Prepared by Ida Wrzesień from Kolegium Karkonoskie in Jelenia Góra

Speaker one - Tim

Hi my name is Tim von Heyningen. I’m 24 years old. I was born 23 of May 1980, in Holland in Delft; I’ve lived there all my life. I never really moved around much. I’m kind of a  worker more than a traveller. And the last 3 years I haven’t really been on a holiday, except for this time. And nobody wanted to go with me so I just went alone. And just to see England and Ireland

Q: Why did you choose to come to Wales?

A:  I don’t really know. I ...er... Well ... er... the first choice of my holiday was in February. I just woke up and I wanted to go to England. Very much. And I went to the the travel agency that day and I booked it ... er ... the trip and I was planning to go to London, York, Edinburgh, Dublin and Cardiff, cos Cardiff was a larger place and I heard it was ... er ... it had a lot of history. And I arrived in York and it was scratched from my list cos it’s really not my kind of town.

Q: What in your opinion do the Welsh people think about themselves? Did you meet any Welsh people here?

A: I did the first night there were a lot of Welsh people who ...er ... came from [the] northern Wales and the northern Welsh people speak more Welsh than the southern. That’s for sure. And they live here... er ...  a couple of blocks away, I think. And we were all gathered here at the bar. I don’t know why they were here but that doesn’t matter ..., and we’re pretty drunk. But the northern Welsh people are definitely proud that they speak Welsh. And I think they should keep that way. But ... er ... the Welsh are pretty proud of their own country.  They, er, they still separate themselves from the English. I’ve met a Welsh guy in Holland and he was just the same. I thought I’ll ask him if he was English and he really looked insulted.

Q: Ah. Um, okay, as a foreigner what did you expect the Welsh people to be like?

A: I didn’t really know. That I only, well, saw that guy for the first time so that was my impression of a Welshman, but he was pretty strange. Er, well I expected the English to be more stuck up with themselves, discuss more of their own country and the Irish are probably the most open people. And the Welsh I didn’t really know.  There was just ... er ... a shot in the dark.

Q: Would you say that there is something like a distinct Welsh sense of humor?

A: Er, well, I haven’t really spoken much to a Welsh guy who was humourous or something. The most humour I get from the from the Australians.

Q: Hm. Do you know any Welsh jokes or stereotypes connected with Welsh people?

A: No, I don’t really know that.

Q: How is the young people’s lifestyle in Wales like? Is it different from the lifestyle of young people in other parts of the UK?

A: Well, certainly nn ... not in England. It’s just the same. If you look at the young people at ... er ...  the nightclubs and everything. Well, that’s exactly the same as in England. They just ... er... everybody gets dressed up and everybody goes on the streets and, er ... . I went out on Saturday, and there has just been a concert of Tom Jones but the entire town was saturated with young people. But that ... er... the night life is pretty much the same. The rest? Well, I think they're more sociable. They’re more talkative than the than the English.

Q: How is Cardiff different from the other parts ... er ...of the UK ... UK you’ve seen?

A: Cardiff is, yeah, how do you explain that? Er ... Cardiff, certainly, they’re proud of Cardiff. Everywhere I went they were really proud of Cardiff. I went to the Castle and the told me... er.... all kinds of occasions they were really proud, that Cardiff was the most ... er.... the biggest export of coal and iron. And they had the richest man in the world a hundred years ago and all those little kinds and everywhere that you read something they’re proud of something.  It’s just ... they keep to themselves, oh, they really hold on to their ... uniqueness. Just, yeah, it’s pretty hard to explain in a different language than Dutch (a laugh).

Q: (a laugh) Okay, but you’ve managed quite well.