Comparatively...

With such a long process regarding making a permanent move to New Zealand comes inevitable thoughts along the lines of "Is this really a good idea?", "Should we go to Canada instead?" and "Why on earth are we trying to do this?".  To that end, I've been thinking about trying to make direct comparisons between experiences in New Zealand and vaguely related ones in the Great British Isles.

So the first comparison that comes to mind is the renowned Kiwi friendliness.  When I first went to New Zealand back in 2000 we found a lovely house in the Grey Lynn/Ponsonby area of Auckland.  It was only two days after arriving, and having moved in, a couple of us (8 people were living in the 4-bed house!) were charged with having a look around the neighbourhood to find useful amenities and the like.  We found the park, Dairy (like a newsagent for those who don't already know), beach, Indian takeaway, off-license, and launderette.  A successful trip, all-in-all, but on the way back to the house for some table-tennis and arguments about the toilet roll, we somehow got chatting to a lovely couple who ran a commercial refrigerator business.  They kindly invited us in for a tea and a chat.  We explained we were from 'the motherland' and had only very recently arrived.  As we chatted they made suggestions about how to get jobs (they even apologised for not having any at their business), where we could get cut-price furniture, where to get good food, and other choice nuggets of information that earned us major brownie points on return to the house!  What a pleasant introduction to the area :o)  It seemed like a genuine act of kindness, the like of which I had rarely experienced before.

Not to be out-done though, the UK - Brum in particular - has fought back with an extreme (because it was so unexpected?!) act of kindness.  My wife and I popped out on the scooters one day, parked up and wondered off for a leisurely stroll, some shopping, lunch and a meet-up with friends.  We had a pleasant few hours and too-soon the time came to jump on the scooters and head home.  Walking back to the scooter, the Mrs came to realise that she couldn't find her keys.  I'd heard this once or twice before so said 'check your bag again".  Such a sympathetic husband.  After another seemingly thorough check, she was adamant they were not in the bag.  Beginning to worry, we quickened our pace fully expecting to turn the corner and see an empty space where the scooter used to be.  Rounding the corner past Argos, we were thinking about how we could explain this to the insurance company when we spotted the now lonely scooter parked on the road.  Making our way towards it we saw there was a note stuck to the scooter on top of where the keys had been left.  In the ignition.  The note said:

"To get your scooter back, just give me a call on this number:..."

We couldn't believe our luck.  We gave the chap (a young boy of about 16) a call and he happily came by and handed over the keys.  He amusingly chastised my wife and said that a few boys had been hanging around the scooter eyeing it - probably only put off from riding away with a free scooter because of the colour - girlie pink.  Another surprising act of kindness - this time at home in the UK.

The thing you have to factor in here, readers (any of you out there?!), is that I have spent approximately 9.5 months in New Zealand and as well as the above example I can think of quite a few more where Kiwis have surprised me with genuine kindness.  On the other hand, I've lived in England for 30 years (admittedly, I can only really remember the last 20 or so) and am searching my substantial memory banks for similar shows of humanity and coming up blank.  Obviously everyones experiences are different and I'm not daft enough to think that everyone in NZ is kinder than the UK or that no-one in England is capable of being thoughtful or helpful, but for me this was at least one reason to give the move consideration...