Italians in New Zealand

nave · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:26 am Post subject: Italians in New Zealand

During a TV program I and my husband fell in love with NZ. We are considering the possibility of moving (even for only a few years). Are there any Italians who could give us some information on their experience?
Thanks
Elena

Lee&Nicky · I Like It Here Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 70

Nave,

I can't answer your question (being British), but was wondering what your reasons were for leaving Italy? My wife and I love Italy and the Italian people and was an option for resettling from the UK. The main reason for not going to Italy is......its in Europe! Basically, we think the UK is a tired old country in a tired old continent. I also have serious concerns about security in Europe as a whole and the rise of extremeism (not just fundamentalism but the almost balancing rise in nationalism).

Just would love to hear reasons for moving to NZ from a different country and perspective.

Lee&Nicky[/list]

Lukas · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:26 pm Post subject:

Compared to Australia in NZ you will find very few Italians. Some business people, an Italian Chamber of Commerce…probable 3-4000 all over the country. Go first as a tourist to see the real life, then take the decision. Don’t take decisions based on TV programs or tourist prospects.

Lukas · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:41 pm Post subject:

...By the way, you can have a look at my impressions regarding NZ from an PR perspective

http://emigratenz.org/community/viewtopic.php?t=793

nave · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 1:59 am Post subject:

First of all: THANK YOU for answering to me!

I expected to hear that Italians in NZ are very few. But that is not bad news... I mean, I love my people but I am not the one who would emigrate just to close herself in an Italian community... When I travel I never go to Italian restaurants...

The reasons why we are thinking of emigrating are many and different. But mostly:

1. My husband is from the Ukraine (so, already had an experience as emigrant). He is now Italian citizen but has no problems with leaving the country.

2. Economy in Italy is going very bad. My husband is an industrial designer (self-employee) and has not been working for 3 months during this spring. I am working part-time as employee. We have troubles making through to the end of the month. We have 2 children. I have read Lukas impressions (by the way this is what I was really looking for: not only good ones as you read in the government web site...) so I understand it is not so easy to find a job there, but I guess you need less money to live in NZ than in Italy. Taxes here are extremely high (the highest in Europe). I believe Europe has been sleeping during the last decade.

3. Why not another European country? Because it is the same in GB, in Germany, in France... And it is not so easy to find a job there either.

4. Security. Europe is not safe nowadays. USA is out of question.

5. NATURE and SPACE. Italy is a wonderful country. There is everything you need: sun, see, mountains, lakes, ... But it has already been spoiled. If you live in a big city you will miss nature a lot. I would like something more for my children. Though I had supposed the sea in NZ is not as in Sardinia... and Lukas confirmed it to me... This is bad...

6. What makes me wonder the most is: don't you feel too much isolated in NZ? I mean: Australia is 1.000 kms away (is this right?). Don't you miss taking the car and going around and visiting other countries, after a while?

Your suggestion of visiting the country first is of course right. And we will surely do it. But dreaming is my favourit hobby so I start now...

I would like to continue but I am afraid of being boring. Of course, I have another million questions, but I will put them one at a time.

For the moment, thank you very much. I'll keep in touch.

And sorry for my English too...!

Elena

nave · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:01 am Post subject:

P.S. To Lee and Nick. Tell me more about your experience. Are you happy or regret it?

Bye
Elena (nave)

Moorf · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:11 am Post subject:

Nave

I was extremely surprised to read your post and to see that alot of your reasons for leaving Italy are so similar to your reasons for leaving Italy!

Is this a mass emigration beginning from Europe and USA to countries far away???

We are off to Italy for a week at the end of August - we are staying near Sorrento - it is our last holiday here as we leave for NZ two weeks later!

Good luck with your dreams - and please do not apologise for your excellent English - once you have heard my Italian you will understand!!! Embarassed

Moorf

Moorf · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:13 am Post subject:

nave · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:39 am Post subject:

Dear old common places... British people drinking at 4 p.m.... Italians=mafia.... Hard to die!

JUST KIDDING! I never thought you had been drinking. Maybe that you are tired and stressed for too much work in old old Europe... Mr. Green

Do you know something? I have never been to Sorrento... Embarassed

I hope you'll enjoy it.

Sorry, but being an Italian, I am also very curious: what will you do in NZ? I mean, what will your job be? Are you going with your family? Do you have any children? Just to compare experiences...

I am leaving now but I will come back in the evening.
Thanks and CIAO!

Moorf · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:51 am Post subject:

You Italians are much better at drinking than us Brits!! Laughing

It is just hubby and I that are going to NZ - hubby is looking for an IT position and I want to change my job completely. Currently I am a marketing consultant but I would rather work in tourism/culture etc in NZ - or my dream is to own a secondhand book shop Nice One

We have no children and no plans for any - would prefer dogs!!

How about you - family? and what do you do for work (we know your hubby is an engineer).

Moorf (Helen)

Lee&Nicky · I Like It Here Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 70

Nave,

Like Moorf, I was struck by how similar your reasons for leaving Italy/Europe were to mine (and other people's) reasons for leaving the UK.

We have not emigrated to NZ yet, we plan to go there in Feb 05 for a year to see whether it suits us and we can get permanent residency. If it doesn't suit we will probably try Australia, after that not sure but we will work that out if and when the time comes!

The remoteness of NZ is an interesting question. Having lived in the UK all my life, therefore having a fairly ingrained "island mentality", I guess I am used to a certain degree of isolation. Most of my trips abroad have been beyond mainland Europe, apart from France, Italy and Switzerland so I haven't grown used to just "popping over" to Paris or Madrid or Brussels at a whim. My wife has said she will the fact that there is the opportunity to get to Europe in a short time, but we have two kids and the reality is that we have very limited chances to jet out to some European city for the weekend anyway. The last five years nearly all of our holidays etc have been in the UK and actually it has been nice exploring a bit of our "home patch" for a change.

Security is a big issue for us, not just the whole bigger terrorism thing but also at the micro level. There just doesn't seem to be the abundance of good quality parks etc for kids to play in such as there were when I was growing up in the 1970's (lots of god awful housing estates though!) and we have so much to fear from street crime, drunken and general loutish behaviour, perverts and lord knows what else. Most parents I think end up keeping their children indoors (and too many let them play on the evil Playstation/XBox type things, whilst feeding them an endless diet of crisps, fizzy drinks, sugar, MSGs, E numbers and other "convenient" "food").

We have just had the so called "public enquiry" into the security services part in the UK backing the war in Iraq. Basically, loads of failings etc but "no-one person (or persons) is too blame". I bet that comes as a comfort to the families of people killed and injured (on all sides). What an absolute stitch up and to see the smug politicians twisting and turning and using double speak to vindicate themselves is just too much to bear. Now we are being told that "human rights abuses" were enough to tip the scales as justification of going into a conflict. Funny that, I thought it was the WMDs that were the main (sole?) justification.

Anyway going off on one here, I guess it is easy to say "why do you want to leave such and such a place", when you have seen it through "holiday spectacles". Living there is always a different story. Some parts of the UK are beautiful and we will miss them dearly (Dorset being a particular family favourite) but the quality of life in the UK is such that two weeks a year in Dorset does not justify staying in the rat race!

Like most people, need to kep a reality check. NZ will not be nirvana, but it does sound as if the balance of life is more in check there.

Lee & Nicky

Lee&Nicky · I Like It Here Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 70

Oh, I do like my ".." and (..) don't I!?

Apologies, prone to the occasional rant. Estate Agent has really been testing my patience today. May not make it to NZ, may be in prison instead for comitting particularly grisly murder of said Estate Agent!

Timbo · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 4:14 am Post subject:

The judge would go easy on you as it is an estate agent. Laughing

nave · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 9:30 am Post subject:

Hi everybody!

Moorf:
you are right! And you should see Ukrainians at work...! Laughing

(sorry if I have been rude, I did not mean to...). Good idea the second hand bookshop ... But I wonder: will you go there AND look for a job, or will you settle everything before leaving? I guess maybe your husband is going to find it the job before and you will look for one once you get to NZ, right? P.S.: I think "hubby" means husband: sorry but I miss a lot of slang words in English...

Lee&Nicky:
I see you have two children: so do I. Mine are 4 and 7 years old. And, in the end, the main reason for looking for a better place to live is to give them a healthier life. And I also see that UK or Italy the story is always the same: Playstation and GameBoy. Luckily my town is a small one and criminality is not so widely spread, but it is not inexistent.

And what's more: we already have everything we like. But what we really want is nothing but a beautiful landscape and a quite house, in a quite place. Is this really had to find?

However, though I think NZ could be a good country to raise my children (in any case, they will learn a perfect English and then, if they want, leave the country when they are grown up and go wherever they want to), I recently read an article which puzzled me a lot. The article said that since NZ is very near to the Ozone hole (I do not know the right term in English), cancer diseases increased by 30% in the last few years.

Does anyone know something about it? I am so afraid we are spoiling also this last piece of Paradise...

Last, I agree that NZ may not be the best on Earth, but it would be worth to give it a try!

Elena[/u][/b]

nave · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 10:20 am Post subject:

It's me again.
I have been reading some of the old of the messages of this wonderful forum.
I see you all are good friends by now. That's very beautiful.
And I also see there is someone as crazy as me and my husband! It's nice to feel at home.
I told my husband: someone else is doing the same thing as we want to.
And I see some of you are just like us: 37 years old, 2 kids, no degrees, 15 years of working experience... I you will make it, we will make it too! Or not?
I am sorry if I will bother you, but I will follow your story to understand if it will suit our dreams too.
Only one more BIG BIG problem for us: apart from our apartment and our 2 cars to sell, no money on our bank account... So: no leaving without at least one sure job. Is that an illusion. By the way, my husband has heen working as an engineer, but did not complete the university in the Ukraine since he left for Italy (only one year left...!!!!), and here in Italy he could not complete the studies (many beaurocratic troubles and then, the kids came....). Therefore, no "piece of paper" to sum up points.
And now, good night.