www.youtube.com/watch?v=HprSbjAZknc

As well as the expected ceremonies, attendees were delighted to find both pizza and chicken McNuggets on offer.

I Love Chile’s Dan ‘The Gringo’ Brewington was amongst the speakers at the event and Santiago Radio broadcast from the embassy.

The event was the final one in this country for Ambassador Paul Simons and his wife Victoria Cárdenas Simons as their ambassador’s tour in Chile comes to an end.

READ & HEAR Daniel Brewington’s July 4th Independence Day Celebration Speech

I am pleased and honored to be here with you today celebrating July 4^th, a day which those of us living abroad gather at embassies around the world and reflect on the greatness and accomplishments of our country.

Living abroad is something I have been doing for more than 20 years.  8 years ago I found myself here in Chile, where I didn’t speak the language and didn’t understand the culture.

I lived in a small town in the south called Los Angeles with my wife and kids, working one of the few jobs I could do in Chile, I was an English teacher.

Being a native speaker in a small town in the south meant I was always in demand and I got to thinking how could help teach more people English.

The answer hit me one day when I was walking by one of the local radio stations.  I popped in and spoke to the owner and offered to do a ‘Gringo show’ all in English.

The owner, who spoke a little English, immediately said, “ Si, Si, Si” To this day I am not sure if he gave me the show because he was afraid of the big, bald, black American that was a lil scary looking, standing in his office.

I ended up with one of the worst spots on radio: the 9 to midnight slot on a Saturday night, in small town where everybody goes to bed by 10’oclock.

I remember my very first show, being in studio all by myself when someone started knocking on the studio door. When I opened it I saw this tough looking young kid, probably 18-19 years old. I remember thinking to myself, Is this guy looking to rob me or what?

He started speaking to me surprisingly in English…broken English, but in English.

He said was surfing the radio dial looking for his favorite show and found mine.  He said he was amazed that he was hearing English on his radio.  He was so excited he hopped on his bicycle and rode 10 kilometers to the studio.  I just couldn’t believe that his kid would ride a bike all that way just thank me for doing a radio show in English.

Well long story short, the show became popular.  When I was out walking on the streets people would wave at me and say: Hey Gringo, muy bein programma!

In less than a month I felt like a rock star and my show got bought by a bigger station in town and I was on air 5 days a week in a prime time slot.

It was then that I realized I just wasn’t some guy doing a radio show.  I realized people were not just judging me or my family, but my entire country.  People who listened to the radio show or saw me in the street were judging all Americans by the way I acted.

I had not just taken on the role of radio presenter but as an American Ambassador to the small town of Los Angeles.

When my family moved to Santiago I went to every radio station in the city with the ‘Gringo Show’.  Every station told me the same thing: “Chile isn’t ready for an English speaking radio program.”

I couldn’t accept that, I knew that people wanted to learn our language.  I also believed, because of the way my parents taught me to never quit when you believe in something, I could find a way to give Chile its own English radio station.

So with the help of my wife and a couple of friends from the ex-pat community we started our own radio station on the internet called Santiago Radio.

Our mission: simply to promote English in Chile and to promote Chile in English.

I am pleased to announce that Santiago Radio was and still is successful broadcasting to over 250,000 people in 138 countries.  With the success of Santiago Radio we took our mission a step further and created the company called “I Love Chile”.

We added an online newspaper, an online video channel and last December a print newspaper called The Pulse. Our content is simple, everything about Chile and everything in English.

Now people ask me all the time, why do you Love Chile so much?  Why do you have so much passion to help this country?

The answer is easy; because I love the USA and what we stand for.  I love the fact that our nation can achieve anything and is the land of opportunity.

I love our flag, our national anthem and I am so very proud of our men and women in uniform.  I am proud for what we stand for.

I am also thankful for all I have received from our country, for all of the opportunities, for all liberties, and for all of the freedoms.

I want the same for my children here in Chile.  I want them to be able to have all of the same opportunities here in Chile; I had in the United States.

And I want to be part of the building process that helps this country achieve its potential.

As an American and a father it is my duty to help Chile become a more competitive country and I believe I can best serve this cause by offering Chileans the chances to practice their English.

I believe this effort will help promote tourism and business, and bring about social changes with an end result of everyone in every social class enjoying the benefits of a more prosperous country.

Helping Chile to become bilingual means making a better life for everyone, which to me is the American Way.  It’s what we do; it’s what we stand for, making life better for everyone.  It’s what I teach my children every day.

You guys have a great July 4^th God Bless you And God Bless America