Quote:
Originally Posted by KiwiHopeful
Rather, it's a real issue. People who don't deal well with things back at home probably shouldn't try out an expat lifestyle. No one should come here thinking that NZ is enough like the US that they won't notice the difference every single day.
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And not just the US KH eh? I've been lucky enough to share time with immigrants from at least a dozen different countries since being here and they all re-iterate the same thing, NZ is NZ not their 'home' country and they have to deal with the fundamental differences every day. Some obviously deal with it better than others and I think where you're from does make a difference.
I too miss TK Maxx! Well what I miss is decent quality clothing/homewares for a reasonable price. In the UK if you buy cheap you get cheap, if you're prepared to pay a bit more you get good quality, I know the same to be true in the States in fact to a greater degree because good quality, well-made clothes are much cheaper in the US than in the UK but here, well pay cheap get cheap, pay a lot still get cheap. It's frustrating when your new $350 bedding drops to pieces in the 3rd wash
Maybe we should pool our cash KH and start our own shadow company KHDawns
Our house is an old villa style house. Yes the windows are draughty, the wooden floor is draughty but our house in the UK was a 200 yr old cottage. The doors didn't fit, the single glazed windows didn't fit, the central heating cost us ?800 a month to run andmost of the heat went out of the none insulated walls and barely adequately insulated roof. It wasn't unusual for us to have 4 or 5 layers on in winter indoors! As for sockets, we've got loads. The kitchen is well fitted and included the dishwasher, in the UK white goods don't come with the house unless they're integrated, it's normal to have to provide your own washer, dryer, fridge etc they're the kind of things we move with us from house to house. As for tumble dryers - come on guys - get your stuff out on the line, think of the environment and for me the smell of that clean washing when it's been dried in the fresh air is something special.
The same goes for cleaning products, unless you buy the Eco friendly kind there's really no need to use as many as we do, many of them have been proven to be detrimental to health when used consistently and you know that we need to have germs around to build an immunity to them. Those people that scrub their kids clean with detergent at every opportunity really aren't doing themselves or their kids any favours. We used to play in the soil and the gutters when we were kids and although there will be those that would dispute it, we all grew up OK. The whole 'everything must be spotlessly clean' thing is just a clever marketing idea thought up by the massive pharmaceutical companies to keep their big fat capitalist wheels in motion. They've done a good job of brain-washing the masses.
KH I'm wondering whether the detergent thing is just a cultural difference. When we were in the states we couldn't find a detergent we liked. Here we buy Persil Sensitive. In the UK it was Persil non-biological, I have to use a non-biological because a couple of my kids have eczema so I have to be a bit careful but it washes well. You US guys tend to use the liquid don't you? Forgive me if I'm wrong.
There's nothing wrong with having a moan, we all have a moan from time to time but there's something to remember, if we don't like it here, if we're really disappointed and we find that coming here hasn't been as we expected, then we can always go home. When we left the UK we knew why we were leaving the UK, we didn't know why we were coming to NZ. It will be what it will be and we will either stay or we won't but whilst we're making up our mind we'll try to get the most out of being here that we can. Whatever happens we'll learn a few things