Originally Posted by mcuddy1

Lets lighten the mood all countries have their problems but this one (UK) is a shit hole, the only thing i will recommend when going to NZ is to have your tastebuds removed as the food tastes crap .I have asked Tesco if they deliver in NZ but no luck. Better get used to Aldi or Netto although I have never been to these. Cheers
C

Originally Posted by mcuddy1

Lets lighten the mood all countries have their problems but this one (UK) is a shit hole, the only thing i will recommend when going to NZ is to have your tastebuds removed as the food tastes crap .I have asked Tesco if they deliver in NZ but no luck. Better get used to Aldi or Netto although I have never been to these. Cheers
C

Originally Posted by StevieB

Have read all of the above with interest. I never believed New Zealand to be a paradise and am prepared to face things that have been mentioned, but, with all the posts saying basically 'you get the same problems in NZ as UK'...can anyone tell me if
... a child's passport application has been turned down in NZ because her shoulders were bare in the photo and it might offend someone, or
....has a motion been put forward to the leaders of the New Zealand church to displace the patron saint of New Zealand because 'he may offend other religions' (as has happened with St George at the General Synod in the UK last month...it didn't get passed by the way), or
...Has anyone been banned from displaying traditional Christmas scenes because 'it fails to reflect the multicultural society of the country and may offend those of other religions'...?
I could go on, but I get the impression, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that this doesn't happen in NZ, and it is because of these and other incidents too numerous to mention, along with the ease with which people of the European Union, among others, can now just come into the country without any checks to see if THEY can support themselves, and the very poor leadership and decisions made by our government recently, and the fact that nobody really knows what being English means anymore, and more reasons than I am going to list here, that I have no qualms about leaving the country and starting again in a place where the society, to my admittedly limited view point, is more like the England I grew up in than the England I now live in. It wasn't perfect either, but it was a damn site better than it is now!

I am, of course, prepared for the slating I am probably going to get for this, but I don't care 'cos I'm off to the Kiwi Bar!

Originally Posted by theguitardoctor

Hit the nail on it's bloody huge, very obvious head.....By the way Christmas is referred to as "Holiday celebrations" in many areas now, (admittedly this is decided by the local councils, but hey) so as to remove the reference to Christ. Never mind I'm off to the Middle East with a bunch of mates, we're intent on settling in many countries whereupon we intend to ask the Govt's for funding to build some Christian churches....

Originally Posted by StevieB

LOL...I have ALWAYS wondered how that would go down! Expect to see you very soon in a video stating you have converted to Islam!

Originally Posted by theguitardoctor

Hey, I already have a beard...just a few more steps....

Seriously though, Islam itself is a peaceful religion (just before anyone persecutes me as a religious-ist ... yup, I invented that word), it's the few extremists that need stopping. I know many from the Islamic faith and they are all good people. However, my point about the churches stands....doubt I'd get away with building one in the Middle East, so why here, and why Govt funded...fine if the followers get together and fund it themselves with only a little Govt assistance, though I doubt even this would wash if I were to try it in the Middle east.

Originally Posted by StevieB

I totally agree with you. Having spent time in Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, your normal man in the street does not consider your religion in the way they treat you, which is for the most part courteously and openly...in fact quite a bit friendlier than the reception they may get in more 'advanced' european countries. Anyway, I think we've probably hijacked this thread for long enough.....Normal service should be resumed soon

Originally Posted by StevieB

Have read all of the above with interest. I never believed New Zealand to be a paradise and am prepared to face things that have been mentioned, but, with all the posts saying basically 'you get the same problems in NZ as UK'...can anyone tell me if
... a child's passport application has been turned down in NZ because her shoulders were bare in the photo and it might offend someone, or
....has a motion been put forward to the leaders of the New Zealand church to displace the patron saint of New Zealand because 'he may offend other religions' (as has happened with St George at the General Synod in the UK last month...it didn't get passed by the way), or
...Has anyone been banned from displaying traditional Christmas scenes because 'it fails to reflect the multicultural society of the country and may offend those of other religions'...?
I could go on, but I get the impression, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that this doesn't happen in NZ, and it is because of these and other incidents too numerous to mention, along with the ease with which people of the European Union, among others, can now just come into the country without any checks to see if THEY can support themselves, and the very poor leadership and decisions made by our government recently, and the fact that nobody really knows what being English means anymore, and more reasons than I am going to list here, that I have no qualms about leaving the country and starting again in a place where the society, to my admittedly limited view point, is more like the England I grew up in than the England I now live in. It wasn't perfect either, but it was a damn site better than it is now!

I am, of course, prepared for the slating I am probably going to get for this, but I don't care 'cos I'm off to the Kiwi Bar!

Originally Posted by SirEglamore

We've had this conversation before, have we not

Originally Posted by StevieB

that I have no qualms about leaving the country and starting again in a place where the society, to my admittedly limited view point, is more like the England I grew up in than the England I now live in. It wasn't perfect either, but it was a damn site better than it is now!

Originally Posted by Apple12

Ummmm, NZ is it's own place, and is not like a Little England at all. NZ has its own culture, way of doing things and people who are generally very proud of its unique culture. If you emigrate to a new country and expect that is just like the England of your childhood you will be very disappointed. It isn't. You will be an immigrant into a different culture, and will need to adapt to be able to settle comfortably into life here. Getting off the plane and having expectations on how it will be will set yourself up for a very stressful time.

Currently in NZ there is a debate about banning children saying a prayer as part of school assembly - which of course rules out the national anthem being taught at schools (it starts "god of nations, at your feet, in the bonds of love we meet, hear our voices we entreat, god defend our free land").
I have no idea how the OP got the idea that NZ is a religious nutter zone - I have had the exact opposite experience, NZ seems to be far more secular in every day life.

BTW, back to the OP again, I am not sure that calling the locals "dim" is the best way to find new friends...

Originally Posted by mcuddy1

Lets lighten the mood all countries have their problems but this one (UK) is a shit hole, the only thing i will recommend when going to NZ is to have your tastebuds removed as the food tastes crap .I have asked Tesco if they deliver in NZ but no luck. Better get used to Aldi or Netto although I have never been to these. Cheers
C

Originally Posted by Am Loolah

I went on the Polish forum and told them how good it is here in the UK (?!), now 600,000 of them have turned up?!

Originally Posted by StevieB

Have read all of the above with interest. I never believed New Zealand to be a paradise and am prepared to face things that have been mentioned, but, with all the posts saying basically 'you get the same problems in NZ as UK'...can anyone tell me if
... a child's passport application has been turned down in NZ because her shoulders were bare in the photo and it might offend someone, or
....has a motion been put forward to the leaders of the New Zealand church to displace the patron saint of New Zealand because 'he may offend other religions' (as has happened with St George at the General Synod in the UK last month...it didn't get passed by the way), or
...Has anyone been banned from displaying traditional Christmas scenes because 'it fails to reflect the multicultural society of the country and may offend those of other religions'...?
I could go on, but I get the impression, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that this doesn't happen in NZ, and it is because of these and other incidents too numerous to mention, along with the ease with which people of the European Union, among others, can now just come into the country without any checks to see if THEY can support themselves, and the very poor leadership and decisions made by our government recently, and the fact that nobody really knows what being English means anymore, and more reasons than I am going to list here, that I have no qualms about leaving the country and starting again in a place where the society, to my admittedly limited view point, is more like the England I grew up in than the England I now live in. It wasn't perfect either, but it was a damn site better than it is now!

I am, of course, prepared for the slating I am probably going to get for this, but I don't care 'cos I'm off to the Kiwi Bar!