bpk
29th October 2006, 02:51 PM
General
Life in NZ is more simple than any other country in Europe* and the people are very nice and helpful. The only disadvantage maybe the geographical location which isolates the country. It is not developed as Europe neither it is developing as many countries in the world. I feel it is somewhere in between.
People
They people in NZ** are mixture of different origins so you can find the Britons, who constitute the majority, the Chinese, south-East Asians, Japanese, Moari, and other minorities. The people here are kind and helpful though sometimes curious. I was surprised when I went to the Bank and they asked: “hello, how are you?” The same thing almost everywhere (post, supermarket, etc). I have never ever been asked by a bank employee or any other people in Europe like this. Sometimes I meet people even I do not know and they say hello to me. That never happened in Europe.
Food
Food is not as cheap as one might imagine in comparison to Europe, with few exceptions. In addition, there is no variety in food products like in Europe so you will find the same product everywhere.
Lamb and fresh fish cost almost the half of what I used to pay for in Europe. Dairy product are surprisingly more expensive than Europe though NZ got millions of cheap and cows!! Bread is of bad quality comparing to Germany and also expensive.
Drinks*** prices are more or less the same as in Europe. Other food products have more or less the same prices as in Europe. Vegetables and fruits are more expensive than Europe except Kiwi and citrus.
Furniture
The furniture is very expensive and not of good quality. I have seen once a second hand shop and one might find in the street in Germany better furniture than what I have seen there. Although I have to wait for a fortnight to get my order delivered from the furniture shop!!
Transportation
Transportation in NZ seems to be decades behind Europe and public transport is almost non-existence. So I bought a car in the first week I arrived here. Fuel price is almost two third of that in Germany. The roads are not as good as in Germany and the highest speed is 100 km/h on what they are calling a highway! (I used to drive on 200 km/h in Germany). Kiwi driving is bad as many teenagers can get the drive licence (at age of 15 !!) and they do not drive well. Insurance is not a compulsory as
I used to have everywhere!
Visa and Residence
It is a shame here that I lose many benefits because I am not a residence yet! Despite I am paying a large amount of my saraly as a tax but I am not entitled to any benefit because I am not a resident!!
I got more than 190 points and my mistake is that I did not apply for a residence before, but applied for work visa. I thought NZ is like any country in the world in which work visa does not differe from residence in terms of work and benefit. If I have known that I would have applied for a residence direct. But what I do not understand, why I have to pay tax when I am not entitled to benefits?
Weather
It is variable so sometimes we got rain and sometimes sun. Right now I got two seasons per day (I used to have the four seasons in Germany sometimes in the year). The sun is very strong here more than any place else. The reason is the air is not polluted and does not contain any dust or other pollutants that work as a filter for sun shine.
Work
Right now, everything is going well and the work is fine. Also the people are very nice and they helped me a lot settling in the first week.
*I mean by Europe the countries I lived in: Netherlands, Germany, Belgium
**This is based on Napier and not all NZ.
***Soft drinks as I do not drink alcohol.
Life in NZ is more simple than any other country in Europe* and the people are very nice and helpful. The only disadvantage maybe the geographical location which isolates the country. It is not developed as Europe neither it is developing as many countries in the world. I feel it is somewhere in between.
People
They people in NZ** are mixture of different origins so you can find the Britons, who constitute the majority, the Chinese, south-East Asians, Japanese, Moari, and other minorities. The people here are kind and helpful though sometimes curious. I was surprised when I went to the Bank and they asked: “hello, how are you?” The same thing almost everywhere (post, supermarket, etc). I have never ever been asked by a bank employee or any other people in Europe like this. Sometimes I meet people even I do not know and they say hello to me. That never happened in Europe.
Food
Food is not as cheap as one might imagine in comparison to Europe, with few exceptions. In addition, there is no variety in food products like in Europe so you will find the same product everywhere.
Lamb and fresh fish cost almost the half of what I used to pay for in Europe. Dairy product are surprisingly more expensive than Europe though NZ got millions of cheap and cows!! Bread is of bad quality comparing to Germany and also expensive.
Drinks*** prices are more or less the same as in Europe. Other food products have more or less the same prices as in Europe. Vegetables and fruits are more expensive than Europe except Kiwi and citrus.
Furniture
The furniture is very expensive and not of good quality. I have seen once a second hand shop and one might find in the street in Germany better furniture than what I have seen there. Although I have to wait for a fortnight to get my order delivered from the furniture shop!!
Transportation
Transportation in NZ seems to be decades behind Europe and public transport is almost non-existence. So I bought a car in the first week I arrived here. Fuel price is almost two third of that in Germany. The roads are not as good as in Germany and the highest speed is 100 km/h on what they are calling a highway! (I used to drive on 200 km/h in Germany). Kiwi driving is bad as many teenagers can get the drive licence (at age of 15 !!) and they do not drive well. Insurance is not a compulsory as
I used to have everywhere!
Visa and Residence
It is a shame here that I lose many benefits because I am not a residence yet! Despite I am paying a large amount of my saraly as a tax but I am not entitled to any benefit because I am not a resident!!
I got more than 190 points and my mistake is that I did not apply for a residence before, but applied for work visa. I thought NZ is like any country in the world in which work visa does not differe from residence in terms of work and benefit. If I have known that I would have applied for a residence direct. But what I do not understand, why I have to pay tax when I am not entitled to benefits?
Weather
It is variable so sometimes we got rain and sometimes sun. Right now I got two seasons per day (I used to have the four seasons in Germany sometimes in the year). The sun is very strong here more than any place else. The reason is the air is not polluted and does not contain any dust or other pollutants that work as a filter for sun shine.
Work
Right now, everything is going well and the work is fine. Also the people are very nice and they helped me a lot settling in the first week.
*I mean by Europe the countries I lived in: Netherlands, Germany, Belgium
**This is based on Napier and not all NZ.
***Soft drinks as I do not drink alcohol.