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Thread: Well, the 1 year point has come and gone...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Tauranga, NZ
    Posts
    334

    Default Well, the 1 year point has come and gone...

    I can't believe it! We've been in New Zealand for a year! Our 1 year anniversary was last week. We were going to go out to dinner, but since we had just bought our first BBQ, we BBQ'd at home instead! So very kiwi! LOL

    It has been a very interesting journey for us... for those of you who don't know I am married to a kiwi who moved to the US as a teenager, which is where we met. He still has family here and he just really wanted to come back, so here we are!

    I have to say the last 6 months have been much better than the previous 6 months, which has been really good for me. The first 6 were quite tough as I had a hard time being away from my family and struggled to adjust to living in a new place. My hubby found it much easier to slip into life here than I did and he is LOVING it! I have never seen him so happy and at peace. He started work shortly after we arrived and I finally found a job (part-time) about 5 months ago. We've met a lot of people in the last 6 months and are starting to make friends and that has been very positive thing for us and has really helped us feel settled.

    We went back to the US to visit our family for a few in October. I was so excited to go back! I was hoping to find some closure and confirmation that NZ is where I want to be and that this was the right move, but I didn't quite get that. It was a mixed bag really... It was so nice to be close with all our family and friends, which was the hard part about defining how I feel about our move. But I was startled to realize how everything was exactly like I left it. Everyone is busy doing this and that all the time and commercialism and materialism still reign. I almost felt uncomfortable with frantic lifestyle there with always being busy, stores and restaurants being open all hours of the day, busy roads and traffic jams, lots of cars and street lights everywhere. I don't miss that at all! I gained a deep appreciation for our simpler, quieter life I live in New Zealand and decided that is what I prefer, especially after getting back here and into our routine. So in a sense I did find some validation that my life here is good.

    There are still some struggles here and there, but as time goes on I feel more and more comfortable with my surroundings. Though there are still days when I still can't believe I am here! It is so beautiful and I love being so close to the beach...it's good for my soul. I am so glad things are going better for us and that I am settling in. It doesn't quite feel like home yet, but I am really enjoying our life here and really excited for the future and making a home and life here.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    Congratulations! I'm glad things are working out for you - you're making it happen by the way you are, I'm sure.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Manchester > Now Tauranga
    Posts
    4,393

    Default

    I can't believe it's a year. But glad things are going well.

    Duncan

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    317

    Default

    Wonderful update. Thank you from a fairly newbie here.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    14

    Default

    Your post gives great perspective with good timing for me... we will be moving to NZ from Canada hopefully in January, hubby is Kiwi as well. I'm looking forward to seeing my husband happy and at peace being home after being away from his family for 8 years, as well as having a quieter lifestyle away from the ratrace. I expect to have a hard time initially with the transition to being away from my family and our kids settling in to a new life with new school/friends etc., but my hope is that the culture and lifestyle NZ offers will be a great fit for our family. Its helpful to hear about your experience, it settles my nerves a bit as we get closer to the reality of moving!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Reading your post has given me a lot of reassurance. I am about to make the move to NZ for my partner as well and spending these last few months with my immediate family makes me wonder how I can do this and move so far away from home. I am looking forward to the move and I am pretty sure I will love NZ, I guess I will just have to start saving for a trip home every year!

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