Migrant's Tales - Tauranga "Not As Described"

Continuing in our series of Migrants' Tales - first hand accounts of the migrant experience of New Zealand, taken from locations around the net.

Today's story is taken from a forum called Expat Blog, in it an young American immigrant says that Tauranga wasn't as advertised and likens the small town to the US Midwest - passive aggressive, superficial, insular and drunk...among other things.

Because of this she/he is seeking links with other expats to form friendships. It's a pretty common story and explains why muti-national groups of expats are so prevalent in New Zealand:

"I recently moved from the US to Tauranga and seek my fellow expats. Where in the US? I've lived all over from New England to CA to Texas. I've traveled a lot for someone barely touching 30 and am very educated and seeking depth in friendships, not this superficial film I'm encountering here in Tauranga.
I will now share my experience so far in Tauranga. This may offend some but I'm sure will resonate strongly with many others.

Tauranga was not as advertised, namely clean, friendly, warm, environmentally-friendly, etc. Tauranga seems a lot like the midwest in the US: Passive-aggressive, superficially polite/friendly, standoffish, drunk, and insular.
I've been to social gatherings with other kiwis, including peers in their late 20s and early 30s in the healthcare field. Despite being outgoing and friendly and trying to talk to people, I was struck with how the native kiwis were so passive-aggressive and impolite, masking it with mask of "yeah yeah" as they continued to just spend time with their other kiwi friends and not let anyone inside their little circles.

Conversations center more around rugby, the weather, complaining about the Council, and drinking than anything of any substance. I don't drink, care for rugby or cricket, or like talking about drinking, rubgy, or cricket. Is it me or are the kiwis so insulated in their little world that they lack the depth that comes with experiencing the suffering of others, from travel, from going through hard times, and from changing one's life? Sitting around a table and hypnotically nodding one's head with a "yeah yeah" is not conversation, does not create strong friendships, and lacks depth.

Where are those people who have traveled, who have dedicated their lives to helping others, who seek to grow and mature and become better human beings, to experience life? I meet kiwis who drudgingly do one's job only to 'enjoy' the sugar-high of a drunken-filled existence on weekends only to repeat the cycle until the next rugby match. Kiwis here in Tauranga say they like the lifestyle, but they certainly don't go out of their way to make recent arrivals feel welcome and enjoy said lifestyle. Look, I don't mind if people sip wine, but I don't like being around people who are drunk or who drink enough to alter their personality.

Kiwis are not friendly, they are polite and insular. Friendly means engaging with someone and sharing one's experiences, helping each other, bonding, learning from one another. Being polite means smiling and nodding so as not to appear rude or standoffish, yet the real goal is to be standoffish.

In my experience, the people I bond with are fellow expats, and they have also experienced the above.

I am frustrated with the native kiwis and seek a community amongst the expats. I believe all us expats suffer some form of the above politeness-plague from the Kiwis. One expat colleague said it took her 4 years for the kiwis to open up to her and to allow her into their networks. 4 years!

I seek the educated expat peer group in Tauranga, those who have depth and insight, those that are seekers, ideally age 20-40ish. If you are out there, reach out. We need to create our community because we can't rely on the Kiwis to have one ready for us or to even let us into theirs."

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Migrant's Tales - IT Whiz Can't Find A Job

Continuing in our series of Migrants’ Tales, first hand account of the migrant experience in New Zealand taken from locations around the net.

Today’s tale was sent in by Charlie, who left it as a comment on our Wordpress blog.

Charlie is American, a high end IT and Corporate Governance Professional with many years of experience. He describes his emigration to New Zealand as being the single greatest tragedy of his life.

For background see the newspaper article “why can’t this IT whiz find a job?”

“Thank you!
Thank you for telling the truth about New Zealand!
Before coming here – I was told for six years what a wonderful place this was, how “forward thinking” the government and corporations were, how “progressive” the culture was, and how “friendly” the New Zealand people were.

As a high end IT and Corporate Governance Professional with 24 years of experience, I was tired of the hated in the USA, and after being told for those six years of research that I would be welcome in New Zealand, I packed up my cat and came here.

Well, after almost three years, and being unemployed for the last 16 months, and having lost everything in the world I had – I must admit that I have failed completely.

This has been the single greatest tragedy of my life.

One of many examples: The Electrical Commission (a ministry of government) told a friend of mine that they had just hired (a German), that “we would tolerate a German – but we would NEVER hire an American.” At the time they had 97 jobs open that they could NOT fill with kiwis.

I have been told that the reasons I cannot have a job in New Zealand is:
“You are too over qualified” (this should be the national anthem of New Zealand – as every foreigner I know has heard this over and over again).
“You are a foreigner – we would never hire a foreigner”.
“You are an American – we would never hire an American.”

As for being friendly – I have not had one date with a woman since I arrived here. I have been told repeatedly, and with no hint of regard or regret that: “Yes, we’re kiwi women, we hate American men!”

Corporate management in New Zealand is directly out of the “kindergarten school yard” – I was black listed after two newspaper articles came out on me, asking “why can’t this IT Whiz find a job?”

Gen-i (Telecom) hired me immediately – only to fire me five months later.
I have been told time and time again that Kiwis: “hate, loath, despise, and fear” foreigners – and the higher your level of professional background is the less likely you will every get a job here.

I came here by myself, so I feel so very sorry for the families that came here, believing in that lie of a “quality of life”. There is no “quality of life” here – not even for the kiwis themselves.

I have never seen a people so terrified of “reality”. And I did not think it possible to have an entire culture based on “lying”.

Why? Because you cannot be afraid of reality and tell the truth.

New Zealand is a collective “fantasy world” which – because of fear – is falling backwards through time at an exponential rate: in other words, its dropping like a rock towards the Stone Age.

One of the many shocks I suffered here when I got off the plane in August 2007 was the realization that New Zealand was 25 years behind the rest of the entire world.

And now, barely three years later – it is 35 years behind the rest of the entire world – and no one cares.
I know foreign PhD’s here who came to be part of the “quality of life” and are scrubbing test tubes and mopping floors (based on the fact that actually have real experience in their profession).

I know doctors and executive managers who are driving taxi cabs (based only on the color of their skin).
I know industrial designers who are making beds (based only on the color of their skin).
I know Project Managers who are pressing sheets (based only on the color of their skin).

And always, there is the “rage” – that rage that is barely beneath the surface of all kiwis. It comes from being afraid all the time. It is the only way they can express themselves.

Go to a “Sevens” after party on Courtney Street and you can see it (or after midnight any night). They are going to have a good time – and they do NOT care who they hurt.

And the streets are a sea of broken beer bottles – and we all KNOW not to be out after midnight. That is when what little control the kiwis have over their rage is let loose.

The crime rate here is off the charts, but because that does not sound “good” – it is never reported.

I worked for ten months for one small company here, with 15 employees. Two of them had been attacked by drunken gangs with empty beer bottles (the kiwis’ weapon of choice) on two separate occasions. What are the odds of that?
Over one million kiwis have fled New Zealand. The “best and the brightest” that New Zealand has to offer are gone. So, if the “best and the brightest” are gone – who does that leave behind?

An additional 100,000 kiwis leave every year – those coming up through university, and those who just cannot take the abuse any more.
Again – living in a fantasy world means you can never face “reality” – you can never tell the truth.

I am an aboriginal in my own country, but I never knew bigotry, prejudice, or racism until coming to New Zealand.

To this day, I still get emails from New Zealand Immigration that say things like: “yes, its true that skilled migrants with proper work visas and job are randomly being deported, but that’s no reason for you not to come!”
The new Prime Minister, Mr. Key, made a statement last year about how New Zealand did not have enough “high end professionals” and that was why the corporations were loosing money.

He then went on to say that he would pass a law that would make it easier for high end professionals to “bring their money with them”.

After reading that – I was physically sick for a month. I then wrote to Mr. Key, assuring him that I was already here, was a high end professional, and I needed a job.

I went on to say that I could easily find him all the high end professionals that he needs – they are already here: washing dishes, cleaning toilets, and digging ditches.

Why? Because they have been “blacklisted” by the very corporations that Mr. Key was talking about.

In New Zealand, if you actually know how to do your job, you are considered a threat, and must be removed from sight.

This same story about “not having enough high end professionals” was told back in 2007 after I first got here, and which is why those newspaper stories were done on me. They got me two jobs, and then cost me everything I had.
Please encourage your friends and families to speak out here, and in your own countries. Convince people NOT to come to New Zealand.

Let’s see if we can prevent other innocent people from being hurt and harmed here.

I can speak out now because I know that I have no future here, but those foreigners who are trapped here in dead end jobs with no hope dare not speak out.
Because we all know how vindictive the kiwi is.

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Migrant Tales - Teacher Duped By The Hype, Can't Find Work In NZ

$10,000 down the drain

Continuing in our series of Migrant Stories: first hand accounts of migrant life in New Zealand, taken from locations around the net.

This tale is taken from Expatexposed, a support forum for migrants in New Zealand.
The poster is a fully qualified American teacher who believed that New Zealand has a skills shortage and that people in her profession are needed there. Unfortunately she found out, after considerable expense to herself, she wasn’t needed at all and that there wasn’t a job for her.

What she wasn’t told was with so many Kiwis returning during the recession employers are more likely to give jobs to New Zealanders and in some cases have been forced to do so. Please see the collection of posts tagged “jobs for kiwis” for examples of this.

Yet despite all this campaigns are still being launched in countries like Singapore to attract migration applications, using draws such as ‘cheap’ housing and cars.

The situation has got so bad for some groups of migrants, who are being offered temporary WTR visas rather than PR, and not being able to find work that their consulates in NZ have issued a warning that Immigration New Zealand “covers up the fact that it is very difficult to find jobs“. See the post on wordpress: “Philippines warns citizens about NZ work to residence scheme”:

“Philippines consul-general Emilie Shi says Immigration New Zealand is not doing enough to warn would-be applicants about the difficulties of finding a job or telling them that Kiwis will be given preference by employers.

“Immigration New Zealand continues to say what a great place this country is to come live and work in, but they cover up the fact that it is very difficult to find a job here, or that they will be treated as second-class workers under the scheme,” Ms Shi said…

Migrants are worth millions to the NZ economy. You could even say they’ve kept it afloat during the recession and prevented the ailing housing market from imploding into a cloud of rotten timber.

Official figures dating back to 2006 show that the migrant population of 927,000 people had a positive net fiscal impact of $3,288 million in the year to 30 June. The net fiscal impact per head was $2,680 for recent migrants, $3,470 for intermediate migrants and $4,280 for earlier migrants. The net fiscal impact for the New Zealand-born population was $915 per head.

When you look at this person’s migration costs it’s easy to see those the official figures may be on the conservative side.

Now that you’ve been filled-in on the background here’s our migrant’s tale, you can see that the odds were stacked against her from the start:

“…I have been here for only 3 months, I felt something was not right almost from the start.. I am a teacher believing the hype about the “teacher shortage“, got certified and qualified in NZ before I came, took the plunge..I don’t even know where to start. I applied to so many schools but none except for one did not even bother shortlisting me, immigration has played games with me, and my savings from the states have been depleted, had to pay for my children’s school for part of the term we have been here (even though I had a part-time job). I am exhausted, mentally drained, depressed..I feel like a failure and a fool for moving here. Now I have to put the pieces back together. I barely have enough money for next 4 months til I start teaching again in the states in Aug,will try to survive though the kindness of family and friends. How did it come to this? Please enlighten..

“Welcome to EE. I am sorry to hear that you have been scammed by NZ immigration. How did it happen? Let me answer your question with a question. How much money have you dumped into the NZ economy since you arrived? NZ is a country based on dairy, immigration (and the return of Kiwis with foreign earned cash), landlords and tourism. So many people are granted visas and get their qualifications recognized ($$$$$) only to arrive here to not be able to find work. In the meantime you drop tens of thousands into the NZ economy and then you are shown the door with a “we didn’t want you here anyway” attitude.NZ has a population of 4 million. About 240,000 are on the unemployment benefit, yet thousands are here on unskilled work permits (fruit picking, cafe work, hospitality). There are few professions in real demand (meaning that there are jobs currently available) and most available aren’t interested in migrants.Yet the immigration wheel continues to spin and to prop up a broken economy. Even Kiwis born and raised here must take an OE to buy property if they are not helped onto the ladder by family (or a family trust).It’s not your fault. Help the Karma wheel and tell your friends!Best to you!”

"Thanks for your reply. You have hit the nail right on the head! And unfortunately yes, I have spent tons of money in trying to get certified and approved by immigration, the flight itself, renting a place, household items, etc.. as I said in the previous post, my savings are all gone even though i am a fairly economical person, hardly go out, cook from scratch, etc.. I would say and this is not an exaggeration, i have lost at least $10,000, to find out no one wants to hire me. It really makes me angry, not only at NZ but also at myself for getting fooled..this is what’s causing the depression. I am counting the days now, trying to warn people in another website who (some) are still wearing rose tinted glasses. At first I got flak but now more people and their stories are coming out of the woodwork and i really think it is helping prospective migrants think twice about coming here to NZ. I feel like one of those people who fell for the internet lottery scam or something. Again, thanks for your support.
My savings were wiped out in less than 3 months, i had a part-time job but it was a joke, did everything i had to do on my end to teach here( NZ claims to have a teacher shortage but no one will hire you, not even shortlist you) and luckily, LUCKILY i did not give up everything back home, am going back at the end of this month…almost got stuck here…”

We wish her every success with re-establishing herself in the States and hope that others will have the wisdom to learn something from her experience.

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