ny2nz

Got home today to an excited roommate, he was excited to show me that I received my official application materials in the mail from New Zealand. Now I have no excuse to continue procrastinating with getting fingerprints and the like. Not to say I won't continue procrastinating though.

The materials look nicely done, there's even a CD of some sort. I haven't really explored yet. Hopefully I can use the CD on my PowerBook. Inching along I am.

Oh, I have a question for anyone that might see this that is in the know. It is becoming a distinct possibility that I will try to ship my car to New Zealand. Does anyone have any insight into the processes and costs involved?

I have survived another Monday and the first with my new M-Th 8-6 schedule. Three day weekends until the end of August, that's not so bad, eh?

Oh No to No Ozone! I've been reading about the lack of ozone over dear New Zealand. For me this is a wee bit scary. I mean, I have friends who were already warning me about it, but seeing it in print was a little more intimidating. This is a very white kid here. I burn when they show the sun on tv. I should wear sunscreen for the walk to the car. Now I will go somewhere that the sun is even stronger, less atmosphere between me and that molten ball of gas? Eeeek! Still not enough to deter me! I will battle the sun, I will wear long sleeved shirts and hats and pants and shoes no matter the weather or activity.

That's my rant. It's Sunday, I've had a good weekend in spite of insomnia. Celeste is going to help me get my website into shape, be looking out for the grand re-opening. Enjoy your week all!

Blog Directory Where I hope to soon be listed!

Nothing new to share in NZ news, but I will talk about my so called life. My niece has been staying with me (hence the hairplay pix). I have two roommates. One of whom, Tedi, is the original lease holder who we sublet from. I had told Tedi that my niece would be visiting for a week, for reasons somewhat beyond my control she will be here about two weeks. I received a voicemail yesterday from Tedi informing me that "she" had to be out of the apartment by Thursday morning. So, he was giving me hours of notice that my niece had to leave. Since she didn't really have anywhere else to go, and she is getting on a bus tomorrow (Friday) morning, I just ignored his message (yes, bad jon).

Then at work today Tedi calls me and says, Didn't u get my message? I said, Yes. He continues, I told you she needed to be out this morning. I said, Well, she has nowhere else to stay. He lets me know that, "You said she would be here one week, it's been too long." I said, well, things changed and you bring guests in whenever you want for however you want without asking us at all. He explained that that's because it's his apartment. I said, well, i signed a lease and i pay rent too. and it went on like that with me telling him that it's wrong that he thinks that he can tell me who and when i can have people if he doesn't live by the same rules (in a very loud voice). he tells me that if i don't like it i can leave and i tell him okay, this is 30 days notice.

Oooooh, drama. My co-workers couldn't even believe it was serious, they thought it was some overly dramatic joke I was part of or something. I was so pissed!!! So, yeah, I lost my cool a little bit. I just am a little overly protective of my niece I guess. Now I need to find a cheap place to live :-P

I will try to get back on topic soon!

Well, now that I am building an audience of sorts (what, three people is an audience, right???), I need to keep thinking of brilliant (haha) things to write. So, what NZ news do I have to share? First one piece of good news that is overwhelming me this week that is not exactly NZ related. My niece just finished her first year of high school at a boarding school in northern Vermont. We were not sure if she was going to be able to return for her 2nd year due to financial concerns. We just found out that she is getting a full scholarship from the school to continue. VERY EXCITED!!!

To get my fingerprints taken to send to the FBI, I have to go to a police precinct during regular business hours. This is not so simple because I am, not surprisingly, usually at my workplace working during regular business hours. I am trying to figure out the when, where and how of getting this done soon. It would be quite nice to get those sent in to the feds.

Still working on the where of NZ also. I think Celeste and I are both most into Wellington, it still hinges on being able to find work in whatever city we decide to move to.

Well, the questions are never-ending when one is preparing such a life altering move. Just have to keep on working toward the answers.

What do I have to do now? Supposedly, NZ Immigration has sent me a package of materials. I have already downloaded everything I could find from the website, but figure I will wait to see the materials before filling in application forms. What I need to take care of soon is the fingerprinting. I need to go into a police precinct to have fingerprinting done so I can request a report from the FBI. It can take about six weeks to receive that I've heard. The medical forms also seem a bit daunting, very thorough and involved. My doctor will be kept busy with those, and I still haven't even spoken with her about them. That is where my focus needs to be right now. I am also starting to think about what I am keeping for the move and what I am getting rid of. That will be a long painful process. For now, I am sitting around drinking strawberry lemonade and waiting to watch game 5 of the nba finals.

This is the difficult thing! Where am I going to live in NZ? This continues to be an issue of great concern!!! I am somewhat limited in options by the locations of colleges and universities in the great KiwiFruit nation. Luckily, most of the places I am seriously considering living are well served by the higher education institutions. The top three names on the list in alphabetical order Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. A little place called Dunedin is trying hard to get on the list, but just havin' a hard time against the big boys. Honestly, it will probably all just come down to where I get offered a job. Okay, really honestly, more likely comes down to the place that seems to be friendliest toward panhandlers.

I have decided to chronicle my move from NYC to New Zealand. I am starting this journal a bit into the process, but all of the hard stuff is yet to come. The first step, well, the very first step was GW winning a second term. That was a real motivating factor. A much more pleasant motivating factor was love, and wanting to start a new life with someone in a place new to both of us and a place where we both felt a positive connection. Neither of us has been to NZ but we both had thought about moving there independently of one another before. Thus began the process.

The first step was filling out the "EOI" (expression of interest). This is an online form at the new zealand immigration website (www.immigration.govt.nz). You need a certain number of points to qualify to go on to the next stage. For the past year or so (i believe), the point total necessary has been 100 (it has been as high as 190 in the past). Celeste was the first to submit her EOI, it is a relatively involved process. you have to fill in an online form; you are able to save and go back to it. Mostly it is resumé types of information. It calculates how many points you have as you go along so assuming the point total necessary for success doesn't all of a sudden shoot upwards, you have a pretty good idea whether it will be successful once you hit submit (and pay the necessary fee).

I think that is a great system because it allows people to really have a good idea what will happen before paying any money. For some people the money would be a big loss if not successful.

Once you submit your EOI you just sit and wait for a response. That can take from a couple of days to a few weeks. They do reveiews every couple of weeks I believe. Celeste heard about hers being chosen and then I heard about mine. We were both quite excited even though we knew we had the point total necessary.

After that hurdle is cleared more waiting commences. Now they review your EOI more in depth to be certain the information contained therein is correct. That is a little more nerve wracking, though we knew the information was correct, it is still a stressful wait. During this period a bit of a scandal arose in NZ when it was discovered that the Bangkok office had given a Visa to some wanted Iraqi person who was now loose in the country. They froze all applications and started re-reviewing them. Of course, as a Filipina, Celeste's EOI was/is being reviewed there! So, we think that is holding up the process for her.

This past week I received confirmation that my EOI cleared and now they have given me the "ITA" (invitation to apply). This is a much more involved process with FBI background check, very thorough medical exams, passport photos and long and involved application to be filled out. I figure it will take at least a month to get the information together, maybe two or three. Then it can be as long as ten months or more for them to review the application. If you do not have a job offer you go to the bottom of the list and will have to have an interview before they will accept you.

I am under the impression that if you do fill out everything correctly and nothing is horribly wrong in the background check or the medical review, you are pretty much in. I am hopeful. I think Celeste and I will both be moving to NZ, hopefully by early 2006.