New Zealand Weekly Update #77

Last updated on April 15, 2024

08th of April to 14th of April 2024

Approximate reading time: 5 minutes

Lets get it started

Monday morning, sun is shining. The sky is blue. I had a great sleep in. I am off for three more days. And I am about to go for some river floating with some friends. The day could not start any better. And then I was checking my mailbox. Since I have received an E-Mail from Immigration regarding my residency application. And there are no good news. They are concerned about my work with the canyoning company and they might not accept this work experience for my residency. Which means they are about to decline my current application. Right now, I am not sure how to feel about this and what to say, write or think. I am in shock. I am not sure what to do right now. What to plan. What my next step would be. I need to reconsider now. To rethink. And I need to try to find the good out of those news. The chances. My options. There might be a chance and a way.
But this would mean going through the whole process again And to pay the application fee again. More than 4000 dollars. and right now, I was just about to build up some savings again.
Bummer. Disaster. A what the fuck situation. But, after only 3 hours I am already in a different mindset, I am not giving up on this. As long as there is an option and a chance, I will try. And I will not give up.

Living in New Zealand in a nutshell

The week was quite intense, too long, too short and full of work. I had a conversation with a friend of mine back from Germany and she was asking me heaps of questions. Where am I living? What am I doing? How does my day looks like? Since she would see only all those impressive images, videos and impressions from New Zealand. And obviously, if people just look at all those impressions, it might seem like life in New Zealand is only full of joy, happieness and adventures. And it isn’t. It is also full of challenges, it is expensive, sometimes it is exhausting. And regards the current situation with my application for residency, it is just a shit show.
So how does life in New Zealand looks like at the moment? I am working full time as an eyewear specialist (or dispensing optician) with OCULA, a family owned business in Wanaka with 5 shops in the south island. I am living in a shared house, paying 250 dollars a week for rent. Plus around 150 dollars each week for bills. Life is expensive in New Zealand. Groceries are expensive. And trips to Germany are expensive. And after work, I am sometimes out for a little adventure. Out for a hike. A bike ride. A swim. A catch up with friends. And most of those friends have left Wanaka and or New Zealand already. And more of those friends are about to leave soon. And I have to move houses since our tenancy agreement has not been renewed. And to find a new room / house in Wanaka which is affordable is also quite a challenge. So here we are – New Zealand is amazing. It is full of great nature. Full of adventures. Full of joy and happieness. But it is also full of challenges. It is expensive. It is tough. And still, it is a great place to live. It has this certain energy. And for some reason this energy is way bigger than all those challenges and struggles.

What else to say?

Well, right now, there is nothing left to say. The news have to settle. I have to work through them. And right now, I want to complain a wee bit and to just be upset about the current situation. Right now, I want to be a little more german. And soon, there will be more faith again, more energy and a way to get residency. It might be another expensive one. Exhausting one. Challenging one. But there is still a way. So I might just walk it step by step.
Have a good one guys!

Your DingyInternational
Felix