[world2007]

Hi all.
Been in new zealand now for approx 2 months.OH loves it, son likes it...i feel like i want to go home.Cant really describe what it is that makes me feel this way,but im here and have to be here for at least 2 years because of other halfs job.Was wondering how long it took people who felt a bit miserable to feel better about moving here?Thanks.

[Mrs Pony]

Hi all.
Been in new zealand now for approx 2 months.OH loves it, son likes it...i feel like i want to go home.Cant really describe what it is that makes me feel this way,but im here and have to be here for at least 2 years because of other halfs job.Was wondering how long it took people who felt a bit miserable to feel better about moving here?Thanks.

Hey! I moved there in June 2006. Supposedly Wellington was having its worst winter in years at the time. I felt really out of place until mid August...so it took just over 2 months, and even then I was still learning my way. My dad died at the end of Aug, so I had to fly back to the States. I was Stateside for just about 2 weeks and then came back to NZ. My flatmates who had already become my friends, instantly became "lifelong" friends while helping me thru my grief. Without them, I probably wouldve felt permanently out of place. Even though it was a rough patch in my life, the whole NZ experience really got me thru it.

I'm just saying, give it some time. It will grow on you. Don't throw in the towel just yet. If your OH is happy as is your son, then find some joy in their happiness. You can make the best out of any place you are in.

~Brandon~

[Gemini]

I've had a lot of people say to me that you need to give yourself at least 12 months to settle in any new country. For myself it took a while and improved radically when we bought a house of our own.

Good luck with feeling better, I think it's probably a gradual thing and of course different for everyone.

[Kim39]

Been here just over 3 years, and i still struggle. It all comes down to what you make of it and what expectations you have of the whole experience. Its the silly things that seem to disrupt my attempts to settle. The feeling is two years is needed to make you feel safe within your new life, but my take is actually 5. Currently i just go with the flow of the family, and i seem to be fine with that. Must say though that these temps we are having make me feel i need a cold blast from back home to remind why i am here.

Kim

[veronica]

hey Kim let me be your cold blast. It has been bitterly cold here the last week or so, and as I am working semi outside (a barn of a place with open doors and no heating) I've been freezing my butt off.
Scraping the car with burning fingers, getting in and forgetting and trying to wash the window and it freezing as it happens, I was driving at the time!!!
wearing about 5 layers of clothes, body warm but fingers, feet and face feeling like ice and Pete OH in Christchurch emailling me and telling me its 32 deg. thats just rubbing it in really.

on the serious side homesickness is a form of depression with an actual cause and it does hurt. the only way I have found to cope with it in the past is to block it. and then go and do something positive. Life has a way of throwing unexpected curve balls at you and changing things but at the moment we are set on staying in NZ, we certainly won't be leaving before getting citizenship if we ever leave. I am not enjoying things the way they are in the UK after 5 years away, and while loving being with my kids here and seeing my parents I can't wait to get back to NZ. I think anyone who is wanting to return but not sure should come to the UK after christmas when the place is at its worst, fog and delays on the roads, everyone looking as miserable as sin, total doom and gloom on the TV and radio, and the price of food has shot up. 6 more weeks and I'll be home. (nz one)