Campbells

Geography is a small part of it……

It has been a very long time since my last post or even being on this very site. It is one of those, not sure where to start stories. :scared:

It is not that I haven’t thought about the various discussions and stages that I went through in getting to (& getting PR) here in NZ it is more the journey that I think of. Part of this journey that I am referring to is the opportunity to strike up friendship (I guess Cyber friends) with those that got involved in my quests of that era.

Things are different now; we have our PR but still have challenges. Currently faced with considering resigning from my job blah blah blah.

My point:
Wherever we are or want to be will present its own various challenges to you and those will change in time. Ultimately we are all looking for utopia and it really doesn’t’ exist and it is a dangerous path to embark on to seek ultimate happiness in a destination.

For some of you who have read my previous posts (one of my favorites being “scary story or what”) I need to explain that I have not joined the Tibetan monks nor spending too much time practicing Yoda impersonations.

I really feel that the various choices facing me now will impact on my “happiness” state but I have to be happy about those. My point is that, if I can add value to folk considering moving to NZ is to seek happiness as a state for you and not your surroundings. It would be very easy for me right now to explain my disappointments in NZ but on the whole they would just be my experiences.

Conclusion:
After 18 months in NZ, it has been hard. We have a three year-old wee lad and NZ is great for kids. For how much longer is another story. We see opportunities here for us and are “challenged” to remain positive and determined. I certainly could think of worse places to live and confess I do at times miss South Africa but know that we could never go back to living in that fear.

Life is what you make it and I believe that the geography is a small part of it.

I hope that some of the members that previously shared some text read this and please do respond as it would be great to say hello.

I feel better for having done this post and I hope that it finds you (wherever you are) having a happy weekend. Greetings from a Scot in New Zealand.

Batty

WOW! I'd only just joined here when you were posting on your new life. It's lovely to hear from you. It IS good to hear from people who've been here a while. Is there a country that IS utopia anymore? Nah! I don't think so anyway. There are times when I want to say to people 'try Ireland' when they talk about overcrowding as one of the reasons they want to leave the UK. Seriously, sometimes you don't have to travel very far to find what you're looking for. But, other times, nothing less will do.

So????? go on, tell us. Your stories were great.

Campbells

Hello Batty

Great to hear from you too. Yes, how true, is there a country left that hasn’t gone down the rotten path. This is a whole story on its own and a BIG one. My friend, you have enthused me to start a new thread.

Are you based in Ireland? If so where? I spent a few years as a wee nipper in the Outer Hebrides and I was last there in 92 . At that time Skye was starting to commercialise, like you say, folk looking for breathing space. The one thing about moving countries is that you will always look back (and although I say that I miss South Africa), I am still a Scot at heart and would love to return there.

In 99 I went to a few interviews in Scotland and was short-listed several times and didn’t quite bag the job/s (I’m in sales) and the reason I was offered for not getting the roles was that many folk would see me as a foreigner. Ouch! In those days I viewed Scotland as being VERY expensive and not too many jobs going.

I must confess that I have never been to Ireland although I have many Irish friends (back in SA) and found the Irish great people with a certain zing for life.

Anyway, must go as the wee lad is up and at full throttle!
Have a wonderful weekend. New thread coming soon, thanks for the motivation and greetings. Campbell.

Batty

So do you feel a foreigner here then Campbell? (I'm in Auckland now). I feel less so than when I lived in London, say. Maybe it's being married to a Kiwi but apart from being chatted up on the phone because of my accent (I'm sure he was about the same age as my son!! ) I can easily forget that I haven't lived here for ever.

extrameant

Hello fellow scot. Did I tell you about NZ or what! Maybe you don't remember, but I did send a PM on some of things i read you later encountered.

Here's something else for you to think about, which is maybe just personal to me, but is something you might not think about until it happens.

I moved to Melbourne about a year ago. I was unemployed for 9 months (actually I had two jobs in that time, both completely untenable and had to leave, one without even signing the contract) Pretty scary. For me, the move to Ozz has been 100x's harder than the move to NZ 10 years ago. I think its cos I am older, which I never thought about before moving.

Its much harder to start on a crappy wage again, knowing exactly what you have to go through, from before. I suppose thought I could just move on again and find better circumstances, and if I didn't, no big deal, move on again. In my experience you get much less tolerant after 40, making new starts harder. I know you were about my age, maybe you are feeling the same after moving to SA, then onto AK and starting from scratch again?

For what its worth, we think Melbourne is 1000s better than AK, most of my pet hates about NZ seem a lot better here.

Campbells

Greetings Extrameant,

Good to hear from you and yes I do recall your predictions but have to be honest, whatever hardships we face here in NZ are MILD compared to the potential of the downside in South Africa :scared: if you get my drift? Moving on ………..

Interesting to hear your comments on Melbourne. I was in Ozz on business earlier this year, 4 days in Sydney and three days in Melbourne. My missus (the government) and the wee lad joined me in Melbourne and they loved it. We stayed with friends we have there and they left SA about a year before we did so we have a lot in common.

I surprised myself as I came back to NZ saying I could move to Aus in a heartbeat. For me Sydney was / is great and my wife loved Melbourne but she didn’t see Sydney. I guess we miss the buzz of a larger country etc etc so I can relate to your comments. We were most surprised to realize just how expensive NZ is by comparison as the wages here are really pathetic.

I am supposed to be over again next month but seriously considering resigning on the 1st Oct but that’s another story.

I can totally relate to your “after 40” comments as me & the government are over 40 and having a wee bairn at this age is tiring enough without the thought of having to pack up & start all over again. Must confess though that it is in the back of my mind that in four or five years from now when we will be allowed to stay in Aus I will certainly give it some serious thought.

I like the Aus stand against sorry-ass immigrants and basically no passengers. I think NZ should take a page from that book but that is just my opinion. Anyways mate, I had better crash as it is late. Good to exchange some text with you again. Hope things improve over there for you. Cheer the noo ! Campbell

extrameant

I can appreciate your predicament in SA. i had a few friends from there in AK, and they all said the same.

Things are not too bad for us here now. I refused to take cr_p that I would have done earlier, so i kept looking fo work that was just OK. Having said that, there is a huge problem with finding work here in my opinion. Almost no-one advertises for themselves, they all use agents. My skills are quite rare and in demand (the only reason I got a PR at our age, I got a state nominated visa cos they were short of RF engineers). Quite a technical field to be in, but couldn't get to speak to anyone with a brain. Agents are pretty thick and don't have a chance to know the ins and outs of anything technical, yet they are the ones to put you forward to the employers?! I tried phoning agents directly for jobs i really had all the skills for but just couldn't get put forward. I was told I didn't have the qualifications. When I explained I did actually, plus 20 years experience, I was told, they just don't want to talk to you. Its a common story over here with a lot of expats. A big difference over here to NZ is its very hard to find who to talk to directly. I now work as a contractor for telstra and get paid fairly well, and now i can make contacts etc so hope things will keep improving. Believe it or not, they tell me they have real problems filling skilled vacancies. You can probably guess my opinion of job agents, without me actually saying it.

In NZ I found it very easy to talk to people high up in prospective employers, just by phoning around. Not so easy here, I continually hit brick walls. If you do decide to come over, make sure you can survive a while without income, or are prepared to take the jobs that other aussies won't do for the money. - Slainte