[migratory birds]

For those who have already made the transition and are living in NZ...

How has living in NZ changed you? Have daily living habits changed? Opinions/perspectives on *** shifted? Relationships with others - partner/kids/coworkers/etc? Communication styles? Paradigm shifts?

Or the more mundane such as...grocery shopping lists? ...mode of transportation?

[StevieD]

Not asking a lot are you!! :laugh

Find I am more laid back now. Don't know about opinions but perspectives have changed, I have escaped the "keep up with then Jones" competitiveness of UK, couldn't give a monkeys any more. So I suppose there has been some evidence of Paradigm shifting :laugh
Have had some rocky times with relationships, but that is normal living, you still have tensions here believe me!
Mundane things like shopping are fine, good selection of stuff here. Car is a lot bigger than in UK though, amazing how many big engined motors there are on the roads here.....

Steve

[PeteS]

I've slowed down. I've given up the "race you to the next traffic lights" mentality that is the South East of England. A traffic jam is three cars.

[xanctus]

I have become more like an "angry" or not so friendly person anymore after more than a year settling in.
Call me crazy, but that's how I have become...

[wanderingoregonian]

I take everything harder... great things feel greater, sad things sadder - I guess moving here is such a choice, that my life feels more deliberate and mroe colourful. I wouldn't trade it for anything though and am curious what the future holds.

[buzztalks]

Find it can be quite difficult to be understood. I've got a strong Northern accent (St Helens born and bred - think Johnny Vegas!). When I ask for a tall trim flat white, I invariably end up with two regular flat whites??

it's the little things....

oh, and who decided it was a good idea for pedestrians and motorists to both be given the green light to go, in the hope that the motorist will -

a) see the pedestrian
b) wait while they cross the road.

Almost been wiped out twice now by that one.
And why is there a woodpecker in the pedestrian crossing button box thingy??

[shakyle2906]

We are a much close family unit here, maybe as there is just the 3 of us ?

Life is a much slower pace i feel over here, more laid back.........

Yes, tension is still a part of every day living, was hard first few months when parents in law were so dead against our move and every conversation was a major difficulty.........caused a few harsh words between hubby and I, but we have stayed strong and risen about it.

Agree with Buzztalks on the subject of crossroads.......nearly been wiped out few times myself, now i prefer to just cross the road as dont see point of them as hardly anyone adhers to them.........

Also, a lot of people over here used to say we spoke too fast ?? couldnt understand our welsh accent, loads thought and still do think we are scottish

At the end of the day, life is what you make it.

We love it here and are very very happy, our lifestyle has changes a lot and as i said earlier, we are a much closer family unit and have done more things together in the last 9mths than we ever did in the UK.

Sharon

[migratory birds]

And why is there a woodpecker in the pedestrian crossing button box thingy??

As an aside, if you're referring to the sound the box on the post makes when pedestrians have the go-ahead to cross at a lighted intersection - it's to help visually-impaired/blind people know when they can cross the road since they can't see the light.

Now, back to hearing more about how people have been influenced by life in NZ...

[MaxG]

I've got a strong Northern accent

You say that like it's a bad thing.

St Helens born and bred

Me too. I hope my accent won't cause too many problems - it's not quite at the Johnny Vegas level. Though I can do that (for fun or profit, if required).

I always describe St Helens to people as a great place to be from.

[buzztalks]

Thanks for the explanation about the pedestrian crossing thing - although having worked for the RNIB for two years, I was aware of the mechanics of the process.....

It was more an observation on the quirky nature of NZ life, like why a woodpecker noise and not just a beep/beep??

Forget to mention how I've also stopped wearing shoes since being here. Actually I've given up all types of footwear and just go barefoot everywhere.

I'm really glad I brought my dry Northern sense of humour with me though!!

[Sam B]

I think the woodpecker noise is just to give a sense of urgency to the proceedings and to alert you to the fact that the cars will start aiming for you when you are exactly half way across and beyond the point of no return.

I've been wracking (racking?) my brains and I don't think I've changed except I possibly now miss my family, which I never thought would happen ever.

[ellenmelon]

for me, coming back to new zealand has made me realise that those three years in ireland changed me for ever. myself and my partner can't forsee ourselves staying here 'forever and ever amen' LOL, and now that my mum,dad etc have relocated back to ireland (again! they went nz-ireland-oz-ireland!!) and i dont have any close relatives here there's not much keeping me here after i finish my degree in two years. we are going to re-assess whether to stay for two years after that so richie can get his citizenship though the fact that we dont want to live here permanently negates the point of staying for five years now i think about it!

living here again has influenced me in the fact that im ever so slightly healthier here. it has made me a angry person too because its so far away from everything down here, that the government treat students so badly,that i wont make enough money here to pay off my student loan, that i could work a minimum wage job in ireland and pay it off quicker!. sorry to go off in a rant...ive just been feeling sad about living here lately :(

[wilson182]

I feel more settled now than I think I ever have, in the UK I felt like a square peg in a round hole - England just wasn't working for us.

I'm proud of us, we have discovered just what we are capable of. I know that we can see things through to the end now. There are people in the UK who firmly believe that this whole thing just kinda "fell into place" for us, but I don't have to tell any of you that just doesn't happen at all.

Debs

[Familyofmonkeys]

And why is there a woodpecker in the pedestrian crossing button box thingy??

That made me laugh everytime I heard it for the first week we were in NZ :laugh

[Familyofmonkeys]

I don't think as people we have particularly changed coming her to NZ. We felt settled here very easily. For us we get to lead the kind of life we always wanted to in UK, but were unable to do. For example, we have been able to buy a nice sized bit of land and plan to grow a few of our own veggies. nothing fancy or over ambitious, but in NZ we are able to lead this kind of life.... we just couldn't afford to in UK. It is much easier to be more self sufficient here. I don't get laughed at for learning to knit. It is much easier to eat seasonally....if you don't do that here, you're grocery bill will be very large.

Maybe one way our perspective might have changed though. On our recent road trip we were spent a night in a 'cabin' on a top 10 holiday park. It was just a room...with a toilet block nearby. We realised that in the UK, it would be considered something you do because you couldn't afford anything else and similar places in UK are quite seedy. But in NZ, we noticed alot of people...some obviously well off and some not so well off were doing the same thing. Many were on a road trip just like us. There didn't seem to be the same wealth issue or snobbery here attached to it.

OH has had a few changes in habit....he now owns some man sandals, which is something he would never have done it UK. Does this mean he is more relaxed here? We no longer bother ironing anything either....no one seems to notice or care.

[sunkist]

i've become a health buff

[jubjub]

.he now owns some man sandals, which is something he would never have done it UK. Does this mean he is more relaxed here? We no longer bother ironing anything either..

hee hee, took me two years, but this summer season DH is sporting man jandals and his fave 3/4 shorts (both of which he would have looked at me weird if i had got them for him in UK)

Ironing, well we never did that anyway, i buy stuff that can be hung on hangers after a soft spin, although DH does hit a smart phase now and them and iron a shirt or two.

Cant say I am any more laid back or relaxed as I have a different lifestyle now, was working and in NZ swapped to being a SAHM to a newborn (now 2)

I speak to my parents more than I did in UK, due to messenger and a laptop in front of the telly!

Something Stevie said too about not keeping up with Joneses, dont do that either... never did it loads, but there is no pressure at all here to do it (in general)

[Leccy-Lee]

I keep typing "Eh" (pronounced A) at the end of all my sentences !! Argggh Help me i cant stop it...And i only been here 6 months..

-I mean it was a fine day today EH
-Its a shame that we lost the match EH
-I have a day off work tomorrow EH
-So your cars a Holden EH

Oh have mercy on my soul for abuse of the Queens english, probably sharing a house with all Kiwis doesnt help..

[LesleyS]

Only been here a short while - but find myself planning meals, buying fresh, and looking for seasonal produce all the time (not just for cost reasons).

In the UK I would (Iam ashamed to say) fill up a trolley in Sainsbury's with loads of basic and luxury items ie: convenience foods - without checking their nutritional value or more importantly their price!

Everything I wash here is line dried (and not much of it ironed if its shorts and tees) In the UK 90% of my stuff got tumble dried!

I have not bought a single item of clothing for myself in 3 months - something that would never have happened before! Again that's not because we are trying to budget so much as the fact that no one judges you on what you are wearing from what I can see.

As a family, we use the Library more than we used to, and it doesn't bother me that I no longer purchase great quantities of the latest books from Amazon either.

Some sort of shift in attitude going on here methinks?

[migratory birds]

Seemed everyone we stayed with when we visited friends on both North and South Islands had muesli/yogurt/LSA (ground linseed, sunflower, almond) for breakfast. I imagine if I lived there it'd become a part of my daily diet as well! Yum!!

[holland]

I keep typing "Eh" (pronounced A) at the end of all my sentences !! Argggh Help me i cant stop it...And i only been here 6 months..

-I mean it was a fine day today EH
-Its a shame that we lost the match EH
-I have a day off work tomorrow EH
-So your cars a Holden EH

Oh have mercy on my soul for abuse of the Queens english, probably sharing a house with all Kiwis doesnt help..

:laugh EH??

[Moorf]

Ohh I feel so much more normal after reading those!

In the UK I'd be able to plan an entire dinner party with M&S ready-mades, fill up with convenience foods during the week or eat out alot. I'd buy clothes weekly, and shoes, and could impulse buy for Britain.

Here I don't buy clothes regularly (but give me an occasion to dress for and I'm evil with the C/card), shoes are functional :laugh and I make all my meals from scratch - been lovely to get back in to cooking again, I really enjoy it.

We also do more stuff around the house ourselves instead of our UK mentality of getting in a "man who can". We drive 2 old cars and rarely wash them :laugh , ironing - never did that in the UK, glad someone mentioned hanging out washing - I had never owned a waashing line before we moved to NZ - now I'm out there on a nor'westerly putting out 4 or 5 loads a day and strangely enjoying it!!

I don't stress what to wear or take when going to a bbq, I don't care walking round my garden in my PJs (at 1pm :D ) and often go barefoot - even drive barefoot.

Dirt - I was a bit of a "hand washer" in the UK, although got better in Scotland, but here I'm regularly to be found digging around the garden and generally getting mucky!

We find ourselves entertaining ourselves outdoors much, much more and we're both feeling, and looking, a lot fitter for it. More content to be at home at weekends instead of always looking for somewhere to go (hmm, that could be an age thang!).

Mentally I am much more settled and am not constantly looking for the next big thing, rung on career ladder or stressing to "keep up with the joneses" (a mentality I couldn't wait to escape). I'm much more relaxed in general.

Overall, while we have a fab life here, we have less than we did in the UK and I've learnt, over the last 3.5 yrs, to make-do with less and be more thankful of what I do have. I appreciate life so much more.

I like the way living in NZ has changed me.

[Tia Maria]

For us the people around us do very different things and we're easily led so we do also. :D

Back in the UK our friends were in bands, ran film nights, did weekends to Europe. All fanatsic except we had kids and didn't get to do it anymore, just hear about it!

Here are friends go to the luge, swim in the sea, run (for fun!), slide down Mount Victoria on a piece of cardboard and have picnics at the park. Our kids are encouraged to go everywhere by scooter, learn to rollerskate, hang upside down on the monkey bars, hunt for shells on the beach and that's just on a Saturday afternoon.

In short NZ has made our kids parents much more adveturous and outdoorsy than they could ever had hoped for in the UK.

Cheers

Tia