The Reason [b]Why[/b]

michelle · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 1:42 am Post subject:

Moorf. Branston pickle yes.... M and S knickers no never, have them shipped over. Best of all we knew someone who worked for a container company he shipped a box of stuff over for myself and a group of other girls. It contained M and S underwear and toiletries, oh the excitement when that arrived.

No Raeven you are not one of the wingers so take your head out of your hands.

Michelle

Moorf · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 2:05 am Post subject:

LOL do they only do kidney warmers over there?!!

RAE!! Your posts are always balanced and it's not the odd moan I dislike (hell, I do it enuf too!) but it's the out of proportion aspect of it - just seems people forget very quickly once they are there why they went in the first place... I for one can definitely appreciate homesickness etc as I was in boarding school from age 10 to 18 but you don't need "stuff" to get over it.. do you? Perhaps I am just weird (don't comment on that Woz!).

Plus, info on the internet is very easy to find and it only takes a quick squizz at the NZ forums to find out very quickly about things like central heating, damp housing etc... so why do people get there and not know about these things.. and I ask this most sincerely.. as Michelle said, I'll look back at this forum in 1 yr and see just how much I really learnt from it!! Or perhaps I'll come back whinging (but obviously I'd have to change my name!!!) Laughing

Raeven · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 2:24 am Post subject:

Hi michelle and Moorf,

Thanks for your comments.. I really did take a moment to feel guilty about complaining about such seemingly insignificant things as sand flies and tumble dryers!! Unlike here on enz, I will watch what I say on that board in future, that's sure.

Ok, I have promised myself to do better at staying on topic, so back to the original question: Why?

In our case, it's pretty simple. My husband wants to go home. He enjoys our life here, but he feels pulled, understandably, to be nearer to his aging mother and his young daughter (whom I also adore!). When I found myself unexpectedly out of work in March, I ruminated idly about the notion of advancing our plans to retire in NZ and hey, why not look into going now? Apparently I flicked a switch in my DH and he was suddenly electrified with activity! I don't think I could stop this train pulling out of the station if I tried! So I've been trying to learn all I can about NZ to figure out how I might best fit in and to minimize the homesickness crash and other aspects of culture shock. The fewer surprises, the better.

I appreciate the support and kindness of so many I have met here and I very much want to provide the same for those coming behind. Like Rich and others here, I plan to continue to post my experiences -- good and bad -- throughout our transition with the hope that others will benefit from hearing them. I too will be interested to re-read my old junk after we're there and probably choke back an embarrassed giggle or two!

Expect more soon.. I think our house is sold. Wow, here we go!!! rae's dancing banana

Rae

Moorf · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 2:56 am Post subject:

WOW WOW

Hope it all goes smoothly ....

Wait for it... rae's dancing banana

negirl · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 4:15 am Post subject:

Hi all. Another newbie here who hopefully will be in NZ within the next couple of months. I'm English, married to an American & have lived in the midwest for the past 13 yrs. We have 2 children (well teenagers!!!!!) & are all so excited about starting a new life over there. Can't wait to leave the extreme weather behind, very hot & humid here in summer & bitterly cold in winter.

Hubby & I met in Saudi Arabia 20 yrs ago & have been married 19 yrs. Have lived in a couple of different countries so are well aware of having to adapt to different ways of life & cultures. Just makes life more interesting really. Yes

Raeven · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 4:31 am Post subject:

wilson182 · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 5:27 am Post subject:

When we made the big decision to cash in our endowment and go and see for ourselves, we had no idea what we had let ourselves in for. It took ages for the money to arrive, then we arrived in NZ. We were exhausted from the journey, completly jet lagged, Had a massive row with our oldest daughter over homework, and the holiday flat we had booked for the week was something out of the fifties. The furniture was knackered, you just couldnt get comfortable, and most of the fittings were booby trapped to fall off when we touched them. That was day one.

We then got the magical job offer, the wages were not quite what we expected and we couldnt find somewhere to live. We thought that was it.

Well we found somewhere to live, not fantastic, but good enough, and we slowly learned the places to get your shopping, bread, milk etc... I had to come back to the UK, so didnt really have time to get to know the place, but despite all that, Hubby is quite determind he does NOT want to come home. Like Timbo, just reading the papers is enough to remind me why I want to go, but hubby cant remember. When the pressure is gone it is hard to remember your reasons why.

This is the only time I have ever attempted anything like this, so I can only speak from this experience, but be warned Lee & all, this process will be the most frustrating thing you will ever do. There will be MANY times you question why you are bothering, but you will know deep down why you do.

Nice One

michelle · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:08 am Post subject:

BJ · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:51 am Post subject:

ruthyroo · I'll Hang Around A Little Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 39

Just had a look at the UK2NZ site - deary me what a lot of e-fisticuffs! I think it's quite natural to hark back to the things you miss from the uk (Tunnocks Caramel Wafers!) but that's not putting NZ down - it's just different and that's part of the joy of adventuring! Thanks all for the cheery words. Things are already looking up job-wise as DH has negotiated some changes to his role, so suddenly the sun is shining (well we can dream) and life goes on! So as my last message to people coming out:
Things that are good Nice One

The people - we've had more dinner invites / drinks invites / offers of help / furniture / houses / trips etc than we know what to do with.
When the sun shines the lakes and forests are beautiful.
10 minutes to work and back - no traffic jams.
Despite low wages, our qualifications are much in demand - and it's easy to live a good lifestyle on less money here.
The wine! The food!
Swimming, rowing, kayaking, biking, fishing, camping, tramping, literally on our doorstep (roll on the summer cool

Cheap phone calls to the UK
Holidays in south pacific - yeah!
Things that are not so good Sad

NZIS bureaucracy - dreading applying for PR...
Cheap crap shops everywhere and the quality of stuff to buy is pretty poor
Casual and widespread racism,and the poverty in which so many maori live.
Damp dreich 60s bungalows - i swear that the first thing we do when properly settle is by a nice flippin house!!

So you can see that really it's all going to be worth it inthe end. Best of luck to you all, put the rose tinted specs on when it all gets too much, but remember to take them off from time to time!

negirl · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:03 am Post subject:

I really hope we've done our research thoroughly enough, but I bet when we get there there'll still be a million questions to be answered. We've got a few Kiwi friends from our days in Saudi so have been e-mailing back & forth with questions for them to answer.

Rae you asked where we'll be going to when we get there. Well it's Ashburton we're heading for about 1 1/2 hrs south of Christchurch, not the most touristy spot in NZ but it's where the work is. My husband was out there in May staying with the people he'll be working with. One of his first phone calls back home was to tell me that it wasn't all that different from where we are here in the States, & I have to say my first reaction was "oh god no" (we're in flat as a pancake Nebraska) We own our own business here & we deal in Center Pivot Irrigation. I guess I'll have to relearn to spell things in English again so it'll be Centre Pivot Irrigation out there.

The thing we're so sick of here though is the work attitude & I suppose that has a lot to do with living in a rural community. My husband regularly works 80-90 hr weeks, so when I read on the other site that someone thought 55 -60 hrs was too long of a work week , boy that's something we dream of. We are looking forward to having weekends off & being able to take a vacation now & again.

We just have to send in our passports for the visa's , get our business & house sold & we'll be off. Clapping

Azazel · I Like It Here Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 64

I had a read of the uk2nz forum .. god that seems very us and them at times .... kind of glad, the good thing about this forum is you ask something and you invariably get a good reply, and if there is discussion its debated without even getting warm.

As I can't be bothered posting over on that forum I'll post here things spring to mind:

a) there is a reason you moved over there, never forget it
b) the grass is greener in new zealand, thats one of the reasons

c) money only buys a better quality of misery in the uk
d) opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one

I find there are many reasons to want to go over.
The first is always after "the visit" ... how nz is just amazing and you cannot make people understand no matter how hard you try.

Then you get back and things annoy you.
Traffic ... grrr ... I spend 2 hours+ a day in traffic.
I've worked it out, 48 weeks a year thats 480 hours of my life every year spent in a stupid traffic jam .... oh how money will never buy that time back later on ....

After that its work.
Oh joy, work ... the place where they try to screw as much out of you as possible giving only the smallest possible back.
Where you spend every day watching the clock wishing 5pm would rush around.
Where after your 1 hour journey home you still cannot get the crap of the day out of your system and you know in 3 hours time you need to get to bed to get a reasonable nights sleep before you go back again.

After that its the people/the places.
My wifes disabled and the UK is meant to be some forward, right on country.
My arse ... in the middle of nowhere, 2 hours from civilisation in new zealand we found toilets ... and not just some crappy toilet .. a mens, a ladies and a disabled toilet that was 3x the size the ones in the UK .. the ones where you have to be something special to get a wheelchair into position .. thats if you were able to park in the disabled spaces which are usually occupied by van drivers/people waiting for someone/police cars (yes police cars, lost count of the number now).

Then theres the people, you meet all the "best" people whilst shopping (I think anyone with children in push chairs will be with me on this one).
The ignorant, mindless, self-centered people who cannot see below there nose and always so "oh sorry" when they crash into you, or swing there bag into your wifes face .... yes I'm sure you're sorry.

So there we have it ... reasons for going? .. sod that, shouldn't it be "are there any reasons to stay?"

Moorf · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:35 am Post subject:

Fabby post Az....

I want your quote as a car sticker....

mattford · Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:29 pm Post subject:

"Tunnock Caramel Wafers".. ha ha ha.. after a lot of experimenting with different choccie biscuits in my packed lunch, TCWs come out top. filling, tasty, slightly chewy (i like biscuits that fight back!), easy to unwrap.. ah yes Nice One

"Just makes life more interesting really" does indeed sum it up.. well said

matt

Timbo · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:30 am Post subject:

Az.....