Meet Timo Kiuru

Photo: Will Setzer

At MTV MEDIA in Finland, Timo Kiuru works for entertainment channel Sub, producing events for the marketing team. But for three months, he's exchanging the snow and winter of Helsinki for the sun and relative warmth of Florida, where he's working at Bonnier Corporation as a GROW participant. He jokes that it was the weather that made him decide to apply. "Seriously, though," he says, "it was curiosity. It's a great opportunity to learning something new so I really didn't have to think twice."

At Bonnier Corporation, Kiuru, 28, is working at the Travel and Lifestyle Group marketing department, planning events. "People here in Orlando are very entrepreneurial and like to be very hands on with projects, whereas in Finland people are very organized and things are well planned," he says, describing the differences.

Off the job, the differences are even greater, Kiuru says. "In Orlando you definitely need a car to get around, where in Finland you can use the public transport," he says. "I've been eating a lot of fresh strawberries and blueberries here. In Finland they are something you enjoy only in the summer. And there are no space shuttle launches in Finland."

Kiuru highly recommends the GROW experience to others. "Consider it as an adventure," he says. "This is something really special and I don't think too many companies offer these types of opportunities. Pack a humble attitude and realistic expectations with you and you are good to go. You'll have a great time."

So far, Kiuru says that experiencing the real American lifestyle has been his favorite part of the exchange. "I guess you could say that it has also been the biggest challenge since the cultures are very different," he says. "The name of the exchange is GROW so you need to get out of your comfort zone every now and then. On the other hand it has been relatively easy for me to adapt here because so many arrangements have been taken care of for me."