Excerpted from Expatrium magazine, updated by Eurocircle Team.
Please click here for a pdf copy of the Expatrium magazine's third issue, 2002

One-woman crusade
EuroCircle originated as one woman's dream.   Finnish lawyer Kaisa Kokkonen came to New York in 1992 feeling burnt-out and somewhat bored after a ten-year legal career. But it took a while before she decided to stay for good. "I began assimilating to New York life a year and a half after my arrival, only after I finally decided to stay in the US," Kaisa recalls.

On the lookout for fellow Europeans
By that time, Kaisa had become friends with a few Americans, but realised she hardly knew any Europeans. "I knew they were here, but I rarely ran into them, and even when I did, contact was superficial and fleeting." Not easily discouraged, Kaisa refused to believe that there was no one else like her in a city the size of New York.
"I wanted to create a casual atmosphere in which all Europeans, single and married, could meet and help one another," she explains.
"I realised there were issues that would make life difficult for foreigners in any country. Sometimes it would be hard to talk to the locals about these issues, as they would take the complaints too personally, and some concerns would be a real surprise to the unsuspecting hosts."

The beginning
The push to do something came from Kaisa's American friend Cindy Willson, who told her to 'get on with it' after listening to Kaisa go on and on about her idea. After pondering and preparing, the first EuroCircle party was held in January 1999.   Kaisa had invited 30 people by e-mail, but the news traveled fast and more than 180 people turned up. Events have since been held at regular intervals and grew into an organization that now has 40,000 members worldwide.   There are many EuroCircle Circles worldwide. Many have been founded by ex-New York members who have moved to another location on the globe.

All about people
People are the essence of EuroCircle. As a veery good example, Victor Voloshin, a business consultant and mediator from Ukraine, went to the first EuroCircle party and came back with a few suggestions. Since Kaisa was already seriously overworked, she asked Victor to implement his suggestions himself. Victor has, since then, been involved at the organizational level with EuroCircle.

An international crowd
Leena, a Finn who started the London Circle with Kaisa, has made many new friends through EuroCircle activities. "We all love to meet people from different backgrounds, learn something new, share our experiences and make new friends," adds Leena. "I'm a fun-loving girl, they're a fun-loving crowd."

But are all EuroCircle members young and European? "In New York, about 80 per cent of members are European. The rest come from all over the world, including the US," says Kaisa. "Not surprisingly, there are a lot of American members in Europe, because there, the tables are reversed," adds Victor. "We are sympathetic to everyone who lives overseas."

"We don't want to exclude other nationalities. It would be impossible, as some European members are married to non-Europeans, many of our friends are American, and there are others from various countries," Kaisa explains.   "We have local people who are interesting and nice, so that expats meet the best representatives of the host country."   Members also represent a wide range of age groups. Most are between their late 20s and early 40s, but older people are more than welcome.

Members of the London Circle like to hang out at a jazz club and have been known to organize candle-lit picnics, while the Paris Circle has organized a dinner party on a riverboat, among other events. More cities have organized subcircles since then and we are always very happy when members come up with a new subcircle idea and contact us about implementing it.

"Monthly networking parties are our best-known events," says Victor.   "In large Circles, such as Chicago and San Francisco, these can draw crowds from 300 to 700 people."   Sports, cultural pursuits and business events are also popular.   "Almost anything someone suggests is doable as long as it's legal," says Kaisa.

EuroCircle facts
40,000+ members worldwide. Search members.