Some days its tough

[ttash]

when you have no money and realise that your standard of living on a pure financial basis was sooo much better in the UK

When you have to mentally tally your groceries bill in the supermarket to make sure you have enough money to buy tomatoes AND apples

When you miss English Chedder cheese, Debenhams, Walkers crisps,nice and lovely smelling toiletries, buying things on impulse

When you miss your family and friends so much it physically hurts

When you dread getting ill or your car breaking down because you know you just cant afford to mend either one

Other days you are grateful for the positive things

fresh air and space
people who smile and wave at you for no reason
the positive attitude of New Zealanders
The kiwis mad passion for everything from hokey pokey ice cream to every conceivable sport
To open roads
To kids being kids and speaking to strangers without fear or danger and being able to play all day without parents worrying they wont be safe
Kiwi ingenuity
Beaches and collecting pipis


Today is a tough day but I just have a feeling that tomorrow will be better...

To all and any who are thinking of living here, its not easy and some days yu will feel like getting the first plane back home but when its good, its awesome!!

[MotherBear]

Good to hear your sentiments Ttash but also sorry to know that you've had a tough day . You have the right attitude to be able to look on the bright side when things are down and hope for better things to come. You have the ability to look past the bad bits and weight them up against the good bits. Bravo!

If it's any compensation, what I hear from people coming from the UK is that the country is all washed up and in a real mess. I'm not sure that those still living there realise how bad it is but, speaking to people who come and go between two countries and can make a comparison, they don't have much good to say about it. I'm sure you've made the right choice if you can only hang on.

As the kiwis say 'She'll be right'. Good luck to you and I hope your post will inspire others who are also having a tough day.

[kokopeli]

Hey Ttash, chin up. It could be worse.....

I heard an article on Radio NZ the other day about the migrants who arrived in Timaru sometime in the 1850s. They had been brought over from the UK by one of the trading companies and were told they could expect to find an emerging port settlement with a wharf, roads, shops and other ammenities. What they actually found was native bush. No roads, no buildings and definately no ammenities. There wasn't even a jetty, so they had to row ashore and start from scratch. Then the ship sailed away and left them to it. How fed up must they have been?

[Meadow]

Yip had many a day like that
I really dont want to go back,but i do keep worrying about the things that Ttash listed
Especially the bit about the car and docs.And missing family
And we have had delays in getting money transferred over,from family in the Uk,which can be hard on the old blood pressure
Also hubbys job,off and on constantly,doesnt help matters,as no secure income.
But hey,i do believe once we get perm residence,then that will be a huge load of pressure off
I think this constant fear of what if we dont get kept,terifies me
And even though we have all the skint days like Ttash,and the worry,We still feel its been a very worth while experience,and we have absolutly no regrets.
And yip we keep positive too,and take a stroll along the beach,and your soon over it.
Ttash your not alone

[kiaora!!]

Hi Ttash!!!

I know how you feel in some way, missing home and family etc.. it s not easy when you are far away, especially with the older ones in your family, I always worry about not ever seeing them again? never know what will happen!

And life is hard financially, but everybody in the world has that problem!
All my clients who used to have all the spare cash in the world are now struggling, people are not getting paid their wages, it s bloody tough out there at the moment, but it doesnt matter where you are in the world, we ll just have to struggle through this!

The missing home, food etc thing is true! but you don't realise what you have here in NZ until you go back home for a while! When I first left Germany in 04 I went back home for a holiday 6 months after I left and I cannot tell you how excited I was to be going back home! I remembered all the great things and for some reason had forgotten why I actually left!!!!
The excitement stopped tho as soon as I got to Frankfurt airport, rude immigration officers who look at you like you are not welcome and can hardly get a hello out of their mouths, unhappy faces everywhere, bad weather and the every day hassle of everything! I was ready to go back home (Australia at the time) after about 1week and by the time 2 weeks passed, I actually got so homesick for australia that I almost got depressed! I still look forward to go back to Germany to see my family and friends now, but nowhere near as much as when I first left.

For some reason we always want what we can't have, if we are in europe we crave the simple life of NZ and when we are in NZ we crave the food, family, better money etc in europe. We can't have everything and everybody has to make up their own mind what counts in life and what we are willing to give up!

I wish all of you who are having a hard time here all the best, NZ is paradise in it s own ways even tho life seems hard here sometimes!

[ttash]

thanks all

Some days just get me bewildered by the whole thing other days I just wouldnt change it for the world.

Your coments are support are much appreciated
x

[nattydread]

Hi Ttash,

I did chuckle when I read your post.. tallying up whether you can buy Apples AND tomatoes.. quite funny in a sad and pathetic way..
I'm there doing exactly that most Thirsday nights at Pak N Slave here in town..
3 years we've been here now (well in a couple of weeks time it'll be 3 years) and everything you said is spot on..

You do get shitty days, when the Fat Face catalogue arrives and the arse is falling out of your 3 month old Postie Plus jeans.. and when you can't get a coffee that day, cause the WOF is due, and you're just not sure how much they're going to sting you for..

but.. and it is a big but..

I wouldnt trade it for a minute of racing up streets to get to a gap in the parked cars so the on coming traffic can get past.. or the days and weeks of endless rain and cloud.. or not being able to see the kids being kids...

New Zealand isnt the Utopian Paradise I imagined ito be when I started out on this whole crazy immigration thing nearly 5 years ago,, but it's a damn site better than where we came from..

cheers craig

[TanyaJ]

I could really relate to your post!

I love NZ and am so glad we are here, but things are really tough. The difference in our financial situation here compared to in SA is vast... partially because of the move itself which cost a fortune, partially due to the very high cost of living in NZ and then partially due to only having 1 income now. Its very, very hard to deal with - especially when you add missing your family and friends so much.

[MotherBear]

Hi Craig and welcome back. Good to know you're still hanging on in there. Here's wishing you and yours all the best.

[Welshgirl]

Nice to hear from you again, Craig - glad that it's all been worth it for you (well, usually ). What you up to these days, apart from a lot of sewing jeans by the sound if it?