Although the main office of Bridge is located in Denver, Colorado, many students may not realize that Bridge also holds offices in Santiago, Chile, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. January has been an exciting and busy month for everyone at BridgeEnglish Denver because many of the executives from the Buenos Aires office are here for meetings and to get to know the Denver office.

I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Damian Messori, a graphic designer in the Buenos Aires office. But he is not only here for work; he has also come as a student of English and is taking classes at BridgeEnglish Denver.

AB: Damian, can you tell me a little about your background with Bridge?

DM: I have worked at Bridge for six years. Before that, I attended the University of Buenos Aires and got my degree in graphic design. After I graduated, I worked at several different offices doing graphic design in Buenos Aires and then I started working at Bridge. I really enjoy both the artistic and analytic side of graphic design. It is very challenging and rewarding. I work with the marketing people and we share ideas about the aesthetics of the website and how we want it to look. The office in Buenos Aires is a fun place to work. Everyone is really nice and it has a calm atmosphere. There are good people and good vibes in the office.

AB: What is your previous experience with studying English?

DM: I studied in high school but it wasn’t a large part of our curriculum, so I didn’t really absorb that much. After high school, I didn’t study much English. But then I started working at Bridge in Buenos Aires and now I have a chance to hear and speak more English because there are some native English speakers from the United States who also work there. I also have an American girlfriend and so I can practice with her although I don’t get to practice that much because she wants to speak Spanish most of the time so that she can improve. Being at Bridge Denver is a great opportunity to really be around English speakers and learners all day long. My schedule is four hours of English classes in the morning and then I go to the other Bridge building (executive offices) to work for another four hours.

AB: Wow! That seems like a tough schedule.

DM: It is hard but I am really enjoying myself here in Colorado. I like that there are students from all over the world here; Japan, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, etc. I am getting to know the other students and classes are really fun. It is definitely a diverse group of students and, because most students are from other countries, I can’t fall back on Spanish because the other students don’t speak it, so I am forced to speak English, which is great. I also practice a lot with my host father. He is very nice and a good person.

AB: What do you think of Colorado?

DM: I really like Colorado. It is very beautiful and I love the Rocky Mountains. While I am here I would like to go skiing, get to know Denver and see some professional sports games like basketball or maybe an ice hockey game. That would be exciting. Also, I have never seen snow in the city before. I have seen snow in the mountains in Argentina but never in an actual city so it was really neat when it snowed the other day here in Denver. I had never experienced that before.

AB: What are some differences between Buenos Aires and Denver?

DM: Well, first of all, Buenos Aires is an enormous city - fifteen million people - so it is very crowded all the time. It can be stressful to live in such a big city because everything is so fast-paced. Denver is very calm and relaxed and safe and the people here are very nice. I also like the fact that you can see the mountains from the city. It is such a beautiful view. There is a lot to do here. It is very different from Buenos Aires. I am glad I came here and got this opportunity to see Bridge Denver and Colorado. It has been a great time.

About the Author

Aimee Bushong

Aimee has her Bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara and her TEFL certification from BridgeTEFL. In 2009, she left the United States to do a six month volunteer teaching program in the south of Chile where she ended up staying for the next year and a half. In Chile she taught at universities, high schools as well as at private English institutes. She was able to travel all around South America and has also travelled extensively in Europe, Israel, Mexico and other countries. She has a passion for traveling and for the spanish language in which she is fluent. Aimee has a passion for teaching and thinks it is imperative to incorporate humor and laughter in her classes as well as in life!