Milk has gone sour
 

Anyone else here in the same boat as me?

I've been in NZ some time now, left the home shores for a better life. For me that didn't necessarily mean what it appears quite a lot of you have come to NZ for, escape the rat race etc. I'm happy to work hard to get what I'd like and I saw NZ as a place I could do that in, in a much shorter time than I could have back home. Plus it has fewer people, less crowed roads, better wether, etc.

Since coming here I have had a very well paid job, above average wage and I and my wife have invested heavily in getting to where we are now. And that is my mistake and I admit it.

We have a large, comfortable house and a suitably large mortgage to go with it. Up until a couple of months ago that wasn't a problem. Then the credit crunch hit and I have discovered that N Z er's can be very parochial in their out look.

In my industry I always knew that I was an outsider and this was never hidden. I knew that my counterparts didn't like the pommy coming in, but I was better than them in that I had more experience, I had a "get the job done" attitude and I was always prepared to go that extra bit, (and take that extra reward for it). Where as my colleagues sat around discussing the rugby or this weekends activities.

Once the credit crunch hit times were hard and we all knew that we were being watched by head office. Lazy slackers who didn't even own a watch suddenly were in work before time! But all to no avail. The enviable happened and it was, "time to let you go, sorry"!

And I was one of them; or so I thought. Seems I am the only one which was offered the chance to "catch up on a bit of fishing". Even though I wasn't the last in, even though I had an excellent work record. What I don't have is kiwi blood, bro!

But it doesn't stop there. Now for the first time since I left school I have had to attend the dole, WINZ. I shall forgo the description of how humiliating it is to wait for an 11am appointment and not been seen until 11.50am. "She is busy you know". Well aren't we all. Or to witness the slovenly ways of some claimants. Or to see that we are not all equal. (G. O. How right you were).

I put forward my claim and was told that because we do not meet the criteria of WINZ we will not be getting any assistance. This is despite the ten's of thousands I and my wife have paid in to the system. I know it's not a bank or a savings account, but I did believe it was a safety net. How mistaken was I?

Yet it would appear some in this paradise can get emergency money, there and then because, "those wan*ers at the power board are going to cut me off, eh, bro"! (an example of a conversation overheard in the lovely open plan WINZ office).

Now fortune no longer favours us it appears that New Zealand is not a land to be a poor immigrant in. Perhaps the Coen brothers next film could be entailed : "No Country for poor men"

Sorry for the downer everyone but there is a racial undercurrent in New Zealand and certainly doesn't favour immigrants or non indigenous populations and I have tasted that today.

Has anyone else experience this?

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

A very familiar story, dont think its just you.

Why do you not qualify for Unemployment benefit?

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

I read it that this person has maybe been a contractor rather than an employee. Not sure. :unsure:

This article seems to say that self-employed whose work has dried up are having problems.

disclaimer:-
This is not a bash NZ post. It has caught my eye because we are in worldwide recession and when times are hard we protect our own. That's human nature.

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

Sorry to hear that!

Hopefully you can find some more work asap.:thumbsup:

There are many other people there that you could work with that would not discriminate at all no matter where youre from.

NZ like any country has a mixed bag of people, some tolerant some not so much.
Kiwis are amongst the most well travelled folk on earth but many have not gone further than the island they live on as well.

There is a relationship between NZ and England that I feel many english dont understand when they move to NZ.
Kiwi males especially grow up learning England is the old enemy and youll find most happy to say 'we support any team playing the poms' etc.
Now this may seem like schoolyard level thinking and in a way it is but its like the Irish or the Scots,Welsh etc with their rivalry with England as well.

I wouldnt take it too personally and just remember us humans tend to stick with what we know when the pressure comes on.

Again good luck with the work and persevere.

As a Kiwi male myself I can give you my opinion on this. When it comes to sport then yes I definitely DO hate the English and I would probably support any team playing England (especially in Rugby).

But you shouldn't confuse sport with real life so please don't take offense to this. In reality I actually love the Brits and probably many other Kiwis do as well. Like many other New Zealanders there's not one drop of blood in my veins that's not British and you probably wouldn't find anyone more proud of that than I am. So while I may not support England in rugby, I definitely haven't forgotten where I came from and our shared hertitage. We even have the same monarch and your flag appears on our flag.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation MHGS but you shouldn't take it personally. I am in a similar situation myself but as a Kiwi living in the UK. I have been unemployed in London for six months now after losing my job as a contractor, although I have now secured work back at my old company in April. That's the price that I have to pay for being a contractor during a recession, are you a contactor? And guess what, like you I cannot apply for the dole. I have a big stamp in my passport that says "No access to public funds", that is despite living here for 5 years and paying around £30,000 in tax each year. I am lucky in that I have enough savings to survive and I also have no debts, although I still have to pay the rent and all my other bills.

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

That sort of superior attitude won't get you many friends in NZ. I choose to live where I do for now because I like the buzz of living in Europe and I have a great 'get up and go' lifestyle. When I have had enough of that I may return to NZ and settle down in a laid back lifestyle. Nice as this sounds, it has its down sides and you have discovered them.

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

I never heard so much rubbish

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

Or a poor anybody for that matter.
I'm sorry to hear of your experiences, and I hope you find a good job to make up for the last one.

I too would love to hear why the dole is not available - its an important factor that others will need to take in to consideration given the current state of the economy. Maybe income insurance or something along those lines could be a solution (for others that is).

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

Hi AH30,
Bit off the thread, but I'm intrigued why you have this hate England in sport, after all you're not Scottish after all and they seem to believe they have a reason.:confused:;):confused:

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

That should explain it.

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

Sorry, here's the link.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle2652366.ece

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

aah, yes of course, what a genius I am. :p

If it's any consolation, when Scotland play I cheer for them, unless it's against England but that doesn't mean I hate them, just it's the place I was born.

Good luck with you're new job.:thumbup:

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

Aah, I'm not such a genius then.
I know a lot of England fans are so patriotic but some of the comments made are ridiculous and the fact that the newspapers like to cherry pick the most emotive comments and not all the true comments which wouldn't in their opinion sell papers etc.
That's why I dont read the papers and believe that the statistics clearly show that the AB's should win the worldcup most days and will win sometime soon, hopefully I'll be there to see them do it:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

One arrogant Kiwi bloke.

I used to work for a large roofing firm, and saw an opportunity to get into guttering devision, i was told but that department i would need a Hilux type truck to tow a machine, sweet i thought, so off and bought a truck, went and said to the guy running the show, got the gear, now when do i start, he keep saying "soon" and this went on for ages, i knew they wanted staff on that side, and they even advertised in press, so WTF ?

I asked another Kiwi chap who was already doing ery well on spouting side whats the go here then ? he replied " i think the chap doesnt like Pomes" well that made me mad, he had dangled the carott to much and not given me abite of it just because i was a Pome, right i thought i will **** him off, so i reasearched this chaps family tree, and as his surname was Taylor, i thought he might be Irish, true enough after finding his family tree, he was Irish and English decendant, so i printed off his family tree, fronted him up, and one thing i know about Kiwis is they dont like confrontation, dropped it in front of him whilst the office was full of people, told him what i thought of him, and told him, where he came from and where he could go, he did not say a word about his family tree, and i sadi to them all in office, chec`k all of your ancestory and 99% of you come from UK, Ireland, Scotland or Wales,

Not long after that i left, went self employed and have been working for myself for well over a year and half.

But TBH, i have only found that with that one chap, i think he though he was a Southern Man, hard as !! All of the clients i have are all Kiwis and they love what i do, they have repect for me and i with them.

My wife only found a few of the school mums in a certain area to be snobby, one said to my wife " we like you, but you'll never be one of the girls clan"

My wife said ": who cares"

Re: Milk has gone sour
 

Well they just called me to tell me that the job has been delayed indefinitely. So there's no luck for me there, I was so pleased that I would be finally going back to work.