[Hannah]

Hi Folks,
Well i'm here, survived the flight, followed by tranzscenic train journey to Te Kuiti and intercity coach along very windy roads all the way to New Plymouth (not good for travel sick wimps like me). Children were brilliant on journey, but in retrospect a domestic flight from Auckland to NP would have been less tiresome.

I've titled my posting "Assume Nothing" because that's the biggest thing i've learnt in the last few days. I've had to throw any preconceptions out of the window on the plane journey. It's all so new and I really do feel like the foreigner in town. I travelled round NZ just 2 years ago but clearly forgot loads of things!

What has struck me so far:
Shopping - Yes, food is dear, really dear. And I don't know what anything is, or what is or is not a bargain. Trying to work out if budget beans are cheaper than a larger tin of another brand is difficult. Don't assume that just because something is budget or says "special offer" that it is cheaper - it's probably not! The range of food is not as good as regular Tesco shoppers are used to. There are some product which will seem weird and if the wrapper isn't transparent the only clue to what it is will be from the aisle it's in (ie. this must be some sort of biscuit product as it's in the biscuit aisle). Basic products like porridge are really odd - powdery, and tastes like flour and water. Shampoo etc products cost a fortune - bring a stash of cheap deodorant etc with you to get you over the early days!!! Green top milk is 0.1% fat - I assumed green top would be semi skimmed. Don't assume!!!
Sunburn - a few hours on the beach on a cloudy day and we are all burnt. Don't assume that just coz it's cloudy the sunscreen isn't needed - it is!
Schools - they are wonderful. visited a school yesterday and my children can't wait to start (including my daughter who HATED school in UK)
Parks, playgrounds, libraries, kids activities/clubs, swimming pools etc - they are wonderful and in plentiful supply. well maintained and don't seem to have hidden costs (e.g. selling vastly overpriced snacks or gimmicks by the door as you leave)
Creativity and individualism - plenty of! Saw 2 teen lads on unicycles yesterday riding along coastal walkway and hopping on and off rocks on side of beach (while still on unicycles). Also, Young people are out and doing stuff - cycling, skateboarding, skating, surfing etc.
Banks - yes they do have charges, and they are not that cheap ($10/£4 a month on our account gives us unlimited free transactions as long as balance stays over £5k - that doesn't seem good value when you come from a country that doesn't make these charges. $5 just to set up one standing order!!
Kiwis - love em. Battery went flat on our car...john cycled to local garage and asked how much they would charge him to do a recharge. the guy lent him a little yellow van, told him to take it off to jump start the car and bring it back later. Lots of other examples like that.
Jobs - john's job offer appears not to be all it seems and he's looking for work again. Don't assume anything with job offers over email until you arrive and meet your potential boss for real
Roads/cars - scary. Big wide roads, weird road rules, weird driving etc. As a passenger it's just as weird. Traffic lights give of a sound that is more like the jackpot win on a fruit machine than a crossing signal. first time i got that signal i just stood there wondering what the hell was going on!! I haven't driven locally yet - i'm walking and cycling everywhere (and i don't feel safe doing that during the day either). At night the 'hoons' (or whatever they are called) are out and it's all wide bore exhausts, neon lights, and £30k+ subarus with gangs of lads in doing what we'd call cruising in the UK. I've been told locally that young people aren't bothered too much about having the right phone or right clothes - no, it seems having the right car is important to many though. Lots of DIY jobs on cars though - old bangers with exhaust modifications and some cheap neon lights in the front grille. It seems even those without £30k to waste on a car can join in the fun. My 10 yr old son loves cars and stands at the side of the road with his jaw hanging down saying "ah cool" "oh, subaru impreza" "ah, wicked, look at that mitsibushi evolution" etc. He rung his mate in UK yesterday and spent whole conversation talking about the cars!!!
Parking tickets - got one on second day - only $12!!! I felt happy to pay it!!!!
Hot dogs - it's not in roll, it's on a stick with batter on. A sort of saveloy thing that tasted gross. It's a hot dog, but not as we know it Jim!!!
Have found a descent sausage by the way - called London Pride (a pork sausage from Pack n save)

It's still early days for us. I feel completely lost - simple things i took for granted like parking the car, crossing the road, driving, shopping, doing the washing, posting a letter, using (finding!!!!) an internet cafe, joining a gym, going swimming, hoovering (yes, hoovering - our hoover is a historical masterpiece!), connecting to a phone company, making an international call (I'll come back to that later!!!) etc. are time consuming and involve me asking someone for help. Every time i seem to open my mouth it starts with "i know this may sound a silly question..." I didn't realise i would find everything so alien and for the first 3 days i seriously asked myself what i was doing here. part of me still wants to go 'home' - to be in tesco and know that value kitchen towel is cheapest and to just bung it in the trolley (rather than the trundler) and pay for it with proper money. I'm a pretty open minded person, I am willing to try most things and I'm laid back - I didn't expect to feel as lost as this. It's not about not knowing people - I've met quite a few people now and we've joined various activities/clubs (swimming, judo etc). It's just a struggle to do the most basic of things and although rationally i know it will get better, i just can't see that at the moment. I don't miss people at home yet, I just miss familiarity and simplicity. I really hope this gets better.

I don't mean to sound negative, this is a beautiful place and after travelling NZ 2 years ago we picked it out as the most wonderful place for us to return to and we didn't get that wrong. We're 5 minutes walk from the beach and seeing your 2 children playing for hours on end with sticks, rocks and water, with no concept of time, is wonderful. The schools are great from what i've seen, less pressure than UK which suits my children fine, and the environment and facilities are well cared for and maintained. We went to a fireworks display and live concert in the park on Friday and it cost us a small donation to get in and there was a distinct lack of money making extras like fairs, gimmicks, food etc. Cheap entertainment and in what i think is one of the most beautiful parks in the world. I just wasn't prepared to feel so detached and, what i can only describe as 'alien'. Still, we've been here 5 days so far - it's early days.

I hope this post helps those who are coming over soon feel a bit prepared for the long slog in the early days!!! Maybe it's just me!!!!!!! This is my biggest ever posting - i realised i've gone on a bit....

Cheers guys,

Hannah

PS re international dialing. If with Telecom, Putting 0161 in front of your call instead of the 00 (ie ringing 0161 44 xxxxxxxx) costs just 8c a minute off peak, and 13c peak. Telecom only told me about the regular international offer (47c a minute up to a maximum of $6 over 2 hours). The 0161 method is cheaper for those calling less than 50 mins at a time. Telecom didn't tell me this and i've made many expensive 10-15 min calls. Thanks to Rimbo for telling me this money saving tip!!!! Don't get caught out when you make those early days calls!!!!

[Timbo]

Great post Hannah, thanks for sharing your early impressions. I guess most of what you are experiencing is simply human nature. After all, forums like this, and holidays, can only give you so much of a feel for things. Your idea of chucking out any preconceptions before arrival sounds like the best advice any one could have.
Just remember the famous words of our beloved leaders here in Uk............"Things, can only get better".
Keep us posted, and good luck

[Moorf]

That was a great post, thanks for sharing :nice1

[willsken]

Yes, I really get the shopping bit. I was only over on holiday, but I found trying to find familiar food at a reasonable cost very hard. We were told by a lady we met, that you have to pick where you shop carefully. She also said they have a barter system of a sort, where you swap things with say a local farmer to get meat etc

I am sure this is something you get use to after time. I know by the end of my 3 week holiday I could fly round pack an save!! :laugh

[PaulandHelen]

Hi Hannah,
Great post, sounds like your having a challenging time!
I think what you said is very true about being open minded and assuming nothing is very true.
I'm sure in no time at all you will get it sorted out.
It would be boring if it was easy!!
Good luck
P+H

[Babette & Andy]

Hi Hannah & family

Thank you so much for your wonderful post and sharing your 1st observations and experiences with us :nice1 Writing about THE coastal walkway fills me with memories. Just out of interest - which school have you (= the children) decided upon? Seem to remember that I went to Woodleigh (sp) School, and I have nothing but fond memories too. Great to see you've made contact with Rimbo & Suzy - please pass on my regards.

Hope all continues well, and that 'simple' things like shopping soon become simple again :laugh You know where we all are, if you fancy a chat and share some more.

Babette

[StevieD]

Loooong post Hannh, well done! Unless you are a touch typist I think you deserve a rest :) Thank you for sharing your initial impressions with us all. I am sure that, in time, all that is alien will become familiar, and you will be chillin' and not racing round like some headless chicken.
Don't know what you meant by "proper money"? Do the Kiwi's use some form of bartering and have no recognisable banking system? LOL. I know what you mean about banks, but don't get sentimental about it, it is here in the UK. If you are in the red here, you get charged. If you go to many cashpoints now, you get charged (which I have found out on numerouse occasions and I go without out of principle). It is already here in a small way in the UK, just watch the greedy banks increase charges for everything over the coming years.
Good warning about the food costs. It seems because NZ is so remote that things are expensive, especially imported goods. And they haven't got the bargaining power of the EU/UK countries because the population is a lot smaller.
Good luck in the coming weeks.

Steve

[jewelsvani]

excellent post hannah especially as its the area I am looking to move to. Everything you describe brings back memories for me, (well memories of AUS anyway ) sounds similar, it does sound like what I am expecting but I know there will be many things I haven't taken into account. thanks for the post can't wait to get there now. :)

[Cardiff Irons]

Fantastic post. Thank you so much Hannah for taking the time to write it, because it makes it all the easier for us folks in the UK to know what to expect when we get there.

As others have said, what seems strange now will soon seem familiar and comfortable. Anything new takes a bit of time to get used to, but it certainly sounds like there are some wonderful things to be thankful for.

Wishing you all the best as you continue settling in.


Steve :nice1

[Diny]

Well done Hannah - wonderful post.

You seem to have crammed so much into your first 5 days - even joining swimming & judo clubs !!!!! Like you say - it is very early days. Things WILL fall into place, the alien will gradually become the familiar, and the feeling of being a 'fish our of water' will soon be replaced by a feeling of 'belonging'.

Seems to me that you have the right attitude - combine that attitude with time and the result will be a happy one - I'm certain of it.

Keep us posted.

Diny

[tigerlily]

Thank you so much for posting these experiences. I'm sure it will happen to all of us as we go through the culture shock of entering a new country. All I can say is that I'm sure you will get better at all of it. My only real experience of culture shock was when I lived in India. I never thought I could get used to it, but I did. By the time I left, I felt more at home in Delhi than I did in any American city. We humans can adjust!

[jubjub]

Glad you have arrived safely a bit weird the first few days.

I had to chuckle about the hot dog, hubby got caught out with that one on his first day, you have to ask for an american hot dog if you want one the way we know it.

Hope a "real" job offer turns up soon.

[veronica]

Give yourself a few more days to get totally over the jet lag, and then a few more weeks and it will all seem very familiar, as someone else said, us humans do adapt.
But its a brilliant posting of first impressions.

[Hannah]

Hi Folks, thanks for your words of encouragement. I do agree that jet lag is part of the problem - I found things really hard last time I travelled here. A friend who lived for a year in the US told me yesterday that she found everything alien when she returned to the UK....so i've got it all to come again if we return in six months.
My children start St John Bosco school tomorrow (a catholic school - also known as a 'happy school' apparently - i'll keep you posted on that one...). I'm off there now to fill in the paperwork. I know things will get better and more familiar....it's just good to get that stuff off your chest and I hope my post helps those in the UK who were like me a couple of weeks ago...just wondering what it would be like when I arrived. My work colleagues back in the UK are worrying about my desperate hankering for Tesco value products so I realise i really need to pull myself together now!!!!!!
Bye for now, hannah

[Miffy]

Hi hannah - great post.

I found myself nodding in agreement with alot of the things you mentioned. But it does all become familiar and intuative after a couple of weeks - honest!

[Avalon]

Hannah,

What you are saying pretty much mirrors my first few weeks here too. I too found things utterly alien, even down to not knowing what I was buying in the supermarkets.

It does get better. It really does. One day you will just realise that you DO know what you are doing and have known for a few weeks by then!

Your advise it great - Dont Assume. Thats the mistake I for one made. I thought I knew what I was doing and I came down with a big bump when I realised that even my two trips really hadnt shown me what life here was going to be like.

BTW, for short phone calls to the UK, you may be even better off getting an Internationaly calling card. Dont get a Telecom one - they are hideously expensive, but If I remeber rightly - you can get ones that are cheaper than normal Telecom Charges. Its been a while soince Ive had to use one, so my info may be a bit out of date - but if you pass a dairy that sells them - it may be worth looking at the costs.

{{{HUGS}}}

[wanderingoregonian]

on the phone thing, when i was visiting last, I just grabbed calling cards from the local gas station/convience market. I remember getting a $10 card and being able to talk for hours and hours. I was 1-2 cents a minute. Some cards charged a bit for a connection (50-90cents) so I only used those if I really knew my friends were going to be home, and others were more per minute but no upfront cost. I ended up getting one of each, and used the no connect fee on to find out if my friends were home, then switching to the other ones if they had time to chat.

[Bruckner]

Great post Hannah! I remember similar feelings when I moved from New York to California. Same country, different universe. Congratulations!

[K&CS]

Great post, Hannah. I hope things settle down soon. The same thing happened with us with the hotdogs! Kids were mortified at what they were given - good tip!!

Keep us posted

Kate x

[Hannah]

Guess what .... it's all starting to feel a bit better!!!! I think now the jet lag has subsided and i'm sleeping normally, blue road signs and jackpot machine sounding crossing signals are all starting to feel like a normal part of life!
Children started new school this morning and that's a real bonus - not being asked to go down the beach every five minutes. And they will start to make friends too so things should start to feel more normal as a result.
That initial shock has faded and I'm feeling much more relaxed now.

I was just not prepared for how i felt in those first 4 or 5 days. I was excited for months and months and then i got here and just wanted to go home. I'm chilling now....and the glorious weather is helping immensely.

For those who have used international calling cards - where do you get them and how do they work for customers connected with Telecom? (I don't have a mobile phone by the way - I'm assuming they can be used with base phone)
Hannah

[pleccy2000]

Hannah

Your initial experiences are the same as what I felt. EXACTLY the same. And that is what drove me to return to the UK after jsut 3 months.

however... as soon as we returned to London, we decided that we want to go back to new zealand.

Best of luck. Try to stick it out for at least a year

[Soon2baKiwi]

Hannah, what you described could have been me in my first week here. Lord, it's scary. So similar and yet so alien. I used that word a lot. As you're already beginning to find out, it does get better and loads better at that. Good luck in your new life. :nice1

[Singel]

Hannah, thanks for such a detailed post and sharing with us about your experience here........just wanted to give you a BIG :clap for your effort.

Time to relax, unwind and enjoy your new adventure in NZ.

Look forward to your next post.

:cheers

[Hannah]

Cheers guys,
Things are getting better, we're even thinking now we could never go back to the UK!! Wow what an emotional roller coaster this all is. Met Paul and Linda today in the school playground - what a small world eh!

[veronica]

re phone cards. We use the Ratesaver card (which when we looked into it was the cheapest, but these things change) usually go into either one of the dairies or get them from a shell garage.

[Avalon]

Hannah,

You can use the phonecards from a normal landline. We got ours from an internet cafe. It makes no difference if you are a telecom customer for your homeline - you can use any card on any phone (we used them on hotel phones and payphones as we were travelling when we used them).

You pay the money and get the card, then when you want to make a call, you ring a freephone number (on our card it was a different number depending on what city you were nearest), then you are asked to key in the pin number on the card (you have to rub off a panel to get this.). Then you dial the number you want to ring.

Most of the cards are recahrgable from a credit card, so you dont have to keep buying cards.

Which card you buy depends on where you are calling - it really is worth scouting round for the one that fits your needs. Ours was a Telstra card which suited us for UK calls. If I rememebr rightly (it was at the beginning of this year) a $20 card gave me over 2 hours to the UK. Not great next to the discounted Telecom Rate for a 2 hour call, but great compared to the $60 it would cost without the discount - and could be good for short calls.

Im really glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.

Hugs

[Smiler]

Hannah

Your post reduced me to tears, I felt the same. I still do about shopping, I can't seem to cook or shop for a complete meal and we are living on stir frys and hells pizza. I hate shopping now :confused: and feel like a fish out of water.

We've just got back from 5 days in Melbourne and I would give my right arm to have a market like the QV there. I was walking round just dribbling at the food and the prices. I can't seem to find a market here, so if anyone knows....

I've got a kiwi call card. It's 3 cents a min back to UK from our normal phone. You get to call to long PIN type numbers but we've programmed these into our phone, every time you make a call the nice lady tells you how many $'s you've got left and how many minutes you have left too. I charge it up just like a mobi card by ringing a number and sticking it on my credit card. That bit is free.

We got ours from a newsagent on Willis street who told us the best rate for the UK. It's cheaper than the telecom 0161 too.

I'm glad you are starting to feel better. I too have good days much more often but when the bad day comes it's horrid but they are getting fewer. Our stuff should arrive this week, I've mixed feelings about that. I'm not sure if I'm happy or if it will make it all so real, the point of no return.

I do love it here, I'm just having trouble adjusting, made worse by the fact that Gary has adjusted so well.

We're coming up to NP for xmas, if you fancy coffee?

Deborah

[Marie P]

AWWWWW Cyber hug hon ,

Marie x