A Warm Welcome to Southern California

In early August 2024, I was packing my bag with shorts and sunscreen and preparing for the most thrilling change of my life: moving from Finland to Los Angeles all by myself.

As the Fulbright–Idman grantee for master’s degree studies in the United States, I had been accepted to University of Southern California’s Marshall Business School where I would soon begin my year-long master’s program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

That said, even amid all the bubbling excitement, moving to a new country can feel overwhelming – after all, despite all the Hollywood history I’d read as a cinephile, the reality was I knew no one in Los Angeles. Hence, I was prepared for finding my place from point zero.

American hospitality at its finest

Fortunately, one of the perks of being a Finnish Fulbrighter is that we enjoy a special resource: the Finnish Welcome Network, a 150-strong network of U.S. Fulbright alumni across the country who have agreed to help Finnish grantees get settled in the United States.

That’s how I came to know Martha Infante Thorpe. An esteemed social studies teacher at Los Angeles Unified School District, Martha is a recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Research and spent time in Jyväskylä between 2017 and 2018 to research Finnish students’ break times during school days.

A few days before my flight to LA, I emailed Martha and asked for tips on her hometown. Not only did she reply instantly, but Martha also kindly offered to pick me up from the airport.

So, two days and 9,014 kilometers later, I landed at LAX and found Martha waiting for me at the terminal with a U.S. flag in her hand and a wide smile on her face.

Already on the first drive that evening – which included a stop at In-N-Out, a quintessential California burger chain – Martha educated me about some of the essentials of Los Angeles: dealing with the heat, finding authentic Mexican food, and so forth. When she eventually dropped me at my hotel, I felt that Los Angeles had welcomed me with open arms.

An instant sense of belonging

During my first days in LA, I found it surprisingly easy to run errands and get settled in the neighborhood. From ordering breakfast to opening a bank account, I was met with warm smiles and friendly small talk.

Even still, as I toured the beautiful yet still-empty USC campus by myself before the semester start, it felt like a gift to have Martha guide me through the SoCal experience. (“Did you feel the earthquake?” she texted me one morning soon after I woke up to my room shaking. “That was a small one.”)

On the first weekend already, Martha invited me to a gathering in Santa Monica, where I had the pleasure to meet her husband Brendan and several of their friends, and enjoy a breathtaking sunset and great food with them.

Moreover, being invited to Martha and Brendan’s social gatherings taught me a lot about the American conversation culture. Later, I found myself seated at a dinner party in their San Fernando Valley home, discussing subjects like the state of transatlantic relations with two social studies teachers, a top lawyer, and a UCLA professor.

Needless to say, I learned a lot. But perhaps more importantly, I realized that despite my young age, my personal experience, opinions, and knowledge were valued as meaningful contributions to the conversation. I was reminded of Fulbright Finland CEO Terhi Mölsä’s advice to us Fulbrighters: in the U.S., your personality makes you interesting, so bring it forth.

California traditions and curiosities

Throughout the year, Martha and Brendan also familiarized me with quintessential California traditions and curiosities. In October, we celebrated Día de los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, an unforgettable and moving event full of joy, colors, music, dance, and skull face paint – yes, I was eventually convinced to take one as well.

Equally memorable was our wine tasting tour in Santa Barbara, which included a stop at Solvang, a picturesque small town founded by Danish Americans, and a visit to an ostrich farm. 

In late spring, we also went on a long hike at the Las Virgenes Canyon, guided by Brendan whose impressive expertise on local wildlife and vegetation is seemingly endless.

A new spiritual home

Before moving to the U.S., I had been told that some international students may experience a “U-curve of cultural adjustment”, where the initial excitement of living abroad tends to dip midway into the term before gradually recovering towards the end.

My experience was different: I instantly felt at ease in Los Angeles, and I grew to love the city’s unique vibe more each day. In the end, LA had become a spiritual home for me. To quote one guest speaker in a class, Los Angeles is a place where no one laughs at your dreams. Even when things got rough – most notably during the horrifying Pacific Palisades wildfires, and the protests of June 2025 – I felt a deep sense of optimism and resilience in people.

In hindsight, getting to know Martha and Brendan early on definitely helped me establish an emotional connection to Southern California. Being welcomed to their circle of friends made me more outgoing and confident in social interactions, which then encouraged me to develop many meaningful friendships at USC across generations and cultural backgrounds.

Moreover, Martha and Brendan taught me that even though LA is a city for hard-working, career-oriented high-achievers, the Californian way of living also means finding genuine connection with oneself – such as when going on meditative hikes in the wilderness or listening to one’s body when it craves for agua fresca. It also means finding meaning in serving your community, like supporting those who lost their homes in the tragic fires.

As Brendan noted, Los Angeles is likely the world’s most diverse city both culturally and ethnically. I learned early on that everyone there has a unique story to tell, and that people are naturally curious to hear it. Personally, I can’t wait to return to LA and continue this exploration.