Howie
22nd March 2008, 09:49 AM
In some ways I feel like nothing much has changed since my one years post. It's been another tough year, but I love my job and my uni work and have some wonderful friends.
I'm still living in this cold damp rental that I keep vowing not to spend another winter in. But it's in a great area (Howick) and with 2 dogs, I don't have much choice. I have acquired the best flatmate ever (found on trademe) which has been a great move.
The dogs are doing well. Howie is 12 now, hard to believe, but he's doing fine. Tui has started her agility training and she be competing soon. They are my family and mean the world to me. I'm so lucky to live near the beach and take them down there few times a week. It's quite a popular dog beach and we know most of the dogs down there. However, my attempts to befriend the people has not been successful. But we're all great friends as we walk along the beach and it's still the best part of my day.
I'm involved in a lot more activities than last year, but still not doing nearly as much as I did before moving to NZ. I'm playing hockey (ice), taking a wine tasting class, joined a book club, joined toastmasters. I really want to do more hiking and backpacking, get a sea kayak, and start flying (gliders) again. These are my goals for the next year.
I do have a great circle of friends, which I realized when I went back to Canada earlier in the year and didn't have to put my dogs in kennels as so many people offered to take care of them. Somehow, most of my friends are Kiwis. I am (still) thinking about starting to date and have been looking into singles clubs. I realized that this may be a good way to make more friends as well.
I made my first trip back to Canada recently. The airfare alone was about $2400, but luckily my parents paid for it!!! I'm not close to my family, but I do miss Canada. It was nice to see familiar things and experience some real winter and see some friends. I shopped way too much and got excited about the strangest things. I think I've begun to forget what I miss about Canada.
I really love it here in NZ. I love the smallness, I love the beauty, I love the friendliness, I love the community, I love the lack of materialism. It's not home, and I still think I'll end up back in Canada someday. I will be here for a while though and will likely get my citizenship then decide if I'll stay longer or not. I have this idea that I'd like to retire in NZ. But who knows what life may bring.
I went to apply for my IRVV, but since I'm not the primary applicant on the PR application and the primary applicant is no longer in NZ, it was denied. They said I need to get something legal from a solicitor in Canada and NZ to say that we have a legal separation. They said they will grant me a 14 day visa at anytime if I need to travel and I can just wait for the divorce to come through so that I can apply for IRVV on my own. I haven't decided what to do, but I'll figure it out.
I'm happy with my life in NZ and I'm glad I'm here. I never planned on staying in NZ forever and I still think that Canada is the best place to live, but I'm still enjoying my adventure here.
I'm still living in this cold damp rental that I keep vowing not to spend another winter in. But it's in a great area (Howick) and with 2 dogs, I don't have much choice. I have acquired the best flatmate ever (found on trademe) which has been a great move.
The dogs are doing well. Howie is 12 now, hard to believe, but he's doing fine. Tui has started her agility training and she be competing soon. They are my family and mean the world to me. I'm so lucky to live near the beach and take them down there few times a week. It's quite a popular dog beach and we know most of the dogs down there. However, my attempts to befriend the people has not been successful. But we're all great friends as we walk along the beach and it's still the best part of my day.
I'm involved in a lot more activities than last year, but still not doing nearly as much as I did before moving to NZ. I'm playing hockey (ice), taking a wine tasting class, joined a book club, joined toastmasters. I really want to do more hiking and backpacking, get a sea kayak, and start flying (gliders) again. These are my goals for the next year.
I do have a great circle of friends, which I realized when I went back to Canada earlier in the year and didn't have to put my dogs in kennels as so many people offered to take care of them. Somehow, most of my friends are Kiwis. I am (still) thinking about starting to date and have been looking into singles clubs. I realized that this may be a good way to make more friends as well.
I made my first trip back to Canada recently. The airfare alone was about $2400, but luckily my parents paid for it!!! I'm not close to my family, but I do miss Canada. It was nice to see familiar things and experience some real winter and see some friends. I shopped way too much and got excited about the strangest things. I think I've begun to forget what I miss about Canada.
I really love it here in NZ. I love the smallness, I love the beauty, I love the friendliness, I love the community, I love the lack of materialism. It's not home, and I still think I'll end up back in Canada someday. I will be here for a while though and will likely get my citizenship then decide if I'll stay longer or not. I have this idea that I'd like to retire in NZ. But who knows what life may bring.
I went to apply for my IRVV, but since I'm not the primary applicant on the PR application and the primary applicant is no longer in NZ, it was denied. They said I need to get something legal from a solicitor in Canada and NZ to say that we have a legal separation. They said they will grant me a 14 day visa at anytime if I need to travel and I can just wait for the divorce to come through so that I can apply for IRVV on my own. I haven't decided what to do, but I'll figure it out.
I'm happy with my life in NZ and I'm glad I'm here. I never planned on staying in NZ forever and I still think that Canada is the best place to live, but I'm still enjoying my adventure here.