Your personal data
I was living in Finland from September 1995 till December 1999. I moved to Finland from Mexico (Mexico City) and after that I moved to the USA (Dallas, Texas). During my stay in Finland, I studied the International Business Linkage Program during 1995-1996, Master of Science in technology 1996-1997, Executive MBA 1997-1998, Doctor of Science in Technology 1999-2002 (part of that while living in Dallas). During 1997-1999 I was working for Nokia Networks.

How did you experience Finland and Finnish people, when you came to Finland for the first time? What kind of expectations did you have beforehand, if any?
Living in Finland was a very enriching experience. There are many cultural differences between Mexico and Finland. There are many things that were very nice to learn and experience. I love the open, honest, straight-forward, and hard-working Finnish mentality. I have the fortune to have very close friends for a long time, and that I think these will continue for a long time. On the cultural aspects that I have more challenges, I have experienced that some elements of selfish/individualistic/self-centered aspects. This feeling might originate from the differences between a low-context and high-context cultures such as Mexico, my country and Finland. The weather is much colder than my own country. But the cold weather enabled wonderful sauna, skiing, and overall winter experiences that in a different type of weather would not have been experienced. About expectations, I have learned already quite a bit from Finland beforehand, so I knew quite a bit what to expect. However, nothing would replace the experiences lived on your own than things that you might know, read, or heard. In overall, I have had a very happy stay, I love Finland, and I have relationships and friendships that keep me linked to Finland.

How has your impression on the country and the people changed during the years you have spent in Finland?
Probably, my experience during 1995-1999 was in phase of growth in technology areas where mobile technology has one of the most significant changes. Also, I experienced a lot of internationalization throughout the European Union processes on-going. There has been a lot of excitement and internationalization. I experienced that Finnish people, Finland itself, and mostly Helsinki becoming more international.