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Graduate trying out life on the other side of the world.. stay tuned.

Tuesday 24 April 2012

missing me yet?

So guys, I have indeed been out of the country for 3 months now.. and I have to say missing you all a *teeny* bit.

Granted- it's probably not enough to make me want to jump on a plane home immediately- as I know most of you would push me back onto the plane as soon as it landed in Heathrow anyway, so it would be an incredibly expensive wasted journey (at least if I was just in Manchester, as wasted trip would never cost you more than a quid.. God Bless the Magic Bus and it's interesting take on health and safety regulations..) so I won't be taking that risk in the next few months anyhow. But it looks like I defnitely won't be coming back for at least 6 months now- as against all the odds I have just secured myself a contract for that amount of time.

Now this does indeed warrant a blog post. I was looking back through some of my posts pre- NZ and I realise how terribly pessimistic I was about making this whole thing work. Turns out I really am a sad realist. I honestly thought I would be back home in Wales by now. 3 months was my target- I set it for myself and thought that if I managed to last for THAT long without Yorkshire Tea (more on that later) or everything yummy in the UK (yes, I AM going to mention Bacon again here- IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME HERE) or my close network of friends and family a few hours away, I had achieved something big, something to really be proud of.

And here it is- I've done it! And what's more, It looks as though I will have beaten my own target (blimey- you can tell I'm a salesperson at heart with all this target chat).

For many of you, this is your opportunity to roll your eyes at the computer screen (or ipad, or iphone, or crapberry, or whatever other fancy thing you're using) and say I told you so.

I won't be giving you another opportunity again- make the most of it.

It seems that the Davies' habit of landing on your feet is hereditary. When I was having a meltdown about failing at being on the other side of the world, my parent's sat me down and looked at me straight in the eyes and simply said "Hey! You're a Davies. No matter what- we deal with it, build a bridge- get over it and get on with it." (definitely just used a bit of bloggers artistic license there, but what the hell, when in Rome..)

Turns out, they were right. (that is SO hard for me to admit)

It also turns out that I needn't be in New Zealand without Yorkshire Tea. Yes- this is sad that I'm saying how happy this makes me in a public sphere but I don't actually care. Thanks to one of my lovliest and rather superb best friends- I recieved TWO, yes TWO packs of Yorkshire Tea- along with some of our favourite biccies in the post last week (Customs must have understood my sheer need for proper tea in my life and let it into the country). This is absolutely fantastic, and I have declared my undying love for her ten times over as a result. But - I have to admit made me miss home a little more, realise that I'm not going to be home for a little while yet.

But remember to pop the kettle on for when I come home.. Make mine a Yorkshire Tea.

Sunday 15 April 2012

Windy Welly vs Wet Wales

Since arriving here on the other side of the world, I have felt totally refreshed and excited to go and do new things, or actively go and seek out different things that will make the weekend a real weekend.

Now I don't know why this is. I certainly did not do this in the UK. I, in fact would have been quite happy to chill at home weekend after weekend after crazy times at work during the week. More often than not, watching those really bad movies on Sky- the ones that you pay a fortune for, yet never really have the urge to watch Christmas movies in the middle of summer, or watching Harry Potter for the billionth time. Even I, with my incredible thirst for all things Potter related. (I am secretly saving to go to that Potter-land in Florida. for the WIN.)

It wasn't until I saw a Lonely Planet book yesterday in a book shop (right next to a book on how to grow KIWI's-oh yes!) on the UK, and the fact that someone I know here has recently left to do a year in the UK did I fully realise (yes-sloooowww on the uptake I know- but hey-what's new there ey?!) that the UK is full of amazing things to do and see. 

Don't worry- I'm in New Zealand and absolutely loving it- I'm not coming back anytime soon.

One of my friends recently went to Liverpool and loved it. I found it refreshing to hear of someone taking a mini break in the UK and loving every minute of it..(says the girl who recently traveled over 11,000 miles to get away from the country. Hypocrite much? I think so).

Despite this factor, I feel that my quality of life here is so much better than it was about 4 months ago. I think it's in part to do with the fact that I shelled out a lot of money on a one way ticket to Kiwi-land and wanting to make the most of every opportunity,or as a friend put it, becoming a "YES" girl. I think that back in the UK I was lazy- and had a very different view on things-more of a stagnant approach to the country I live in. At the risk of sounding like somebody who rarely saw sunlight, with a vitamin D deficiency and no friends- I really wasn't. I visited friends and went to different parts of the country- but I guess I took it for granted- a bit like how I totally took bacon for granted back in the UK. Let's just say- the Kiwi's do not understand a girls need for a proper smoked BLT sandwich to cure a tequila-induced hangover.

                                  Kevin the Kiwi enjoys his favourite tipple..

There's a view that the work-life balance is better over here than in the UK. In reality- I don't think it is. 40 hour weeks are much more common here, nurses (such as one of my housemates) don't get as much holiday as they do in the UK to counter the stirling job they do day in, day out working horrific hours.Yet somehow, I find that, in my -admittedly- blinkered tunnel vision "OMG THIS PLACE IS SUPER-AMAZING, I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE" view of this country- people seem happier to be here. I think there is a serious element of pride in New Zealander's of their own country, that I haven't seen in the UK for a while. I'm not talking here of crazy BNP-ers or serious insular Euro-sceptics, but people who just love their country. It's pretty infectious. I think that's why I feel my quality of life is better here. It's because I'm a Kiwi-Keeno (check out my alliteration there!) 

I could be totally wrong here and I could get a barrage of people (or rather a slow trickle depending on who can be bothered reading this wonderfully confused insight to my mind) claiming that they feel exactly the way I feel about New Zealand right now. You could all be serious UK enthusiasts- and if you're not then maybe you should be. It is a pretty cool place. Right now I'm sampling some other pretty cool places and [still] loving it. 

Apologies for all the future sappy "I <3 NZ" posts.. but there's no place I'd rather be.

                              View from the deck on an increasingly rare sunny day..