When I first arrived in San Francisco, I was unaware of the great adventure I would soon experience: people, culture, sightseeing, running races… Starting in a small apartment (found through Craig’s List) close to Golden Gate Park, my two new roommates, Dave and Vito showed me unforgettable places to eat, drink and work out. Both were adorable people who always helped their Swedish friend finding her way in the big city. I even introduced them to Swedish rapper Timbuktu, who they both enjoyed.

I found San Francisco to be an amazing city where every block has its own history, a past waiting for you to be explored. The city holds great influences from famous politicians such as Harvey Milk. My favorite sights are the Castro District, Market Street, and Yosemite. The Castro is the well-known gay neighborhood, filled with joy and exciting people. The major thoroughfare Market Street was part of my daily routine on my way to work. With its cultural differences this street allowed me to explore the best of San Francisco and enriched every day of my time there. Yosemite is the beautiful national park, only a few hours from the city.

My daily work with the Chamber gave me experience I will never forget. By leaving the books behind and learning through practical training I got to know a whole new system. I met business professionals gathered at events hosted by the Chamber, I found myself doing personal interviews with Nobel price laureates, eating lunch at Google with their Global Ads Marketing Director, and preparing a lunch meeting with the Marketing Director of Glaceau.

At first everything was new, a business environment filled with norms and adjustment, and I was struggling with updating the website, writing articles, summarizing company information. But after a while, as I was taking notes at the board meeting, I realized how much I was learning about how the American business world works, and about cultural differences between the U.S. and Sweden. There were details that no schoolbooks can ever teach you. The university had taught me how to approach a desired goal, but not how to solve unexpected problems. This forced me to use my creative and analytical mind, and I grew more as a person. The pieces started to fall into place and I have Maria Larsson and the SACC SF crew to thank for that. Through their consistent guidance and advice I was pushed in the right direction and learned many new things.

I highly recommend any young Swede to take the opportunity to explore San Francisco and an internship at the SACC-USA Regional Chamber there – you could be surprised to find that the next person you meet may become your new best friend.