wilson182
15th October 2008, 11:33 PM
Well, officially from tomorrow (Oct 16) I have been living permanently in NZ for four years. Here are my thoughts (ramblings)
The move itself:
For us personally it has been a huge success and neither of us have any regrets. We once asked ourselves, way back in the begining during the settling in period, whether we could have achieved the same things if we had sold up and moved somewhere different in the UK. At the time we decided to give ourselves another six months here, but now I believe that we couldn't. We certainly could not have afforded the style of house we have here. I think that if we had stayed in the UK, it would have been very easy to slip back into our 'comfort zone" doing the same old same old. I look at how our lives have changed and I truely believe that couldn't have happened if we hadn't stepped completely outside our "box".
Money:
This is something I have been reading a lot about lately on the forum - and I have tried to work out if we are the same, worse or better of from a salary point of view. I have no doubt that probably way back in the begining we took a pay cut, and now I think I am earning more and OH may be earning slightly less. However, he was doing a 60 week which included a daily four hour commute in and out of London and we had also had debt other than our mortgage; two things that certainly don't apply to us here in NZ. And TBH after four years, for us personally its just not an issue. We earn enough to give us a lifestyle that we are very happy with. I should point out that I work full time, my DD is primary school age and attends an afterschool club. This would have been exactly the same in the UK, and me not working was never part of our criteria.
Settling in:
I think I have been very lucky, as I have never suffered really from homesickness or culture shock. I think the closest I came to culture shock was realising that I had to completely relearn everything:exit It was like waking up with amnesia and not remembering where the best place was to buy my toilet rolls. And you can never underestimate how long it will take to get that particular "comfort zone" back. We're not just talking a couple of months here....... The closest I probably came to homesickness was feeling guilty about bringing DD here - away from her family and roots. That has passed now, she is having the kind of childhood I wanted for her - but I have (gulp) come to terms with the fact that when she is old enough she will probably want to spend some time in the UK.
Maybe it helps that I am a "glass half full" type of person, and that I was deeply unsettled in the UK - I don't know.
The downsides:
Employers (and employees) are probably one of the biggest downsides we have experienced - and moreso OH than myself, although I have had my share. In our experience - some employers don't treat their employees very well at all - some of them (in our experience) seem to be on a power trip - this is probably true the world over but seemed to be more noticable here, and some employees have very dodgy attitudes/pride in their work.
Cost of living is not as cheap at the hype will have you to believe - that is something we picked up in our reccie month and was a great concern, especially compared to wages. Its something that we have overcome, and imho would really come under the settling in category and relearning how to make things work for you.
Well, I was undecided whether to make this a long post or short one - but it turned out to be a bit of a ramble:o
Debs
The move itself:
For us personally it has been a huge success and neither of us have any regrets. We once asked ourselves, way back in the begining during the settling in period, whether we could have achieved the same things if we had sold up and moved somewhere different in the UK. At the time we decided to give ourselves another six months here, but now I believe that we couldn't. We certainly could not have afforded the style of house we have here. I think that if we had stayed in the UK, it would have been very easy to slip back into our 'comfort zone" doing the same old same old. I look at how our lives have changed and I truely believe that couldn't have happened if we hadn't stepped completely outside our "box".
Money:
This is something I have been reading a lot about lately on the forum - and I have tried to work out if we are the same, worse or better of from a salary point of view. I have no doubt that probably way back in the begining we took a pay cut, and now I think I am earning more and OH may be earning slightly less. However, he was doing a 60 week which included a daily four hour commute in and out of London and we had also had debt other than our mortgage; two things that certainly don't apply to us here in NZ. And TBH after four years, for us personally its just not an issue. We earn enough to give us a lifestyle that we are very happy with. I should point out that I work full time, my DD is primary school age and attends an afterschool club. This would have been exactly the same in the UK, and me not working was never part of our criteria.
Settling in:
I think I have been very lucky, as I have never suffered really from homesickness or culture shock. I think the closest I came to culture shock was realising that I had to completely relearn everything:exit It was like waking up with amnesia and not remembering where the best place was to buy my toilet rolls. And you can never underestimate how long it will take to get that particular "comfort zone" back. We're not just talking a couple of months here....... The closest I probably came to homesickness was feeling guilty about bringing DD here - away from her family and roots. That has passed now, she is having the kind of childhood I wanted for her - but I have (gulp) come to terms with the fact that when she is old enough she will probably want to spend some time in the UK.
Maybe it helps that I am a "glass half full" type of person, and that I was deeply unsettled in the UK - I don't know.
The downsides:
Employers (and employees) are probably one of the biggest downsides we have experienced - and moreso OH than myself, although I have had my share. In our experience - some employers don't treat their employees very well at all - some of them (in our experience) seem to be on a power trip - this is probably true the world over but seemed to be more noticable here, and some employees have very dodgy attitudes/pride in their work.
Cost of living is not as cheap at the hype will have you to believe - that is something we picked up in our reccie month and was a great concern, especially compared to wages. Its something that we have overcome, and imho would really come under the settling in category and relearning how to make things work for you.
Well, I was undecided whether to make this a long post or short one - but it turned out to be a bit of a ramble:o
Debs