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Pebbles
23rd February 2008, 02:43 AM
Following our very first trip to NZ I visited this forum way back in the autumn of 2005. There did not seem to be much happening at the time so I went off in search of other websites and information. To be honest I was very much the forum virgin in those days and probably never got much further than the ENZ home page anyway. :uhoh

Meanwhile we now have PR! :raebanana Still not quite sure how we did it and to be honest it was touch & go on more than one occasion. We even came to NZ last February thinking it would be a final farewell but it suddenly turned into a recon trip! I can very much relate to those of you at the start or half way along that rollercoaster of paperwork and will gladly offer advice or encouragement where I can.

The flights from Amsterdam to Christchurch have been booked for oh and myself for arrival on 19 June. It still seems surreal most of the time, though the growing to-do lists come with a light feeling of panic. Luckily life is not so terribly complicated for us here in the south of The Netherlands; renting so no house to sell, hardly any furniture worth shipping over (yell IKEA once loudly and it all falls apart due to the missing screws ;) ), no kids or pets, … but looking forward to getting rid of a lot of our stuff - that will be ever so therapeutic!

Been ‘testing the water’ on here for the past few weeks and want to let you know that I really like the excellent vibes going around. Plenty optimism mixed with just the right amount of sarcasm, covered in a blanket of life-saving facts. And the links to the blogs: extremely helpful and fun to read (who knows, I might start one myself some day?)

Let’s keep in touch!

JandM
23rd February 2008, 03:41 AM
All the best for your packing up and your trip.:)

Mickstim
23rd February 2008, 04:03 AM
Welcome to the forum! Good luck with the move.

willsken
23rd February 2008, 04:43 PM
Welcome to the forum. Congratulations getting PR! :clap

benandclare
23rd February 2008, 07:23 PM
Welcome and :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana for your PR

Peter&Liz
23rd February 2008, 09:37 PM
Welcome to the forum and congrats on getting PR :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana

Best of luck with your move.

Peter

peebles16
23rd February 2008, 10:15 PM
Welcome and congrats from us too - enjoy the ride :D

Karen

Pebbles
24th February 2008, 04:05 AM
Thanks for your kind wishes :clap
Packing and the move itself won't be the problem ... it's the starting over in a country where the language isn't my mother tongue that's the scariest :uhoh

swissmissdesigner
24th February 2008, 04:28 AM
I just love these bananas!

JandM
24th February 2008, 06:07 AM
starting over in a country where the language isn't my mother tongue that's the scariest

Sympathies. I know how I felt before I went to university in France. However, going by your posts on here, you don't have a thing to worry about. I assume you're Dutch? - most people I've ever met in The Netherlands say modestly how they don't really speak English, then do it better than most native-born English people.

Seriously, there will probably be a few times when somebody's accent gets you, as happened for me. But there are such a mix of people in Auckland that nobody is going to be surprised or upset if you have to say, 'Sorry, I didn't understand what you said.' My worst one was in a supermarket queue, when the checkout woman asked me, 'Do you have a Flybuy card?' because she DID have a strong accent, and even when I THOUGHT I'd made out the words, and I had, they didn't make any sense to me because I'd never heard of the card. When I'd had her repeat it four times and I still was at a loss, the woman behind me in the queue took pity on me and explained. Live and learn, eh?

Smiler
24th February 2008, 09:06 PM
Welcome back to the forum :cheers

Good luck with your sorting and packing. :nice1

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