Reintroducing myself...

[GordonUK]

Hi,
My name is Gordon. I'm from the UK.
(If you'd guessed that already, my username is clearly well chosen.)
I'm a primary school teacher who is seriously considering the possibility of emigration to NZ. I'm keeping an interested eye on all those posts about cost of living compared with incomes...
I'd be interested to hear from any other teachers (particularly primary) who have made the move.

[Welshgirl]

Hey Gordon,

Re-welcome to the forum

Why did you pick NZ? Are you considering moving to any other country? You said you are seriously considering the possibility of coming here - what would have to happen to make you definitely want to come here? Sorry to be so nosey, I'm just curious as to why people decide a) to leave the UK and b) to move to NZ in particular.....

[MotherBear]

again Gordon. Good to see you're still kicking around the forum.

Originally Posted by GordonUK

I'm keeping an interested eye on all those posts about cost of living compared with incomes...

Yes, always a biggy, that one, and can end up being quite controversial, too.

[GordonUK]

Hi Welshgirl,
I picked NZ as my first choice for any eventual migration from the UK for a number of reasons:

• It's a beautiful place, and I find natural beauty refreshing and conducive to happiness;
• It's a relatively sparsely populated place and I don't like crowds;
• It appears to suffer relatively low levels of crime;
• It appears to suffer less from the materialistic approach that places wealth and possessions above true quality of life;
• It appears that the youth of NZ are less likely to be pressurised into the drink and drugs culture;
• It appears that other social values and attitudes are more like those of the UK of some time ago.

All of these are general statements in some way or other and I'm sure each could be contradicted with specific examples. They are all based on the relatively slight research I have so far carried out and I myself might subsequently come to disagree with my own current line of thought. Having said that, I would be pleased to be 'diasagreed with' by those who have far more practical experience of life in NZ - the Kiwis themselves!
I am not seriously considering any other country - yet.
To definitely want to go to NZ I would need just about all my positive perceptions of the country to be proved correct (as far as that is reasonable) and as few negatives as possible remaining to dissuade me.
My reasons for considering leaving the UK are quite numerous and relate to a degree of dissatisfaction with various aspects of our country's culture (reading the above list of things that attract me to NZ will give several clues, I suspect!) and, most importantly to me, a deep concern about the society that my daughter (currently aged 6) will be asked to grow up in.
I actually live in a fairly beautiful part of the UK (north east England) which is nowhere near as crowded or crime-ridden as some other parts, but it is still far from perfect. I have a stable job and a decent standard of living, so they play no part in my thinking at all.
I hope that's given you an insight into the workings of my mind...
(By the way - it's not a Freudian slip: when I typed 'I' above, I did, of course, mean 'we' as in my wife and I.)

[Bermy Girl]

Well said GordonUK! I would have to say ditto 100%. Quality of life is the number one priority on my list for my son and I...he's 2(almost). People often think life must be idylic living in Bermuda, which is often called paradise, but just because it's beautiful, sunny and has lovely beaches does not make it paradise! It's not about money or standard of living, Bermuda's ranked number 2 in the world, but let me asure you that money is not everything. If I could leave tomorrow, I'd be off to NZ in a heartbeat.

[KiwiHopeful]

Hello Gordon!

I think that you'll find most of the people here on this forum and similarly minded with regards to what attracts us to NZ. There's occasionally passionate debate about some matters--especially financial concerns--but its in the spirit of everyone being genuinely concerned about making the right decision and at times that means examining all sides of the issues.

In the end, though, most of us here have decided that NZ is the best place for our families--our children--to thrive.