Auckland digital marketer and strategist Jen Kirchhofer, who originally hailed from the United States recently took up a job at Wedderburn pub. Video / ODT
When Wedderburn Tavern owner Angela Stockdale posted "yet another ad" searching for staff, the title simply read "All round good sort required".
It caught the eye of Auckland digital marketer and strategist Jen Kirchhofer, who originally hailed from the United States, and she sent an application.
"Jen wrote a very detailed cover letter detailing how she works in digital marketing, her ability to be able to work remotely and also her passion for the hospitality industry, which resonated with me a lot," Stockdale said.
Kirchhofer moved to New Zealand four years ago after working around the world, when an Auckland company offered to relocate her and her dog, Jill, on a talent visa.
She was looking for the right excuse to move out of Auckland so did a little online investigating, found an Otago Daily Times article on Stockdale's purchase of the historic tavern last year and happened to be visiting the area the next week so set up a meeting.
Stockdale said that when Kirchhofer arrived, "she was very positive and had great energy - which is obviously important working in hospitality".
The two fast became friends and Kirchhofer accepted the live-in part-time position, knowing she could continue teaching post-graduate digital marketing for the New Zealand Institute of Education remotely.
Wedderburn bartender Jen Kirchhofer knew she had been accepted when the locals started giving her a hard time. Photo / Tracie Barrett
"I went back to Auckland, ran back to the US for just a week to hug my mom and dad and see my best friends," she said.
On her return to Auckland, she finished packing, put her dog in the car and headed south.
Stockdale said the locals were at first sceptical of the American behind the bar, but "now love her".
"You usually hear her before you see her, but this is not a bad thing," she said.
Part of that love and respect is because of Kirchhofer's enthusiasm for learning about rural life and what she terms her "country cultural experiences".
Although she had never dealt with livestock before, she goes out with local farmers to feed, round up and move livestock.
On the day of her four-month "Wedder-versary", she helped a local farmer scan his ewes to determine which were pregnant.
She also attended a bull sale where she almost accidentally bought a bull.
"I wasn't used to seeing people I knew in the wild," she said.
"I was sitting in the front row and turned around to look at everybody and saw some locals I knew and waved."
Her hosts quickly took her hand down and the tale has been one of many about which the locals tease her.
She said she knew she had been accepted when the teasing began, and she gave as good as she got.
"Heckling is my love language," she said.
She found it hard to explain to friends and family at home that although she lives only 15 minutes from the nearest town of Ranfurly, it does not have many of the norms common in a US town.
Her hometown of Newhaven, Indiana, has a population of 20,000 but is itself a suburb of Fort Wayne, which has a population of 300,000.
She did not feel at all isolated, though, and the balance between her teaching, private consulting, bartending and learning about farming provided her with a lifestyle she loved.
"I don't have any intention of leaving, as long as they'll all continue to put up with me and until Ang kicks me out," she said.
