) Chileans who want free internet with their cup of coffee hang out.
I don't think people really see it as all that evil, but it's not quite as big here as in the states. There are also other examples of Yankee imperialism here, such as McDonald's, that seem slightly more major.
I also haven't noticed anything about fair trade here (of course, I would have a harder time noticing in Spanish), and I remember when I was in England they had fair trade written all over lots of things. So that might not be as big of a deal here.
Update: I am at Starbucks again and they are not playing Christmas music (though the music is still in English). I guess the employees got tired of listening to it.
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