New to expats
Hi all, and thanks to Tinafizz for pointing me in the direction of this community!
I'm a Canadian living in New Zealand. I met my Kiwi fiance while we were both teaching English in South Korea, and about the only big decision we had to mmake was which country we were going to live and work in! I've been away from "home" for 2.5 years now, and I've been in NZ for 1.5 years.
We made the decision to settle here in NZ for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that his grandparents (who were a huge factor in raising him) are both very elderly now, and his grandfather is ailing. The other reason being that I'm seven years older than him and feel more established, or comfortable with making my way in a strange part of the world. He wanted to sort of prove to himself that he could make something of himself here before trying to tackle a foreign country. Now we are planning our wedding, which will also be held here in NZ because no one in his family would be able to make the trip to Canada, where as my family could better afford the trip to NZ. All valid reasons, but does anyone else ever feel like their giving and giving and giving, and there's little compromise going on? Maybe that's not fair of me, but irrational or not, the thought does cross my mind every so often, like when 98% of my family and friends tell me that they can't come to our wedding. It's difficult, sometimes.
On the up-side, it's been great seeing a new country and learning about a different culture. (As multi-cultural as Canada is, there are relatively few Maori to get to know!) I miss downhill skiing, but perhaps this winter I can convince my fiance that we can afford a trip to the mountain down South! Another plus is that your mother can't just pop in on you anytime, unannounced! LOL
I'm a Canadian living in New Zealand. I met my Kiwi fiance while we were both teaching English in South Korea, and about the only big decision we had to mmake was which country we were going to live and work in! I've been away from "home" for 2.5 years now, and I've been in NZ for 1.5 years.
We made the decision to settle here in NZ for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that his grandparents (who were a huge factor in raising him) are both very elderly now, and his grandfather is ailing. The other reason being that I'm seven years older than him and feel more established, or comfortable with making my way in a strange part of the world. He wanted to sort of prove to himself that he could make something of himself here before trying to tackle a foreign country. Now we are planning our wedding, which will also be held here in NZ because no one in his family would be able to make the trip to Canada, where as my family could better afford the trip to NZ. All valid reasons, but does anyone else ever feel like their giving and giving and giving, and there's little compromise going on? Maybe that's not fair of me, but irrational or not, the thought does cross my mind every so often, like when 98% of my family and friends tell me that they can't come to our wedding. It's difficult, sometimes.
On the up-side, it's been great seeing a new country and learning about a different culture. (As multi-cultural as Canada is, there are relatively few Maori to get to know!) I miss downhill skiing, but perhaps this winter I can convince my fiance that we can afford a trip to the mountain down South! Another plus is that your mother can't just pop in on you anytime, unannounced! LOL