The Hodges
6th June 2008, 12:09 PM
Hello Fellow Forum Members,
Well, we had our best intentions to do a 12 month update, but we were too busy enjoying the outdoor lifestyle, that we only aware of it as it made a whooshing noise as it whizzed past us.
However, now that we have got round to it, re-reading our Three Month and Six Month Posts, our feelings have not changed and have been re-affirmed by our experiences.
However, for everyone’s benefit, for newbies just joined and considering the move and those that are more experienced and enjoying the NZ experience and might have their own views to share, we set out our thoughts below.
I think that it should be made clear that NZ was and still isn’t considered a permanent move for us. We have literally treated it like a working holiday and we had our own reasons for being here, many of which we feel that we have completed.
First of all, it might be worthwhile stating we are surprised how Americanised NZ is. We are not saying that this is a bad thing, it is just an observation. While many Americans on this forum might not think that this is the case, we were expecting more of a Britain of the South Seas, but it seems mid-Atlantic to us. And it is obvious that NZ tries to compete with its big brother (Oz) and its motherland (UK), but cannot do so due to its size, weather and resources. This explains the rivalry at sport etc., but once NZ accepts what is does have to offer, which is considerable different to any other country, then the better off it will be.
There is a huge, although diminishing, amount of trust between Kiwis. We suppose that this stems from the small communities where everyone knows everyone else and their business. However, we have found that people often trip up when they trust people in business and this is changing, but they are getting burnt until they learn their lesson.
So, what’s the good, bad and the ugly?
The good:
We love what you can do outdoors. However, we believe that you can do the same wherever you are in the world – although the scenery might not as spectacular. Clare’s sister and Tony’s parents have all been out to visit since our six month post and have marvelled at what there is to see and do here. Tony, for one, enjoys being out on the water, but it’s a shame that there are only two days out of seven that allow the fishing trip and now he has lost his first mate and crew.
We have made some good friends here, although it has taken a while to build those relationships. We do tend to find that we make friends easier with ex-pats, whatever their nationality, as we instantly have something in common. We are making more friends though and we have joined sports clubs, so we have common interests with those people as well. We did join a meet-up group, but we didn’t really click and so we ducked out gracefully (we hope). Hopefully, though by the two year stage, we will be rich in friends.
As many of you will be aware, Clare is now expecting and the care has been out of the top drawer. While we have no frame of reference for the care provided by the UK, comparing the service that we have received so far against that from our friends who were pregnant and gave birth in the UK has been excellent. We have never had to wait for an appointment and so far, touch wood, we have had no problems.
We do feel safer here in NZ that we do in the UK. Don’t get us wrong, we used to live in a relatively safe area of the UK, but we did notice the rising crime. But NZ is not crime free and while we joke about some of the news stories it is shocking some of the crime statistics that you do hear and read about. We think that the police are far more respected here than the UK, which is a good thing, and we just hope that the law and order doesn’t go down the same route and make the same mistakes that the UK did.
The bad:
We both feel isolated this far from anywhere. We both crave worldwide news and the price to fly out of NZ to anywhere else in the world is expensive compared to our salaries. It is easy to understand why so many Kiwis have not visited anywhere outside these shores.
The lack of choice of everything has been a surprise. We understand that a larger population leads to larger demand and so greater choice, but everything there is less choice from utilities to products on the supermarket shelves.
The standard of driving is appalling – so just beware and just assume that the next person on the road is going to do something stupid.
We, well Tony, is still frustrated by the way that employers treat their staff. Although we do not really have a lot of experience in this field and we may be generalising, we do think that employers take more liberties with their staff that we are used too. And then they are surprised when they hand their notice in. We appreciate that we worked for one of, if not, the largest employers in our fields and so that they had the procedures in place, but so far, our experience of NZ work experience has been tainted.
The lack of procedures has also lead to observations of short cuts and things just not being done right, and then reliance upon the she’ll be right attitude. This will change, we are sure of it, but until the added benefit of doing a job right can been seen, it isn’t going to.
Linked in with that is I have found that it is almost expected that to increase your salary you need to move on. Therefore, it is expected that staff do move on and so employers do nothing to retain their staff – it’s a viscous cycle – one which the employer must break. And I know that this is based on limited experience, but speaking to others people as well, it seems that this is the trend.
And some of our friends back in the UK have disappointed us in still not sending us emails or contacting us. And we know that they have their own lives to live, but we have soon realised those friends that are important to us are the ones that stayed in touch.
The housing stock in NZ is appalling. I know that we’ve gone on about this before, but in case anyone is expecting insulation, double glazing and central heating, you will be disappointed. There is a NZ TV programme called Homesick, which is not about immigrants missing their homeland, but rather how NZ’s homes are making people ill. For those who have not seen the programme, the typical cost of remedial works is in the region of $60-$70k, which for a typical NZ salary is huge and unaffordable. However, I cannot see this changing in the short or medium term, with the way that mortgages are structured and increasing living costs. As far as I can ascertain, the only way out is a fairy godmother.
The ugly:
Being so far away from family. We have recently, and are still going through, a family situation, but due to timings, there is nothing that we can do about it. Although we have other family members dealing with this, there has been much heart wrenching, but it is not a simple as jumping in the car and driving up the motorway to sort things out. If it wasn’t for family members sorting this out, we would be stuffed.
But, in summary, we do not regret emigrating to NZ at all. It has been a rewarding experience and we now thoroughly appreciate what we have a lot more. We always agreed between ourselves that we would decide at the two year anniversary whether we would make the move permanently, but at this particular moment in time, it doesn’t look like we will. Perhaps it’s the winter that it is affecting our mood, so maybe a new season and a new job will change our mind. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Well, we had our best intentions to do a 12 month update, but we were too busy enjoying the outdoor lifestyle, that we only aware of it as it made a whooshing noise as it whizzed past us.
However, now that we have got round to it, re-reading our Three Month and Six Month Posts, our feelings have not changed and have been re-affirmed by our experiences.
However, for everyone’s benefit, for newbies just joined and considering the move and those that are more experienced and enjoying the NZ experience and might have their own views to share, we set out our thoughts below.
I think that it should be made clear that NZ was and still isn’t considered a permanent move for us. We have literally treated it like a working holiday and we had our own reasons for being here, many of which we feel that we have completed.
First of all, it might be worthwhile stating we are surprised how Americanised NZ is. We are not saying that this is a bad thing, it is just an observation. While many Americans on this forum might not think that this is the case, we were expecting more of a Britain of the South Seas, but it seems mid-Atlantic to us. And it is obvious that NZ tries to compete with its big brother (Oz) and its motherland (UK), but cannot do so due to its size, weather and resources. This explains the rivalry at sport etc., but once NZ accepts what is does have to offer, which is considerable different to any other country, then the better off it will be.
There is a huge, although diminishing, amount of trust between Kiwis. We suppose that this stems from the small communities where everyone knows everyone else and their business. However, we have found that people often trip up when they trust people in business and this is changing, but they are getting burnt until they learn their lesson.
So, what’s the good, bad and the ugly?
The good:
We love what you can do outdoors. However, we believe that you can do the same wherever you are in the world – although the scenery might not as spectacular. Clare’s sister and Tony’s parents have all been out to visit since our six month post and have marvelled at what there is to see and do here. Tony, for one, enjoys being out on the water, but it’s a shame that there are only two days out of seven that allow the fishing trip and now he has lost his first mate and crew.
We have made some good friends here, although it has taken a while to build those relationships. We do tend to find that we make friends easier with ex-pats, whatever their nationality, as we instantly have something in common. We are making more friends though and we have joined sports clubs, so we have common interests with those people as well. We did join a meet-up group, but we didn’t really click and so we ducked out gracefully (we hope). Hopefully, though by the two year stage, we will be rich in friends.
As many of you will be aware, Clare is now expecting and the care has been out of the top drawer. While we have no frame of reference for the care provided by the UK, comparing the service that we have received so far against that from our friends who were pregnant and gave birth in the UK has been excellent. We have never had to wait for an appointment and so far, touch wood, we have had no problems.
We do feel safer here in NZ that we do in the UK. Don’t get us wrong, we used to live in a relatively safe area of the UK, but we did notice the rising crime. But NZ is not crime free and while we joke about some of the news stories it is shocking some of the crime statistics that you do hear and read about. We think that the police are far more respected here than the UK, which is a good thing, and we just hope that the law and order doesn’t go down the same route and make the same mistakes that the UK did.
The bad:
We both feel isolated this far from anywhere. We both crave worldwide news and the price to fly out of NZ to anywhere else in the world is expensive compared to our salaries. It is easy to understand why so many Kiwis have not visited anywhere outside these shores.
The lack of choice of everything has been a surprise. We understand that a larger population leads to larger demand and so greater choice, but everything there is less choice from utilities to products on the supermarket shelves.
The standard of driving is appalling – so just beware and just assume that the next person on the road is going to do something stupid.
We, well Tony, is still frustrated by the way that employers treat their staff. Although we do not really have a lot of experience in this field and we may be generalising, we do think that employers take more liberties with their staff that we are used too. And then they are surprised when they hand their notice in. We appreciate that we worked for one of, if not, the largest employers in our fields and so that they had the procedures in place, but so far, our experience of NZ work experience has been tainted.
The lack of procedures has also lead to observations of short cuts and things just not being done right, and then reliance upon the she’ll be right attitude. This will change, we are sure of it, but until the added benefit of doing a job right can been seen, it isn’t going to.
Linked in with that is I have found that it is almost expected that to increase your salary you need to move on. Therefore, it is expected that staff do move on and so employers do nothing to retain their staff – it’s a viscous cycle – one which the employer must break. And I know that this is based on limited experience, but speaking to others people as well, it seems that this is the trend.
And some of our friends back in the UK have disappointed us in still not sending us emails or contacting us. And we know that they have their own lives to live, but we have soon realised those friends that are important to us are the ones that stayed in touch.
The housing stock in NZ is appalling. I know that we’ve gone on about this before, but in case anyone is expecting insulation, double glazing and central heating, you will be disappointed. There is a NZ TV programme called Homesick, which is not about immigrants missing their homeland, but rather how NZ’s homes are making people ill. For those who have not seen the programme, the typical cost of remedial works is in the region of $60-$70k, which for a typical NZ salary is huge and unaffordable. However, I cannot see this changing in the short or medium term, with the way that mortgages are structured and increasing living costs. As far as I can ascertain, the only way out is a fairy godmother.
The ugly:
Being so far away from family. We have recently, and are still going through, a family situation, but due to timings, there is nothing that we can do about it. Although we have other family members dealing with this, there has been much heart wrenching, but it is not a simple as jumping in the car and driving up the motorway to sort things out. If it wasn’t for family members sorting this out, we would be stuffed.
But, in summary, we do not regret emigrating to NZ at all. It has been a rewarding experience and we now thoroughly appreciate what we have a lot more. We always agreed between ourselves that we would decide at the two year anniversary whether we would make the move permanently, but at this particular moment in time, it doesn’t look like we will. Perhaps it’s the winter that it is affecting our mood, so maybe a new season and a new job will change our mind. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?