New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[niterider]

Dollies or orcas?

 

Orcas. About 10 of them apparently. Possibly the same pod that has been spotted around Okahu Bay and Kohi beach.

[Rocket-Boy]

Orcas. About 10 of them apparently. Possibly the same pod that has been spotted around Okahu Bay and Kohi beach.

Amazing creatures. Still I doubt you would want them to come say hi if you were on a SUP!

[hayleyearth]

Been in my NZ job for 3 months today....WOW feels WAY longer! I have discovered plenty of good and bad things (only in the last 2 weeks) of my company and the people around here. It is VERY 'black vs white' (in a non racial way). You get the people that work, the ones that goes the extra mile and the ones that wants to improve themselves and the company and then then you get the lot that heavens alone know what they actually do, there's scary amount of them here. "Non-technical Engineers"...yip, that is what they are called...WTH? This place is so big, if you are under a 'lazy ladder climbing' manager it is easy to disappear in the labs or gardens without anyone knowing for the whole day. The reason why I love it here is because there's PLENTY to learn. Since I have been here I have operated machinery I never in my life even saw in real life not even talking about operating myself (yip, I have no nails left = hands on job); extruders with corrugators, laser cutters, CNC machines, molding machines...all this without having to fill in a piece of paper 'signing my life away' or someone else peeking over my shoulder. Currently my colleague and I are having to deal with loads of company politics though with the project we are working on. I am a Process Engineer here (the only chick in the Process team ), but now the Product teams are fighting to get their hands on our project since we got some things right. They even invited him and I to some brainstorming meetings regarding some of their projects and now my manager has told us to not entertain them because they all have their own man power etc etc....... flip never had to deal with this sorts of things at a job. Back home we were always too few people in Development; 1 person doing 3 peoples work, here they have the head count, but it seems it is more like a company advertising tool "we have SO many engineers, from SO many different countries, SO many woman, etc etc" but if I look around, not many are thinkers and do'ers! LOADS of socializing.

 

I think I am getting my 1st bug.... Felt a cold sore appearing last night, it was there this morning.... I have been quite busy ad stressed lately so hopefully just lack of sleep and depletion of energy other than a proper bug.

[Amberdrake]

Heyley your just lucky in your sa job, We do 3 peoples jobs and then every department will try moving some workload to another department

Unfortunately our timelines are always behind, and project implementation periods super short.

I miss the days of CNC machines and casting extruders etc. 

These days all I do is SCADA excluding control system. (Read IT)

Sounds like a fun job get rid of that cold! Its gonna hamper the riding and all that

[Wayne Potgieter]

Just bought two tickets to go watch Disturbed.

 

For me and a good mate.

 

Its gonna be epic. I love heavy metal concerts. I always come home with a black eye from getting in a fight.

 

Its gonna be a jol.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[patches]

One of the bad things regarding NZ...

 

Not enough public holidays!

One of the good things about that though... Saturday public holidays get pushed onto Mondays, and back when there's a double Sunday & Monday public holiday, the Sunday one leap frogs to Tuesday. (Christmas and Boxing day are like that this year).

Next one in site for us Cantabrians though... all the way in October   

But accommodation all booked for the glaciers that weekend!!

[Ramrod]

One of the bad things regarding NZ...

 

Not enough public holidays!

 

One of the good things about that though... Saturday public holidays get pushed onto Mondays, and back when there's a double Sunday & Monday public holiday, the Sunday one leap frogs to Tuesday. (Christmas and Boxing day are like that this year).

 

Next one in site for us Cantabrians though... all the way in October   

 

But accommodation all booked for the glaciers that weekend!!

I did the count as I felt the same. In SA we had 13. in NZ we have 11.

[Wayne Potgieter]

So I created this thread to talk about the journey of fitting in to a new country. The thread title is all about the good and the bad. So far, we have mostly been talking about the good. I would like to talk a little about the bad.

 

Don’t kid yourself. There are some negatives. 

 

• Missing friends and family and your familiar support structure
• The first 6 months are really tumultuous. Lots of highs as you discover new things. Then the reality starts setting in and the normal day to day grind starts taking its toll
• The winter days are pretty short and I miss the summer. It’s not super cold or anything, but every day just feels rushed.

 

 

Like any married couple, my wife and I argue about things. I don’t understand why, I am pretty sure I am perfect to live with. (Insert sarcasm font). Back in SA we were used to dealing with those days with Jobs that gave us satisfaction and friends to discuss things with. Also, we had really busy social lives and were able to take a break from the bad by doing "regular" things. It is (for now) different here. We are only beginning to build up social circles. This means that when we feel blue or down, we internalize things and it festers and molehills become mountains. We are trying to find new ways to deal with old problems. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t.

 

Job satisfaction is non-existent and the corporate culture is very different, so I can’t even throw myself at my work for a few days to get over the hurdles. 

 

I knew when I signed up for this that the first two years were going to be emotional and ever changing. I still firmly believe in my decision to move and genuinely believe that this will pay dividends in the mid to long run.

 

I know I am not alone in these thoughts. I am friends with a lot of people on this thread as well as other South Africans that have made the move and we talk a lot outside of the hub. I know we are all having ups and downs. Some of us are battling to find our feet at work, or are maybe battling to adjust to the way our relationships are changing with our significant others. But we need to just remember that this is a long term plan. 

 

When investing in shares or properties, it pays to ignore the daily up and down fluctuations and focus on the long term. I need to remember that there will be bad days. 

 

I look to my children for inspiration. They love their new lives here. When we bring up RSA they, tell us they don’t want to go back. They are having too much fun.

 

I suppose, I need to relax a bit and go with the flow. To stop comparing to my old life and rather embrace the positives in the new life.

 

Maybe this is a great opportunity for me to leave the baggage from my old life behind and focus on the new and wipe the slate clean. This would apply to my marriage and the mistakes I have made.

 

I hope the rest of you read this and know that WHEN you have your bad days that you are not alone. 

[patches]

Definitely ups and downs!

 

I moved here alone. Didn't even know anyone in Christchurch. But the work guys are awesome, made a few other friends, had some move over to both Chch and AKL that I hang out with fairly often. Then there's the dirt bike and trans-Tasman social visits.

I'm busier than ever, but still missing friends and family back home...

...and I haven't turned a pedal in nearly 2 months 

[Andrew Steer]

So I created this thread to talk about the journey of fitting in to a new country. The thread title is all about the good and the bad. So far, we have mostly been talking about the good. I would like to talk a little about the bad.

 

Don’t kid yourself. There are some negatives. 

 

• Missing friends and family and your familiar support structure
• The first 6 months are really tumultuous. Lots of highs as you discover new things. Then the reality starts setting in and the normal day to day grind starts taking its toll
• The winter days are pretty short and I miss the summer. It’s not super cold or anything, but every day just feels rushed.

 

 

Like any married couple, my wife and I argue about things. I don’t understand why, I am pretty sure I am perfect to live with. (Insert sarcasm font). Back in SA we were used to dealing with those days with Jobs that gave us satisfaction and friends to discuss things with. Also, we had really busy social lives and were able to take a break from the bad by doing "regular" things. It is (for now) different here. We are only beginning to build up social circles. This means that when we feel blue or down, we internalize things and it festers and molehills become mountains. We are trying to find new ways to deal with old problems. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t.

 

Job satisfaction is non-existent and the corporate culture is very different, so I can’t even throw myself at my work for a few days to get over the hurdles. 

 

I knew when I signed up for this that the first two years were going to be emotional and ever changing. I still firmly believe in my decision to move and genuinely believe that this will pay dividends in the mid to long run.

 

I know I am not alone in these thoughts. I am friends with a lot of people on this thread as well as other South Africans that have made the move and we talk a lot outside of the hub. I know we are all having ups and downs. Some of us are battling to find our feet at work, or are maybe battling to adjust to the way our relationships are changing with our significant others. But we need to just remember that this is a long term plan. 

 

When investing in shares or properties, it pays to ignore the daily up and down fluctuations and focus on the long term. I need to remember that there will be bad days. 

 

I look to my children for inspiration. They love their new lives here. When we bring up RSA they, tell us they don’t want to go back. They are having too much fun.

 

I suppose, I need to relax a bit and go with the flow. To stop comparing to my old life and rather embrace the positives in the new life.

 

Maybe this is a great opportunity for me to leave the baggage from my old life behind and focus on the new and wipe the slate clean. This would apply to my marriage and the mistakes I have made.

 

I hope the rest of you read this and know that WHEN you have your bad days that you are not alone. 

 

Strongs to you badass... really admire the honesty!

It was never gonna be easy, but you guys are made of pretty stern stuff.

Focus on the positives, work on the negatives - I'm sure you can make this work 

[DIPSLICK]

Wayne with your CAN DO ATTITUDE I am confident you will make a plan for any negatives, that or you will just use that HARD head of yours to go through it

Bud if it was easy everyone would be there, head down grind on think BIGGER PICTURE good luck or HTFU

[Harryn]

So I created this thread to talk about the journey of fitting in to a new country. The thread title is all about the good and the bad. So far, we have mostly been talking about the good. I would like to talk a little about the bad.

 

Don’t kid yourself. There are some negatives.

 

• Missing friends and family and your familiar support structure
• The first 6 months are really tumultuous. Lots of highs as you discover new things. Then the reality starts setting in and the normal day to day grind starts taking its toll
• The winter days are pretty short and I miss the summer. It’s not super cold or anything, but every day just feels rushed.

 

Like any married couple, my wife and I argue about things. I don’t understand why, I am pretty sure I am perfect to live with. (Insert sarcasm font). Back in SA we were used to dealing with those days with Jobs that gave us satisfaction and friends to discuss things with. Also, we had really busy social lives and were able to take a break from the bad by doing "regular" things. It is (for now) different here. We are only beginning to build up social circles. This means that when we feel blue or down, we internalize things and it festers and molehills become mountains. We are trying to find new ways to deal with old problems. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t.

 

Job satisfaction is non-existent and the corporate culture is very different, so I can’t even throw myself at my work for a few days to get over the hurdles.

 

I knew when I signed up for this that the first two years were going to be emotional and ever changing. I still firmly believe in my decision to move and genuinely believe that this will pay dividends in the mid to long run.

 

I know I am not alone in these thoughts. I am friends with a lot of people on this thread as well as other South Africans that have made the move and we talk a lot outside of the hub. I know we are all having ups and downs. Some of us are battling to find our feet at work, or are maybe battling to adjust to the way our relationships are changing with our significant others. But we need to just remember that this is a long term plan.

 

When investing in shares or properties, it pays to ignore the daily up and down fluctuations and focus on the long term. I need to remember that there will be bad days.

 

I look to my children for inspiration. They love their new lives here. When we bring up RSA they, tell us they don’t want to go back. They are having too much fun.

 

I suppose, I need to relax a bit and go with the flow. To stop comparing to my old life and rather embrace the positives in the new life.

 

Maybe this is a great opportunity for me to leave the baggage from my old life behind and focus on the new and wipe the slate clean. This would apply to my marriage and the mistakes I have made.

 

I hope the rest of you read this and know that WHEN you have your bad days that you are not alone.

Mature. Dead Honest. Deep insight.

 

Much respect.

[niterider]

Very good points there Wayne. Changing a job, or moving towns or countries, are difficult enough on their own, but do them together and throw in the other complications that come along with those, and its a surefire recipe for a period of immense stress.

 

We were very fortunate to be able to avoid one of those stresses in that I remained working remotely for the same (US-based) company through our whole move. My wife however has spent the better part of 3 years trying to get her own consulting business off the ground. It has consumed a tremendous amount of effort (and money), and is still not something that we can count on for a regular income. The emotional stress of all that spent energy with not much reward is pretty draining and I am regularly called on to play cheerleader.

 

Another aspect of life in Auckland (and I imagine other parts of NZ too) is that we've made some very good friends, only to have the best ones leave Auckland (to Melbourne and Queenstown in our case). So one is never done with rebuilding a circle of friends.

 

Thinking about this kind of stuff puts me in a bad headspace, so I'll stick it back in its little dark room at the back of my brain, and get on with life. The many things we love about New Zealand and our new life here far outweigh the challenges.

[intern]

When we first arrived some good mates of ours (and the only Safas we know in Whakatane) said it takes at least 5 years before you fully feel at home. They'd been here 5 years. They were right. And it takes longer the older you are.

Not sure if this helps, but life is, in any event, just a looooong series of problems you have to face and solve the best you can. I thought about this recently in the context of winning the lotto (which I have singularly failed to do). Even if you score all that cash, you will just exchange one set of problems for another. Whether one set is preferable to the other is, really, in the wider scheme of things, moot (yeah I know, I'd prefer the problems of too much cash rather than not enough - but on the other hand, you do not need to look hard to find examples of major stuff ups and unhappiness following lotto wins).

What we have to get used to here is dealing with first world problems, in a very literal sense, but definitely the knocks to career and social status are difficult to bear. You tend to feel a bit like 'dammit, but I've done my hard yards'. But now ya gots to do dem again.

Just the fact that any and all of you lads (we're all lads now, no sexual discrimination) are over here is testament to a certain strength of character (and let me just balance that by saying I am by no means slighting those who choose to stay - your strength of character lies in dealing with the set of problems in SA).

Yes, it's hard, but you probably have the means to get it sorted.

And hey the cold snap will pass, winter is over and the Bay of Islands, Lakes Tarawera and Waikaremoana, the Hauraki Gulf and much, much more, beckon. Yeeha!

[intern]

Definitely ups and downs!

 

I moved here alone. Didn't even know anyone in Christchurch. But the work guys are awesome, made a few other friends, had some move over to both Chch and AKL that I hang out with fairly often. Then there's the dirt bike and trans-Tasman social visits.

 

I'm busier than ever, but still missing friends and family back home...

 

...and I haven't turned a pedal in nearly 2 months 

Go ride ya bike it will help make you happy.

 

That's advice for Mister WP also ;-)

[intern]

Very good points there Wayne. Changing a job, or moving towns or countries, are difficult enough on their own, but do them together and throw in the other complications that come along with those, and its a surefire recipe for a period of immense stress.

 

We were very fortunate to be able to avoid one of those stresses in that I remained working remotely for the same (US-based) company through our whole move. My wife however has spent the better part of 3 years trying to get her own consulting business off the ground. It has consumed a tremendous amount of effort (and money), and is still not something that we can count on for a regular income. The emotional stress of all that spent energy with not much reward is pretty draining and I am regularly called on to play cheerleader.

 

Another aspect of life in Auckland (and I imagine other parts of NZ too) is that we've made some very good friends, only to have the best ones leave Auckland (to Melbourne and Queenstown in our case). So one is never done with rebuilding a circle of friends.

 

Thinking about this kind of stuff puts me in a bad headspace, so I'll stick it back in its little dark room at the back of my brain, and get on with life. The many things we love about New Zealand and our new life here far outweigh the challenges.

Yeh man, it is difficult to start new business here. A lot of folk mistakenly believe they can rock up and show the locals how it is done - but it just doesn't work like that, the locals have been at it since forever...