Last week we had the 4000th student apply through us and get accepted to study at an Asian university. Asia Exchange team keeps on growing at a steady pace as do the student numbers – latest addition, Eini, has just signed a work contract with us after her successful internship with the company. Let’s meet Eini!
Welcome to Asia Exchange team Eini! Could you tell us who you are, what your new role at AE is, and what sort of skills you are bringing to the growing team?
Thank you! I am Eini Parttimaa, and I’m a ‘soon-to-graduate’ student of communications from University of Jyväskyä. I first joined Asia Exchange as an intern in August, and once my internship finished in November, I was asked to continue as an employee! My new title is International Relations Assistant, and I will be responsible for some organizational tasks and Student Support Service, as well as a wide range of other tasks I will be assigned to take care of. I was given a chance to start by working part-time, so I can spend a few days each week working on my thesis so that I will be able to finish my degree soon. I am a motivated, enthusiastic, travel-loving, language-skilled, young professional in international work-field, with great motivation to progress my skills in this great working environment (and I have a somewhat questionably sense of humor).
Great! We are excited to have you become a more permanent part of the team now! You mentioned you love traveling. Do you have any personal experience of traveling in Asia or anywhere else in the world that you think will help you in your new job?
I have traveled a lot in the past years, most of my trips being within Europe – yet also Australia and for example Israel are places that I’ve gotten to visit. Some years ago I also spent a whole year working in France. I haven’t gotten to explore Asia yet, except for some layovers at the airports, yet I’m certain that this will be fixed very soon! Through my studies and travels I’ve made many friends from especially China and Thailand, and through getting to know them, I’ve gotten a bit familiar with the cultures of these countries as well.
Would you currently have any personal favorite Asian country that you would want to visit first?
I’ve always dreamt of doing a Thailand-Vietnam-Cambodia tour, and that is definitely on the top of my bucket list. I must say though, that having worked for Asia Exchange for a bit now, I’ve started developing a bit of an obsession with South-Korea and Japan… I guess these are some of the occupational hazards that us working in this field have to deal with.
Haha! Well what sort of feelings do you have now that you’ve landed to the company, and what are you expecting from next year?
My internship has given me a nice basis for starting this actual job. I got a lot of valuable work experience through the internship period, and I also know what the company is expecting in terms of work from an individual employee as well as from the whole team. I’m feeling confident and excited to continue! From next year I’m expecting to start getting more responsibility and international tasks, and henceforth self-development and a chance to deepen my professional skills.
Great to hear! Christmas is almost here now; what sort of plans do you have for the holiday season?
I love Christmas! In fact I love it so much that I’ve been waiting for it since summer! I am going to head to my stomping grounds in Western-Finland with my partner, where we are going to celebrate Christmas with family in a very traditional Finnish way – with the food being the number one act, of course! After Christmas we will come back to Tampere in time for New Year’s celebrations.
Welcome to the AE team again Eini! Enjoy the holiday season and all the yummy traditional Finnish food!
