Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

After lurking for a while ive taken the plunge and registered.

We've always been interested in swapping our little corner of the valleys for New Zealand but struggled with points for visas. So, I decided on a change of career and after spending three years at university start work as a newly qualified midwife next month.

We are still the the very (very,very) early stages of thinking/planning. My 13 yo is starting GCSEs so we've decided to wait until those are done before we move. We would love to relocate within easy driving distance of chch but it all depends on the job situation in 2 1/2 years.

In the mean time, hubster is about to enrol into college so learn a new trade to go alongside his current one while my priority is redecorating the house slowly to maximise value!

So that's us in a nut shell. :)

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

welcome to our little section of BE.
why have you decided on ChCh?

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

We've visited a few times and always found ourselves returning there. We loved the area, the people and the transport links. The city is beautiful but so far we've only travelled South of chch. I'm hoping to visit at the end of next year to explore up into the North. I also want to live relatively near a university where I can continue studying in the future at masters level.
I have family living in welly and invercargill; needed somewhere where neither could reach us without a bit of effort ;)
At the moment we are thinking of somewhere within 30-45 minutes commute of Christchurch but it is all dependent on jobs at the time.

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

That's the best thought out motive I've seen on here for ages :rofl:

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

Welcome try looking at Lincoln....;)

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

Hello!!! Just thought I'd introduce myself to you!

Welcome to this wonderful group! You will love it here. I do!

Congratulations on your impending graduation, such a huge achievement! I hope you get to where you would like to be in the near future!

good luck with everything! xx

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

Thank you for the warm welcome!
It's been a long three years in uni but well worth it. I've wanted to be a midwife since I was 13 so for me it's a win win: Im doing what I always wanted to and it gives us valuable points!
Funnily enough, I looked at Lincoln about a fortnight ago. It's not somewhere we've visited but looks lovely with an impressive high school. How did the earthquake affect that area?
In an ideal world I'd live in a beach hut in the middle of nowhere but the hubster says we must be a drivable distance from chch and the teenager is demanding that we live close to a beach. I'm thinking of leaving them to argue it out and take myself to live in the mountains!

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

Wow, very brave of you to retrain, good on you.
My daughter finished her GCSE's before she came over, then started High school here in year 12. BUT her GCSE's counted for nothing! She even had to sit a Level 1 maths exam. I guess it showed the school what she was capable of but pretty annoying all the same.
Not sure if that's helpful or not! We've been here 15 months and love love love it!

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

That's interestingj19fmm. Did you wait specifically for her to sit her gcse's? I'm torn with our daughter as I don't want to her to take GCSEs if they are not of any use but then she needs exam experience and if she knows she has no exams im sure her effort levels will decrease!
Has your daughter found it easy to settle in?
The only downside of retraining is that when I started my job was on the extreme skills shortage list and now it isn't. The hubster on the other hand is now included on the Canterbury list. Typical!
Whatever happens I want to get two years experience under my belt and then get job hunting.

Re: Hello! Just introducing myself.
 

We didn't specifically wait for her to finish GCSE's in so much as we had to sort the evil ex's permission to move first. That took 4 years. She finished her exams and then waited for Prom while we moved over here - she was a few weeks behind us.
She settled very quickly at school and has done extremely well. For all people go on about education being different here, well so is every country that isn't the UK!
My son was 14 when we came, coming to the end of year 9 in UK and was put into year 10 for the remaining half of the year. He has also done very well.
I feel that the school celebrates ALL areas of achievement not just focussing on academic. Of course there is a lot of sports on offer and both children have taken part in more, and different, sports than they did in the UK.
I understand the Skills List annoyance too, when we started the journey Primary Teachers were on the list but were removed by the time we were ready! You are lucky OH is on a list now.
We also have family here, lots of them, but the closest is 3 hours drive away. Near enough to call on if we need them but not intrusive for either of us!