Susanna Lindholm: “Hello Atlanta – USA, bye Finland (and 6 other countries)!”
We had the pleasure of getting to know Susanna Lindholm and her quite international journey from Finland to the USA. Susanna is new to Atlanta and would love to connect with Europeans and other international professionals.
She arrived @ Atlanta during very unusual period – during the pandemic.
Get to know Susanna via her own words below and feel free to connect with her:
Introduction
Hi all, nice to meet you!
My name is Susanna, I’m 29 and I come from Finland. Actually, I have lived in 7 countries and tried to learn 10 languages, so I’m quite an international person. Travelling is my dearest hobby and until now, I have visited 45 countries. I am new to Atlanta and would love to make new friends here! My education is Master’s in Business Management, and I work in Business Development and Marketing at gatc LP, which is a German-American company helping foreign companies to the American market.
Finland
Originally, I am from Finland, the land of snow and Northern lights. However, summers in Finland are quite warm (+20-25 C) and there are 188.000 lakes and 510.000 lake houses to enjoy the Finnish nature. The Finnish nature, forests and lakes are something that I always miss when living abroad.
Germany
The first foreign country for me to live in was Germany. I studied German language and Business Administration in Lüneburg and Münster. Germany has beautiful old cities and an excellent taste for beer. Something that I miss from Germany are the little bakery shops where to grab a pretzel or bread for breakfast.
South Korea
My second foreign country to live in was South Korea, where I studied Asian Studies and International Business. That was my first time in Asia, and I was excited about the cultural differences. The streets were cute with very colorful advertisements and karaoke rooms everywhere. Karaoke rooms were so much fun! I hope I could find something similar also in Atlanta.
India
After South Korea, I moved to India and did a traineeship in trade politics at the Embassy of Finland in New Delhi. At the beginning, life in Delhi was a culture shock for me. With some time, I started to enjoy the culture, the colorful clothes and of course the tasty Indian food. Living abroad increases the intercultural competence and understanding of diversity.
USA
From India, I moved to New York to work in Business Development at a chamber of commerce and organized business events in New York. New York has been one of my favorite cities so far! It is so diverse. When walking down the streets, almost everyone walking along is a foreigner. When basically everyone there is a foreigner, you will start to feel welcome and home as well. Also, the huge skyscrapers are impressive and great evidence how intelligent humans can be when able to create such incredible buildings.
China
From New York, I moved to China to work in International Marketing at a Chinese office furniture and real estate company. China surprised me positively! The Chinese nature had spectacular mountains and hiking opportunities and the food was super delicious (especially Chinese tomato soup)!
From China, I moved back to Finland for one year. I finished all my studies, which include four university degrees. Simultaneously, I worked in Sales and Marketing of SRV business premises in Helsinki. I still missed the international atmosphere and decided to move abroad once more.
Belgium
I moved to Belgium and started working in Marketing and Communications at the European Parliament in Brussels. That was the most intercultural organization I had worked for so far! I had colleagues from all European countries and even wider. That was quite happy time in Brussels, no signs of Corona pandemic yet.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Then, in March 2020, I got a great opportunity to widen my international experience in the USA.
I moved to Atlanta and started working at gatc LP.
Gatc LP is a German-owned company helping foreign companies to the American market by establishing subsidiaries. It is a perfect chance to use all my intercultural skills learnt so far. Most of our colleagues and clients are German, so German language practice is guaranteed. However, the official working language is English. We are also members of the Swedish chamber, so I can actually practice all three languages here. Previously, I have taught Finnish to foreigners as a hobby. If anyone is interested in learning languages, just let me know! Maybe we could practice Finnish, Swedish, or German together.
Now when the COVID-19 situation is starting to get better, I would love to meet intercultural-minded people in Atlanta! It would be great to share experiences and make new friends. Maybe we could go to cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, or sightseeing. And, one of my hobbies is ballroom dancing.
I am really looking forward to EuroCircle events and meeting everyone!
Feel free to contact me already if you might be interested in practicing languages or just making new friends.
This is me:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/susanna.lindholm.50
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susannalindholm/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Susanna_USA
Instagram: www.instagram.com/susanna_international/
EuroCircle forum: https://forums.eurocircle.com/profile/177364-susku/
