What's the Difference between Chileans and Americans?

I get asked this question a lot. I hate it. It's right up there with "Can you translate this song for me?" After a few months of living here, I came up with the following answer:

If I decided tomorrow that I wanted to climb Mt. Everest, an American friend would say, "Awesome! Go for it! Keep me posted!" A Chilean friend, on the other hand, would say, "Why in the world would you want to do that?! You better be careful, you might get hurt. Are you sure they'll even let you into the country?"

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre los chilenos y los gringos? Ni se imaginan cuantas veces he oído esta pregunta. Al principio no supe que contestar. Pero al cabo de un par de meses en Chile, surgió la siguiente repuesta. A mi juicio, ilustra a cabalidad la diferencia.

Si mañana se me ocurriera escalar el Everest, un gringo me diría "-Bacan, te deseo lo mejor! Cuando regreses, me tienes que contar todo!" Un chileno, en cambio, me diría "-Para que queri hacer algo así? Teni que tener cuidado, te podi lastimar. Estai segura que es algo que quieres hacer?"

(fyi, the italicized words are Chilean slang. You probably won't find them in a translation dictionary.)