lapsed kiwi

Closer to sweeping, exaggerated generalisations than outright lies, although I'm being a bit charitable towards some of the more lurid statements.

scracha

They weren't made to offend kiwis....this forum is called BritishExpats.com is it not?

Yes, they are generalisations but that's what we are all talking about (e.g. back in the UK there are a few people in the SE England that spark up conversations on the train but in general they dont). If you're going to give people an idea of a country based on your own experiences then you have to generalise. Other ex pats (no all winging jocks and poms either) I speak to in this area sing a pretty similar tune.

I wouldn't particularly say they're exaggerated either. Perhaps when talking about bad neighbours, I should have used the words "some" instead of "many" but I firmly stand by the rest of my comments (*1). I'd be interested in which of my comments you believe are particularly exaggerated?

What I can't exaggerate enough is that in general Kiwi's are fabulous people and that alone makes up for all the negatives I've expressed (never mind the other +ve's such as the lifestyle). Otherwise I wouldn't be here would I?

lapsed kiwi

Here are a few:
- housing - there are plenty of great, well designed and well built houses around; any house less than around 5 years old will be adequately insulated; you don't need to build your own to get a good one
- drink-driving - is not a popular hobby, nor is it socially acceptable, at least with the people I mix with. It's also strong grounds for dismissal for my employer (the govt)
- I wouldn't say TV is abysmal; it's certainly not as good as UK TV but we watch an hour or two per night and there's usually at least 5-6 hours of decent stuff in reserve on our hard-drive recorder. Worth getting Sky though
I won't go into the environmental stuff because you've obviously had some bad experiences. If I had to go snorkelling in Auckland harbour or the Pool of London, I know what my choice would be though
Glad to hear you're enjoying NZ on the whole though - maybe a change of house and neighbours would be a good idea?

Batty

They are a fact to Scracha I have no doubt, but they're not to me, nor many other people. A person cannot make a statement based on their own lives and expect that it will apply to everyone.

Hiya Sarah Last night was good TV - ER & Gray's Anatomy (first series that I missed) so I wasn't on the pc for long.