If you knew then, what you know now...

Closed Thread Subscribe

Thread Tools

Aug 13th 2013, 1:29 am

#16

shocked kiwi

Account Closed

Joined: Mar 2013

Posts: 184

shocked kiwi is an unknown quantity at this point

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick2007

Gone on a holiday instead and not wasted 7 years of my life struggling.

ditto

Aug 13th 2013, 2:38 am

#17

dannigirl

BE Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 696

dannigirl has a reputation beyond repute

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwigeordie

I just look at my kids and grandkids. They're happy, drug free and full of self-confidence.
Then I compare that with what I've seen on trips back to the old country where many people appeared to have no time or consideration for others and the youngsters, generally, seemed aimless. The streets were strewn with discarded take-away wrappers. NZ might not be as clean and green as the propaganda would have us believe but it's a darned sight tidier than many places in the UK.

Sure NZ is small and that might lead you to think that it offers less opportunities but oddly, the opposite seems to be the case.
We escaped Thatcher's Britain where we could not have afforded to buy a home. Within eight years of arriving here we owned two homes, both had good jobs and now I run my own business.

No, if I met myself going the other way I'd say "Hang in."

Let's face it. If you can't 'make it' here you're probably not going to make it anywhere. It's an attitude of mind.
Pete

Jeez, you've gone native! Bit unfair and generalising a bit much. Try telling the young people in Auckland (and some posters on here) who can't for the life of them afford to buy a house in Auckland, despite being professionals on a two wages. Is that the fault of their "attitude"? Truly bizarre comment and so shortsighted.

Aug 13th 2013, 2:43 am

#18

dannigirl

BE Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 696

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

I will always remember a friend telling me "nothing is forever" when we were umming and ahhhing about coming back. I always told myself we could always go back to the UK.

Indeed, nothing is forever, our house is on the market and we hope to return to the UK by the end of the year

Aug 13th 2013, 4:52 am

#19

Purrball

Forum Regular

Thread Starter

Joined: Apr 2013

Posts: 197

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catchafire

Walking through the airport, with a backpack and a one way ticket to Bangkok.

Ha. Nice one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BEVS

Interesting .

It is, isn't it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catchafire

...it would be interesting to read what you would say to you about NZ ---> UK.

Well, I came to the UK for one specific and important purpose. And I also had a one-way ticket. I remember sitting on a Singapore Airlines 747 bound for Singapore an hour or two before dusk, looking down on the hills and coastline between Auckland and the ocean, thinking that I didn't know when or if I'd ever return...

But I would have suggested to brace myself, that there were some mind-bendingly serious troubles ahead, but that, eventually, I'd get through them, but not without some serious scars. And that I'd have to be strong, because I'd have to do it all alone. If I'd seen the future me, it would have terrified me how broken but grimly resolute I'd have appeared at times, but for me, the opportunities and paths offered to me here far outstripped anything in New Zealand. Depends on what you want, or need out of life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwigeordie

Then I compare that with what I've seen on trips back to the old country... and the youngsters, generally, seemed aimless.

Think that's a subjective view, depending on where and who you meet. I've worked with teenage volunteers here as a mentor and trainer: nothing aimless about them, although I wouldn't draw any larger conclusions from that, except to say that it's probably fruitless to generalise about an entire generation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by qssue

Great thread, thought provoking!!!!

Ta. Thanks to all who thought it over and contributed.

Aug 13th 2013, 5:13 am

#20

davros1984

BE Enthusiast

Joined: Nov 2010

Location: Was Auckland-NZ, Now Wales

Posts: 685

davros1984 has a reputation beyond repute

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by davros1984

If I knew now what I knew then - I would not have come here long-term.

Doh!

Make that - If I knew then what I know now....

Still I love NZ, has been great to come here, but I would have come here for very different reasons and with a different objective.

Aug 13th 2013, 5:31 am

#21

pricklykina

BE Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2009

Location: Tamaki Makau Rau

Posts: 778

pricklykina has a reputation beyond repute

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

If I could give myself advice then, with what I know now, I would say "don't do it, PK!" The gains have been minimal and the losses are too great. It feels like I have sold my soul

Aug 13th 2013, 6:41 am

#22

barnsleymat

BE Forum Addict

Joined: Sep 2009

Location: Yorkshire

Posts: 1,111

barnsleymat has a reputation beyond repute

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

I would tell my ourselves

Get out of Auckland ASAP

&

Your boss hasn't told you that the company is riddled with debt and is going bust.

Aug 13th 2013, 8:02 am

#23

kingacat

Forum Regular

Joined: Jun 2011

Posts: 82

kingacat is an unknown quantity at this point

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

I would say bring more of your belongings with you, you will miss your books and they are expensive to replace.
You will discover who your friends are in the UK and they are not always who you think they are. That'll be the hardest lesson to learn.
It's an adventure and you'll love it!

Aug 13th 2013, 10:00 am

#24

kiwigeordie

Forum Regular

Joined: Jul 2013

Location: Upper Hutt, New Zealand

Posts: 99

kiwigeordie has a reputation beyond repute

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannigirl

Very true dannigirl. We have 'gone native' but without once losing sight of our roots. It's something we have done wherever we have lived since leaving the UK in '75 and arriving in NZ in '86. After all, isn't that the usual cry about some immigrants to the UK? "They won't integrate!" Are Brit ex-pats under any less obligation?

It's also difficult not to generalise without making the post too long and cumbersome.

Sorry, I can't comment on house buying in Auckland - it's not a place I would choose to live. My sight is not so short that, with a marketable 'profession', I would be unable to look beyond that region to areas where I could afford to buy a home.

Sorry you find my comments bizarre.

Pete

Aug 13th 2013, 11:20 pm

#25

whitesand

BE Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2005

Posts: 613

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Never say, never again!

Aug 13th 2013, 11:48 pm

#26

Tom1983

Account Closed

Joined: Nov 2011

Posts: 755

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitesand

Never say, never again!

Thanks for making me think of the James Bond film - off topic we go

Despite being a sequal of Thunderball, Klaus Brandauer is excellent at playing Largo. His performance is easily one of the best of the Bond villains.

A much better Bond film than many reviewers made it out to be.

Aug 13th 2013, 11:59 pm

#27

Catchafire

*********

Joined: May 2008

Location: Up in dem hills.........

Posts: 1,458

Catchafire has a reputation beyond repute

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Give over! The one with Connery in a toupee? Nah....Barbara Carrera is a bit of alright though.

Aug 14th 2013, 12:02 am

#28

Catchafire

*********

Joined: May 2008

Location: Up in dem hills.........

Posts: 1,458

Re: If you knew then, what you know now...

Back on to topic.

Unfortunately life does not come with a warning sticker. I prefer to believe that in the end you regret the things you did not do rather than the things you did.