My Cucumber Experience
03/09/2018
I can hardly believe it’s only been 3 months since I stepped off the plane at Tauranga airport. It took me exactly 5 minutes to get from the plane, pick up my luggage and get to the parking lot. Being used to Amsterdam airport where this whole process takes at least 45 minutes, this just felt way too relaxed #securityeverywhere. However looking back, this first experience was an accurate representation of the easy-going nature of New Zealanders.
The Kiwi experience has been truly amazing and very welcoming to say the least. People are really friendly and easy-going - the rumours are true! – and this has made all the difference. The passion for adventure and spending time outdoors is one of the things I really love about New Zealand’s culture and I can’t wait for summer to arrive. Hiking up Mount Maunganui has already become routine and so is discovering new aspects of this beautiful country every weekend.
Despite moving to a native English-speaking country, I noticed I was usually a few seconds behind as my brain was trying to make sense of the slang in combination with the Kiwi accent that I encountered every day. There are many common phrases like ‘heaps’, ‘keen’, ‘sweet as’ and it’s not uncommon to call everybody ‘mate’ (including women). Luckily my colleagues have made it a top priority to get me up to speed with the Kiwi slang, and I’m starting to catch on.
My first week at Cucumber was wonderful, and an on-boarding program was provided for the whole week which really took the worry out of the unknown. Just follow the plan and you’ll be fine. Right from the beginning Cucumber has been a great match and I feel like I have been part of the team for much longer than 2 months.
Cucumber has a work hard, play hard environment where we focus on creating great work for our clients, but also make time for awesome team buildings events like winter swims, zip-lining, watching the soccer world championship and hosting Christmas dinners in September. It’s a great culture with a talented team who always has time to help teach valuable lessons – especially in how to improve your Kiwi-slang..!
Written by Charlotte van Son