5 years – who would have thought?
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Yep – it’s been 5 years now that we have lived here in New Zealand. According to many – I am not supposed to be a successful immigrant. I whinge too much: about sausages and bacon, about the houses, about the banks, about the politics, about the 100% pure marketing crap. I get homesick. I’m proud to be English and miss the UK, and at heart, even though I have citizenship in New Zealand, I am still English – probably will never think of myself as a Kiwi.
And yet – I’m still here, and happy to be here.
Yes – there are things that make my blood boil, things that enrage me, things about living here that frustrate me to the point of tears. But isn’t that the case anywhere? Much as I love the UK and have a huge sense of national pride (and no amount of being labelled a nasty white coloniser will change that) – there were things about living there I also didn’t like.
You simply do not have to like every single thing about the place you choose to live in order to be allowed to live there. If that were the case – we would have a world population of about 1000 people.
One day I will work on a list of my likes and dislikes – just to see which list has more items on it. What I do know is that despite the things I do not like about living in New Zealand, I love living here, and it terrifies me that Immigration New Zealand may yet be able to screw this up for me and make me go back to the UK because they are determined to keep families apart. What I have seen of New Zealand in the past year is the very worst it has to offer it’s immigrants, and if my family are not all welcome here, then in the end, I too will not stay.
Because at the end of the day, no matter how nice New Zealand’s beaches are, no matter how comparatively cheap the houses are, and that we have a pool and a big house – home for me is where the family is.
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Comments
One Comment on 5 years – who would have thought?
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Juli Ryan on
Sun, 3rd Jan 2010 7:22 pm
I’m relieved that the NZ lifestyle did not appeal to my parents. Although it probably means that some day I will have to move back to the US. Here’s to a better 2010!
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