Intercultural Interview: Final Report On September 5th, 2015, I interviewed Claire “Con” Meyer, a 27 year old agender individual from New Zealand. I was introduced to Con by their American girlfriend Christine, one of my best friends from my time in the Marine Corps. Christine joined Con and I in a three-way skype conversation. Christine’s presence was helpful in getting past any nervousness or awkwardness there might have been otherwise. She also was instrumental in reminding Con of fun and relevant stories to help with my report. Due to Con’s relationship with Christine, Con has been to America on a few occasions. This was helpful in our conversation as it gave them a good basis of comparison when telling me about the differences between
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Con told me a story about how when Christine came to visit, she tried to make a cup of tea by microwaving a cup of water. This shocked Con and Con immediately informed her that this was not how one should make tea. Con then had to instruct Christine in correct way of making tea with an electric kettle. This is apparently very common in New Zealand as they tend to prefer tea to coffee and are very particular about how it is made. Their tea is typically black, but they also have a tea, called gumboot, for little kids, which sounded similar to American herbal …show more content…
They mentioned that they are very proud that the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies were filmed there. They have a lot of Lord of the Rings memorabilia at the New Zealand airport (Bray, 2013).
Con told me that New Zealanders are typically very polite and friendly to visitors. Con also said they have an awkward sense of humor, and she gave me a few YouTube videos to demonstrate this. Additionally, despite being a very liberal country, they can also be very prudish. Con believes they have acquired this from their British heritage.
Con also told me that New Zealanders have a kind of reverence for nature and the environment. New Zealanders are very environmentally conscious and also have many rare species of birds which can only be found in New Zealand. Con told me their country recently save a species of bird, known as the black robin (“BirdLife”, 2015). They also had two interesting, giant birds, which are now extinct: the Haast Eagle and the Moa (“New Zealand Ecology”, 2012). They also have a special kind of fern that grows there, called the Koru (Royal,
Con told me a story about how when Christine came to visit, she tried to make a cup of tea by microwaving a cup of water. This shocked Con and Con immediately informed her that this was not how one should make tea. Con then had to instruct Christine in correct way of making tea with an electric kettle. This is apparently very common in New Zealand as they tend to prefer tea to coffee and are very particular about how it is made. Their tea is typically black, but they also have a tea, called gumboot, for little kids, which sounded similar to American herbal …show more content…
They mentioned that they are very proud that the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies were filmed there. They have a lot of Lord of the Rings memorabilia at the New Zealand airport (Bray, 2013).
Con told me that New Zealanders are typically very polite and friendly to visitors. Con also said they have an awkward sense of humor, and she gave me a few YouTube videos to demonstrate this. Additionally, despite being a very liberal country, they can also be very prudish. Con believes they have acquired this from their British heritage.
Con also told me that New Zealanders have a kind of reverence for nature and the environment. New Zealanders are very environmentally conscious and also have many rare species of birds which can only be found in New Zealand. Con told me their country recently save a species of bird, known as the black robin (“BirdLife”, 2015). They also had two interesting, giant birds, which are now extinct: the Haast Eagle and the Moa (“New Zealand Ecology”, 2012). They also have a special kind of fern that grows there, called the Koru (Royal,