NationStates Jolt Archive

My spouse and I are seriously considering a move to New Zealand...we're Americans and looking for a change/adventure before we become too rooted to our current community...any kiwis out there w/ information to share? Any American ex-pats with stories or advice?

Lucky you! Are you a engineer? or (para) medic? Because that is what they ask for.

Good luck in Paradise!

No, husband is a talented programmer...I'm a high school teacher...both occupations are listed as "in demand" on the skilled migrant listing.

Its like the land of the amazons. They have the highest number of female politicans and general authority figures of any country over there.

Its wet. And they speak funny. But If you like nature and junk you'll love it in New Zealand. Its kinda like Canada I suppose, But better!

But I am of course speaking outta my ass.

Its like the land of the amazons. They have the highest number of female politicans and general authority figures of any country over there.

Its wet. And they speak funny. But If you like nature and junk you'll love it in New Zealand. Its kinda like Canada I suppose, But better!

But I am of course speaking outta my ass.

America the book refered to it as "australia's canada"

My spouse and I are seriously considering a move to New Zealand...we're Americans and looking for a change/adventure before we become too rooted to our current community...any kiwis out there w/ information to share? Any American ex-pats with stories or advice?



Yeeeeeeah, I can give advice on that one, as I am an NZ passport holder. The thing I like about New Zealand is that it is one place where British culture still lingers. The UK has sold itself out to immigrants and is now a foreign land.

Cultural oddities you may notice are that New Zealand has a very laid-back culture and the people love to tell one another off all the time. For instance, my uncle and aunt traditionally spend the whole of a long car journey bitching at each other.

If you like extreme sports, you will enjoy living in New Zealand. There is bungy-jumping (started by A. J. Hackett), zorbing, rap-jumping (like abseiling, but facing downwards), white and black water rafting etc.

If you would like to know more, you can e-mail me at graemephillips@colombia.com .

America the book refered to it as "australia's canada"
Would we still be able to watch Jon Stewart? I wonder?

Well, there's a US state to it's west called Australia. :confused:
You'll feel at home. :p

America the book refered to it as "australia's canada"

Really? I call it Australia's Mexico.

And I'm sure you'd be able watch John Stewart on Cable. Or at least satelite.
I amazed at the Number of Stewart Devotees. They seemed to have popped up outta nowhere. I mean, He been around for a while and I like him. But really....

Baa!

Yeah. Isn't beastiality legal in NZ?

Yeah. Isn't beastiality legal in NZ?


EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Please edit that post its mutilating the thread.

Ask away. I'm a Kiwi (though I recently moved to HK) and have lived and travelled all over NZ. What would you like to know?
First, Jon Stewart can be seen on CNN, but it's only a Worldwide weekly show at the weekend. And it's just a repeat. But better than nothing.
The Cafe culture has taken off in a massive way over there. You can get a decent cup of coffee practically anywhere - last place I was living had a population of 5000 and had 3 cafes. And we're talking decent espresso, not the watery crap you get in Starbucks (which unfortunately is over there as well).
I was a High school teacher in NZ, incidently. So any info you want to know about teaching there I can supply. One thing: Check the Govt Education site:
http://www.teachnz.govt.nz/
and this site:
http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/
Which has job listings. Best time to look right now, as the school year is winding down (mid-december). You need to give 6 weeks notice if you want to leave, so most ppl give notice around now, as that means their notice happens during the 6 week holiday (ahh Summer hols. Bliss).
Auckland is pretty expensive, especially on a teacher's salary (though to be honest a teacher's salary isn't too bad, and it's just gone up. So you're looking at close to $60k NZ at top of the scale). If you're into outdoor activities, I'd recommend looking for a job down south, as there's plenty to do there (hiking, skiing, rafting, surfing, fishing etc) but it's bloody cold! Also you miss out on seeing the Kauri trees and beaches in Northland. :)
That said, there's plenty to see and do in the North Island too. And at least there's shopping and good restaurants in Auckland. Whangarei is very nice and only 100 minutes north of Auckland. And it doesn't get too cold and has magnificient beaches and diving.
If you do decide on living outside the big centres, prepare yourself for very limited shopping and having everyone know what you're up to. ;)
Finally, make sure you know the rules of Rugby and Cricket b4 you come over. And who's who in the national team and the latest scandal over who's been dropped/picked. First you'll impress everyone and make instant friends. Second, if you don't you'll sit there confused and bewildered as to what the hell everyone's going on and on about. And NEVER say "Didn't the Aussies play well last night?"

....

0.0

Did you just say that teachers got a pay rise?

....

That blows my mind.....

Did you just say that teachers got a pay rise? Pay increases of between 8.74 and 13.1 per cent over the next three years.

FCUK!

Thats.... Decent.....

I'm scared.


Jesus christ. I think those feminists are right about women being able to run countries better than men.

Bah!

I'm an American who married a Kiwi and lived over there for 7 years (we moved back to the States 3 years ago). It's a beautiful country, and I'd be happy to move back there some day. The cultural divide isn't overly huge, but there is one. Admittedly, the hardest time I had was during the southern winter, and I was always terribly homesick around the 4th of July. Strangely enough, sunny warm Christmases and New Years never bothered me much (the extra days off work around then help). ;)

FCUK!
Thats.... Decent.....
I'm scared.
Jesus christ. I think those feminists are right about women being able to run countries better than men.
I forgot to mention they also got increased non-contact time.
If it makes you feel better, the Education Minister's a man. But he's an absolute prick.

Bah!

I forgot to mention they also got increased non-contact time.
If it makes you feel better, the Education Minister's a man. But he's an absolute prick.

It was better when Phil Goff was minister of education, if only to hear students chanting "Fuck off Goff!"

It all really depends what you want to move here for. You won't get rich, because the pay rates are poor, but then living is a lot cheaper than a lot of other countries. There are gangs and racial problems, but the crime rate is low. The country is quite beautiful, even if there are too many fucking cows. The education system is OK, as long as you're not too dumb or too clever. Mediocrity is celebrated (see the NZ music charts...), but then excellence is also recognised (see sports achievements). So yeah... Basically the same as everywhere else, but with better weather and no snakes.

One of my friends is a kiwi and she loves it there. So rock on, I guess :p

Meh, its ok. There are only about 3 places that aren't considered 'holes' though.

It was better when Phil Goff was minister of education, if only to hear students chanting "Fuck off Goff!"



I went to the same highschool as Mallard :s (and George Beyer for that matter, he had an identity change however..)

Hahhaha. Allblacks are teh suck!

Hahhaha. Allblacks are teh suck!
Still won the Bledisloe cup though....

Meh, its ok. There are only about 3 places that aren't considered 'holes' though.
Out of interest, which would those be?

if it's adventure you're after, NZ is a good choice. I've only been there once, but I liked it. I couldn't live in Rotorua tho!!!!

Landscape-wise, imagine a cross between Ireland and Hawaii.

And yeah, they do talk funny ;)

What a good thread to be able to jump in on :)

I live in Wellington, pop 300k.

The biggest city is Auckland with 1mil (don't live there).

It's kinda hard to answer a question about NZ as a whole. It ranges from Gore, where everyone marries their cousins (only stereotyping, I'm sure Gore isn't like that:)) to the good old over-congested yuppie-filled Auckland.

The thing that I don't like about the culture (and it is generally pretty hard for Americans) is that you can't say you are good at anything. Ever. Any pride in anything you do will be percieved as arrogance.

Wellington is a great city, because they slapped in between a bunch of hills it hasn't been able to sprawl everywhere. Also means that there is a single "going into town" and half the time you will bump into someone you know, which I prefer heaps to the "never leave your own suburb" approach.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Also note not a single NZer here has mentioned "Clean, green" or "Lord of thr rings".

Please spare us from the marketing puke :D

Cheers,
Craig

Out of interest, which would those be?

At a guess, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin?

I hope you aren't classing OrkLand as anything but a hole, monkey :D

Lol and "considered a hole" is pretty subjective! But true, I think after the seventh or eigth biggest city you are getting pretty small.

Craig

What a good thread to be able to jump in on :)

I live in Wellington, pop 300k.

The biggest city is Auckland with 1mil (don't live there).

It's kinda hard to answer a question about NZ as a whole. It ranges from Gore, where everyone marries their cousins (only stereotyping, I'm sure Gore isn't like that:)) to the good old over-congested yuppie-filled Auckland.

The thing that I don't like about the culture (and it is generally pretty hard for Americans) is that you can't say you are good at anything. Ever. Any pride in anything you do will be percieved as arrogance.

Wellington is a great city, because they slapped in between a bunch of hills it hasn't been able to sprawl everywhere. Also means that there is a single "going into town" and half the time you will bump into someone you know, which I prefer heaps to the "never leave your own suburb" approach.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Also note not a single NZer here has mentioned "Clean, green" or "Lord of thr rings".

Please spare us from the marketing puke :D

Cheers,
Craig

I'm waiting for the day the big earthquake arrives and Wellington slides off into Cook Strait. :D

G'day - my hometown is Queenstown - BEST TOWN IN NZ and none of the Wellingtonians or other kiwis who have posted could possibly deny that.

Someone has already mentioned about the adventure possibilities - well baby, this place is the capital city of adventure for NZ. We're just coming out of a bumper ski season - overall its been good snow coverage. Fine the ski lifts and facilities aren't as posh or modern as the US/Canada, but the terrain and powder rule!

I guess in general no matter where you live here is good - also in response to an earlier post pay rates can be very good - its just dependent upon what you do. But heh, some people are after a way of life and NZ caters to that amazingly well.

All the very best of luck for the future.

I'm waiting for the day the big earthquake arrives and Wellington slides off into Cook Strait. :D

I'm in a nice place up on top of a hill.

So maybe when it happens, I'll be left with my own island resort :D

Craig

A Kiwi from Hamilton here... pop somewhere about between 100K and 150K ppl depending on where you cut the suburbs off... Personally I don't count Matangi and Te Kowhai et al. but some censuses do...

As far as living here goes think 4 million ppl in a land the size of california, no hunting seasons, open slather all round and all it takes to get yout there hunting on crown land is a bit of paper that takes 10 minutes to get from any DOC office in the region, but it takes along time to get a firearms licence... actually thats almost the opposite of the american way where it seems to take 10 minutes to get a gun, forget the licence, and forever to get a hunting permit... at least for anything worth hunting anyway...

as far as clean and green goes theres simply too few of us to make that much pollution, if we had the pop of california crammed in here we would have a sh*tload of pollution to put up with.. :(

but as far as things go... well half of the south island is crown reserve and under the administration of the DoC...how much of cali is national parks and reserves?

if you want to hear a bit more about NZ from an NZer just add insane_at_large (at) hotmail.com to your MSN messenger, or just send an eamil. replace the (at) with a @ of course...

dont listen to those country bumpkins. Auckland is fantastic. Much like the rest of the country only better.

At a guess, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin?

I hope you aren't classing OrkLand as anything but a hole, monkey :D

Lol and "considered a hole" is pretty subjective! But true, I think after the seventh or eigth biggest city you are getting pretty small.

Craig

Yeah I'd probably think Wellington, christchurch and dunedin, but only north dunedin, and only if you're an alcy student. Chch now has the fun of the national front being publicly active (they'd get nailed by large polynesians anywhere else) and Wellington has all those shitty politicians...

Judging a town by how well their NPC team does is a pretty good way to go :D

I'm waiting for the day the big earthquake arrives and Wellington slides off into Cook Strait. :D

Meh, most of the central city is built on land that came up during the quake 150-odd years ago so maybe the city will just get bigger :D Anyone at home will be alright, because if you don't live in town you live on a hill (or in the hutt.... Skank)

At a guess, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin?
I hope you aren't classing OrkLand as anything but a hole, monkey :D
Lol and "considered a hole" is pretty subjective! But true, I think after the seventh or eigth biggest city you are getting pretty small.
Craig
Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin ??
How can you put these places above Wanaka, Nelson or Gisbourne? These places are far superior in terms of overall quality of life, my friend.

I think it says something about the state of NZ social life that there's so many Kiwis on NS. ;)

Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin ??
How can you put these places above Wanaka, Nelson or Gisbourne? These places are far superior in terms of overall quality of life, my friend.

Hell, lifestyles are different anywhere you go. What's great for one, is crap for another. I go on about OrkLanders, I'm sure there are some of them that like it there ;)

I was just going on population size :)

Craig

Someone mentioned Orc Land
and here I came.


What most people *won't* tell you is that New Zealand is prime land to prepare for when the Zombies come.

It's easily defendable, small island separated from the mainland, and the wilderness and rural areas allow for isolated practice in long-range firearms and martial practice.

We must all be ready for when the Dead rise!

What most people *won't* tell you is that New Zealand is prime land to prepare for when the Zombies come.

Hmm, maybe.

But we did just sell the combat capability of our Airforce, so just hope they aren't flying Zombies.

Craig

Hmm, maybe.

But we did just sell the combat capability of our Airforce, so just hope they aren't flying Zombies.

Craig


Planes Require Fuel
Fuel Requires gassing up.

Vehicles are a danger!

Do not try to be a Hero when the Day of the Dead Comes!
Find a Prison!

Posers. I was fearing zombies before it was cool.

Yeah. Isn't beastiality legal in NZ?

No!!!
It's definitely illegal, you can get 7 years for it even...

G'day - my hometown is Queenstown - BEST TOWN IN NZ and none of the Wellingtonians or other kiwis who have posted could possibly deny that.

Yeah, but real Queenstown, not just that tourist facade...

South Island is definitely the best part of New Zealand, I'd definitely go for Wanaka for lifestyle...
Though if you want more the city type, go Wellington (Yes, I am a Wellingtonian...)

But we don't want you here anyway, so no don't come it's crappy and horrible and I don't understand why people come here, I'm getting out as soon as I can... ;)
I'm kidding, though I do have my concerns about too much immigration, the whole charm of New Zealand is that it has such a low population...oh well, I guess the number of people taking off overseas evens it out though.

One word from the wise though, airfares are expensive wherever you go!

Oh and yeah, after Helen Clark's comment about certain things never happening if Al Gore had have won a certain election, the terrorist people like us so we're not a target...cos we really would have been otherwise :lol:

Yeah. Isn't beastiality legal in NZ?
...ooooh, now I see....that was a sheep shagging joke in disguise...what was I thinking?! Silly me :P

haha, actually...I've known guys that have those blowup sheep with the, erm, hole in its, ahem, rear...and well, lets just say...they might have gotten used...not to mention the mate we caught out chasing his sheep....
But no, no you're thinking of Australia...:P Dirty sheep shagging aussies...




Oh, the one thing about NZ. None of our wildlife will kill you. None of this deadly spider, or deadly snake, or deadly shell crap. We have birds...

Pay increases of between 8.74 and 13.1 per cent over the next three years.


It was nice it happened without all the strikes this time, last time they got a raise I was studying for exams and supposedly being 'taught'. teachers at my school went on strike for an entire week, as well as intermittent days where they would strike at random, or just not turn up for classes and leave us waiting outside for half an hour (after which we'd go into town)

No! Of course Beastiality isn't leagal! I bet an Australian wrote that, they are so mean to us, and we don't even know why, because we love them (except when it comes to sport!) Some get very defensive when people compliment New Zealand.

Don't listen to that person, New Zealand and it's people are lovely, but then I am bound to say that because I am one!

New Zealand has one of the highest standards of living, beaches and forests are in abundance, it's a nice place to live if you like nature and quiet. If you like big exciting cities, then I guess that it's not really the place for you! Most of the towns are very very suburban, there is not a lot of 'city activity'.

I would agree that we are 'Australia's Canada', certainly climate and the personalities of the people! I hope you enjoy it.

Plus it is close to Australia, which is also a very nice country too, especially when it comes to sun!

dont listen to those country bumpkins. Auckland is fantastic. Much like the rest of the country only better.

It's true, Auckland is excellent! Visit this website if you don't believe me:
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1128760

I'm not sure why the rest of the country dislike Auckland, especailly as we earn all the money here, so they can keep their nice countrysides and parks etc! It's just the tall poppy syndrome.

I'm not sure why the rest of the country dislike Auckland, especailly as we earn all the money here, so they can keep their nice countrysides and parks etc! It's just the tall poppy syndrome.


It's because half our petrol tax goes to your roads

Yes, as you can see there are many many regional infighting things here! It's like that Bedouin saying - I and my brother against my family, I and my family against my clan, I and my clan against the world. Meaning we bicker a lot but it's all harmless and the moment those Aussies show their faces we unite to kick their asses.

It has been said that Auckland is "a suburb of Seoul", but I'm wary of this - it smacks of National Front talk, which is abhorrent to all properly thinking New Zealanders (which should be more of them, but we tend to be somewhat quietly racist - it comes from the 12% Maori minority - and probably I see more of it because Christchurch, where I live, is apparently the most racist city in NZ - LIES, I say! All lies!).

In any case, I would say Christchurch is the best place to live; Auckland, from what I've seen of it, seems over-urbanised, and Wellington is lovely, but both are quite expensive in terms of living costs, and Dunedin (while I'm sure it has it's bright points) is rather small and grotty.

I don't know enough about the smaller cities to comment, really. Although Queenstown, Wanaka and the other southern lakes towns, being tourist attractions primarily, have high living costs also.

As for the teaching situation, I think the major problem facing teachers (although my contacts are in tertiary rather than secondary education) is not money but contact hours; they don't ever have enough time to get things done, and it's easier for the government to up their pay than to conjure new teachers up from midair to fill gaps. Expect to be overworked.

Earlier Calarca mentioned "no hunting seasons"; I'm not sure about other things, such as pigs or deer, but I'm 100% certain that there is in fact a season on waterfowl. He's right, however, in saying that gun liscences are quite difficult to obtain - which I'm also certain contributes to the fact that Johnny Citizen should realistically have no need of one. So long as one stays out of problem areas (Aranui springs to mind) at night, one should be fine.

Hrrm. Thing to note - no tipping! Most of the people I know are more likely to say "hey, you left your change!" than pocket it. I have no idea where tipping comes from, but evidently it hasn't made it to NZ.

As far as living here goes think 4 million ppl in a land the size of california, no hunting seasons, open slather all round and all it takes to get yout there hunting on crown land is a bit of paper that takes 10 minutes to get from any DOC office in the region, but it takes along time to get a firearms licence... actually thats almost the opposite of the american way where it seems to take 10 minutes to get a gun, forget the licence, and forever to get a hunting permit... at least for anything worth hunting anyway...



It's not that hard to get a gun licence. You can shoot rabbits and things any old time, but not ducks. There are fishing seasons too. Oh, and apparently you're not allowed to shoot the thieving bastards who are stealing your farm machinery...

Whoever said about the teaching being good here is dreaming. The money is shit, and I dunno where the hell those payrise figures came from. You'd be lucky to get 2% a year.

Oh, the one thing about NZ. None of our wildlife will kill you. None of this deadly spider, or deadly snake, or deadly shell crap. We have birds...

Katipo. And sharks, lots of 'em. But at least we don't have drop bears.

Katipo. And sharks, lots of 'em. But at least we don't have drop bears.

I'm more worried about stingrays than sharks when I go swimming in the sea.

I'm more worried about stingrays than sharks when I go swimming in the sea.

If you try swimming in the sea round here, the rip will get ya before any of the animals can. Or the mines supposedly dumped off the coast by Japanese ships during WW2.

If you try swimming in the sea round here, the rip will get ya before any of the animals can. Or the mines supposedly dumped off the coast by Japanese ships during WW2.

If I'm ever swimming at the beach, its probably at Raumati, just north of Paekakariki where a shitload of yank troops were based in WW2, probably eliminating the possibility of mines. The water tends to be fairly calm when, and takes forever to get deep. I've seen enough stingrays washed on the beach to make me nervious. I think its something to do with the banning of comercial fishing. Too much marine life.

No!!!
It's definitely illegal, you can get 7 years for it even...

They had to appear tough on it for diplomatic reasons. Also to discourage Sex tourism. Cant have the "Stable" picking up some STD's can we?

Whoever said about the teaching being good here is dreaming. The money is shit, and I dunno where the hell those payrise figures came from. You'd be lucky to get 2% a year.
Are you a teacher? If you are, I bet you're one of those old embittered ones out of touch with reality. If not, you probably haven't checked what teachers are getting nowadays.
The payrise figures came fro the PPTA (Secondary teachers union) website, incidently.
My Mum's a teacher and she was on shit wages for years. They went 8 years without a pay increase in the 90's! Since then, however, it's gotten a hell of a lot better. Mostly because there's a bulge going through the schools over the last few years (and continuing up until about 2008) and the average of teachers is very old (over 50 - mainly cause no-one wanted to be one during the 80's and 90's cause the pay was so crap). So there's a big shortage of teachers, that is going to get worse (same thing's happening in OZ too).
As a result the Govt has been forced to up the pay significantly over the past few years.
in 1996 a friend of mine started teaching and was on $28K. The most he could look at getting (after 7 years) was $47k.
Now, a person with the same quals (Uni degree and teaching diploma) will be starting on $38k. You go up approx $3k a year for 6 years til the top of the scale, which is (at present) $56k, and will be $61k in 2 years time. On top of that, if you're an HOD (Head of Department), you immediately get 3 units (worth $3k a year each), and most schools will offer 1 or 2 extra. This means that a HOD can be on $70 - $77k.
Compared to the average wage, this isn't bad. It's bloody good IMO. As a teacher, what you start on is above the average wage (which is $36k I recall) and you automatically go up $3k a year (actually there is a process, but it's a formality more than anything). Teachers get 12 weeks holidays a year, and even if you have to go in to work for half of them, that still leaves 6 weeks (double what everyone else gets). Personally I found 1/2 a week during the term breaks and 1 week at the end and 1 before the start of the school year more than adequate for planning and setting up the classroom. Which left me with 8 weeks a year holidays. Biggest hassle is of course you can't decide when to take them. And for the last half of term IV the seniors are away on study leave, so if you have a couple of senior classes, your teaching load halves, but your pay doesn't. Sweet. Good time to do the planning I found.
Teaching finishes at 3.30pm every day - and any marking can be done later when it's suitable to yourself, which I liked. Imagine leaving work at 3.30 and telling your boss you'll finish the work later that night after dinner!
Sure, it's mentally very tiring. I've worked on farms, where we were working up to 15 hours non-stop (throwing 30kg haybails round) and that wasn't as tiring as teaching 5 classes. Not mentally anyway. And you can't tell the students exactly what you think of them which is a pain, especially as they know this and will try to have a go at you.
But the positives outweigh the negatives. You'll never get rich being a teacher ($70k while good puts you right in middle class terrority) but it's not too bad a job, once you weigh it all up.

They had to appear tough on it for diplomatic reasons. Also to discourage Sex tourism. Cant have the "Stable" picking up some STD's can we?
Considering your unofficial anthem has a man dancing with a sheep(which is sung out with gusto at every major sporting event), I find your comments a bit rich.

BTW, did you know that in some parts of Oz, the Rolf Harris ditty 'Tie me Kangaroo down, Sport' is considered a love song?

Are you a teacher? If you are, I bet you're one of those old embittered ones out of touch with reality. If not, you probably haven't checked what teachers are getting nowadays.
The payrise figures came fro the PPTA (Secondary teachers union) website, incidently.
My Mum's a teacher and she was on shit wages for years. They went 8 years without a pay increase in the 90's! Since then, however, it's gotten a hell of a lot better. Mostly because there's a bulge going through the schools over the last few years (and continuing up until about 2008) and the average of teachers is very old (over 50 - mainly cause no-one wanted to be one during the 80's and 90's cause the pay was so crap). So there's a big shortage of teachers, that is going to get worse (same thing's happening in OZ too).
As a result the Govt has been forced to up the pay significantly over the past few years.
in 1996 a friend of mine started teaching and was on $28K. The most he could look at getting (after 7 years) was $47k.
Now, a person with the same quals (Uni degree and teaching diploma) will be starting on $38k. You go up approx $3k a year for 6 years til the top of the scale, which is (at present) $56k, and will be $61k in 2 years time. On top of that, if you're an HOD (Head of Department), you immediately get 3 units (worth $3k a year each), and most schools will offer 1 or 2 extra. This means that a HOD can be on $70 - $77k.
Compared to the average wage, this isn't bad. It's bloody good IMO. As a teacher, what you start on is above the average wage (which is $36k I recall) and you automatically go up $3k a year (actually there is a process, but it's a formality more than anything). Teachers get 12 weeks holidays a year, and even if you have to go in to work for half of them, that still leaves 6 weeks (double what everyone else gets). Personally I found 1/2 a week during the term breaks and 1 week at the end and 1 before the start of the school year more than adequate for planning and setting up the classroom. Which left me with 8 weeks a year holidays. Biggest hassle is of course you can't decide when to take them. And for the last half of term IV the seniors are away on study leave, so if you have a couple of senior classes, your teaching load halves, but your pay doesn't. Sweet. Good time to do the planning I found.
Teaching finishes at 3.30pm every day - and any marking can be done later when it's suitable to yourself, which I liked. Imagine leaving work at 3.30 and telling your boss you'll finish the work later that night after dinner!
Sure, it's mentally very tiring. I've worked on farms, where we were working up to 15 hours non-stop (throwing 30kg haybails round) and that wasn't as tiring as teaching 5 classes. Not mentally anyway. And you can't tell the students exactly what you think of them which is a pain, especially as they know this and will try to have a go at you.
But the positives outweigh the negatives. You'll never get rich being a teacher ($70k while good puts you right in middle class terrority) but it's not too bad a job, once you weigh it all up.

It's improved a lot since I was doing it in the mid 90s then. Part of the reason I didn't go teaching after teachers college was because it wasn't worth the stress for the money. I don't get paid anywhere near that now, but I'm happier, which is far more important. If you're teaching, good on ya, because I know how hard the job is and I don't want to do it.

Katipo. And sharks, lots of 'em. But at least we don't have drop bears.

Haha, ah drop bears...yeah, thank god for that eh. Phew....

Well, yeah we have sharks but come on, deadly SHELLs!!! What is with that!
You step on the little buggers and a few seconds later you're paralysed and then dead, DEAD!



Hey, New Astrolia, shhhh...
You're just jealous cos our sheep are better and the sheep per head of population ratio here is higher :P

Yeeeeeeah, I can give advice on that one, as I am an NZ passport holder. The thing I like about New Zealand is that it is one place where British culture still lingers. The UK has sold itself out to immigrants and is now a foreign land.

I don't think that is a very fair comment to make, especially since New Zealand is comprised almost entirely of immigrants, apart from a small minority of natives. The reason "British culture still lingers" is because NZ is about 50 years behind the times. It's a great place to hide from reality, that much is true.

I don't think that is a very fair comment to make, especially since New Zealand is comprised almost entirely of immigrants, apart from a small minority of natives. The reason "British culture still lingers" is because NZ is about 50 years behind the times. It's a great place to hide from reality, that much is true.

Heeeey, we're not 50 years behind the times...though I'd hardly agree that "British culture still lingers" either. What exactly does that mean anyway? The only British culture I see is in the english style pubs that pop up here and there....maybe in the wops its different?

Thank you to all who responded on this thread....also thanks for the links!