Joaquin is kicking goals at Fletchers
THERE’S an excellent chance while Joaquin Munoz is working in the load out section of Fletcher International Exports, he’s dreaming about soccer.
The Chilean national holds a masters in sports management, is a sports technician and a football referee and after arriving in Australia last year, he spent eight months living in Melbourne, where one of the thirty-year-old’s first jobs was with the Victorian football association.
“At home I’m a soccer referee, with the national association in the capital, Santiago, which was a fulltime job refereeing elite games, so when I came to Dubbo to work at Fletchers it really impacted me because in Chile, I’ve never done this kind of job working with animals in this way.
“Fortunately, they have put me in the load out so I’m lifting boxes in the cold room, where we’re given jackets and all the equipment, we need to stay comfortable, and it’s interesting because I see all the different types of meat products, such as premium lamb and where it’s being sent.
“Trucks come in from Costco, and we send to China, and America is big customer but no, not Chile,” Joaquin said.
“We don’t have lamb in Chile, and we tend to eat a lot of chicken and beef. I do like cooking but I’m trying to eat more salads here and I just tried salmon for the first time with a little bit of pepper on top and really liked it, because we don’t have that at home either.”
Though English isn’t spoken widely in Chile where the first language is Spanish, Joaquin is fluent and says he enjoys being able to practice at work every day.
“I was working in traffic control in Melbourne for a while and I found it hard to understand people talking on the radio because of their accent, but it’s a bit like that at home too, because American Latinos or people from Spain can’t understand us in Chile because we speak so fast, a bit like Australian English I think.”
The young adventurer came to Australia early last year and in order to extend his working holiday visa he has to work in the regions, which is how he came across the opportunity at Fletchers.
“I came to Dubbo in November last year for the interview and within a week they asked me to come and start working here, so it’s very different of course because at home I live five minutes from the beach, but I hear Newcastle beaches are good and not too far away, so I’ll visit there one day.
“Because of my visa, I am like a backpacker but my goals are different, I don’t need to take a holiday in Bali or things like that, because I’m here to earn money to take home with me one day,” Joaquin said.