I have reproduced the American woman's rant below and now come to the conclusion that she isn't genuine. Either the post was from someone who visited Kiwiland and didn't like the experience or she's simply repeating things told to her by someone she knows.
I'll deal with her comments as close as I can to the order in which they arise...
Her qualifications. Is she a registered nurse? An RN is eminently employable in NZ, not just in hospitals but also aged care and so on. How come she couldn't find a job in any of them?
Her husband is a 'licensed' civil engineer. Hmm, there is no such thing in NZ. There are Chartered Professional Engineers but she says her husband is level 7, to be chartered you need to be level 8, so that means he's an engineering technology partner, not chartered ( later she says he's doing 2-3 years extra at University which means he's trying to go up to chartered, with an engineering technology degree he can enter an engineering degree at second year professional ).
But wait, anyone with these degrees is very employable. It isn't credible that her husband could only get work at nights as a hospital orderly. And on minimum wage at that. And he's a teacher of Math too evidently, something also very employable in NZ. But to teach in NZ you have to have completed one year full-time study postgraduate in practical teaching, and to be registered subject-to-confirmation ( STC and hence not provisionally ) you'll need five years experience and risen to no less than head of department.
Immigration assess whether the applicant meets certain criteria, they do not determine whether professional status will be recognised. BIG HEADS UP.
They live in Christchurch, mention is made of the Avon River and the IB only available from one private school. That's a private girls school by the way. To suggest that this is the only internationally recognised secondary school qualification available in Christchurch is extremely misleading. The standard of schooling in Christchurch is sound, better than the equivalent anywhere in Australia and on a par with the USA. You can easily find schools offering Cambridge exams at state schools but why bother as NCEA is valid.
She failed to mention that state schooling is FREE. As in, completely free. Check out the Ministry of Education website, you'll find schools cannot even compulsorily charge for workbooks, or schools trips that form part of the curriculum. Uniforms are cheap for the most part and not all primary schools have one anyway. Christchurch is a little bit different, as uniforms there are commonplace, but elsewhere in NZ that does not immediately follow. For instance the two best high schools in the capital city, Wellington, do not have uniforms (they are Onslow College and Wellington High School and many say they're the best secondary schools in the country).
University study is easily achieved with only a few courses with limited entry. Universities are generally good with the top four; Auckland, Victoria (Wellington), Canterbury (Christchurch), and Otago (Dunedin) being world ranked. Bear in mind that Kiwis studying in Australia do not get student loans over there, but why bother, for instance a BCom from Victoria costs about NZ$20,000 and upon graduation and becoming chartered you can work in both Oz and Kiwiland through their combined chartered accounting group. It's a little different from my day when we were paid to attend University and I graduated with zero debt, but heh, times change. In the USA I know people with children carrying debt over US$100,000.
Admittedly there is snob factor, Christ's College, Cambridge (England) is better than Kebble (Oxford), that type of thing, and in NZ that is the four above over everything else, but there are several institutions below them, AUT, Massey, Lincoln, Unitec, CPIT etc meaning there is literally something for everyone at an affordable cost.
Making further comparisons with Australia, NZ has many advantages, especially if raising children. I work on both sides of the Tasman and I see what Australian schools turn out and I'm not impressed. In Australia the top 5% rule the remaining 95%. That 95% are cannon fodder and trained not to think. Australia is similar to England in that regard, while NZ is more like the USA in rewarding initiative. And get ready to live in your car, in Australia you'll be driving long distances just getting somewhere.
In Australia while you'll earn more than in NZ, expect to pay more tax. This is almost never pointed out. Aussies earn more but they pay more tax than in NZ and they fritter that income away on running the car and its faster depreciation due to all that mileage.
Yes, NZ pay you to have children, she has that correct.
The free medical system in NZ works well for children. The system is skewed toward that end. As you get older you need to have savings to ensure you can get private health care as the waiting lists are long for lower priority issues. Health insurance is a waste of time IMO, save for the biggies and insure for trauma.
Childhood in Christchurch is easy, less so in Auckland. Yes food is dearer in NZ and the range is less (4.5 million people living on an Island ffs ), but you don't get hefty power bills all year round, there is summer and spring and the fall can be mild as well. My advice, forget markets, look for competitive shops and farm gate sales and take care to insulate your home or buy one with the work done.
Christchurch has old clunker cars still running, that's because the city is flat and it's easy to get anywhere in a few minutes, thus, cars do not wear out. This does not apply in Auckland and Wellington where it is hilly and cars expire sooner. Their car fleet is a lot newer. Cars are cheap in NZ, but if immigrating then I suggest renting a backpacker rental long-term, and then buying a car from a website like Trade Me. $2,000 buys something very sound.
Rugby is the national religion, but I grew up in Nelson where basketball rules, and in second place it's volleyball (I see Nelson men have won their fourth national volleyball title in a row, well done). It is not accurate to say there is nothing outside of Rugby in NZ, Kiwis love sport generally though, so if you don't like sport, maybe NZ is not for you.
When comparing with the USA you have to be very careful. What part of the USA exactly? I know Yanks who are on negative equity and one guy in Detroit, if he sold his house now, would get less than he paid in 1985. Nowhere in NZ is like that, even towns like Bulls in the North Island are making money for the home owner. Nor does NZ have entire streets in foreclosure like they do in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kiwiland is more like the farmer I know in Texas with a farm breeding Highland cattle, his equity is secure and he's hardly noticed the GFC.
Then Australia, my god, I swear everyone thinks of Australia as Sydney. If you live in rural towns in Australia then the range of goods is far worse than NZ and if near a mining area you won't be able to live there as everything will be sky high in price!! For a rural comparison check out Warwick in SE Queensland and then look at Ashburton in Canterbury. New Zealand. Both places are great, better than, say, Las Vegas, New Mexico. Each of these towns is nice, don't get me wrong, but Ashburton is really nice.
There is a reason everyone holidays in campervans and caravans in Australia as motels can be hundreds of dollars a night in some backwater location. I am not even slightly exaggerating. In Western Australia you're advised not to drive country roads at night as you'll be robbed. Drive at speed and don't stop for anything after dark - I kid you not.
I have never detected anti-Americanism in NZ. Americans are generally liked as they roll their sleeves up and do stuff. Christchurch after the earthquakes is now close to full employment, there are people from all over, with Ireland and the Philippines contributing a large number working in civil engineering disciplines, as well as Koreans, Fijians, you name it. And Asian nurses getting the dirty jobs? NZ has Human Rights legislation and I've never seen a case where the Asian nurse says she was dumped upon.
Word of advice on Christchurch though, it takes five years to get to know someone there, while the same person you'd get to know in one hour in Wellington.
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