Just two weeks before we moved to New Zealand, David and I attended the wedding of one of his cousins. Another guest who was visiting from New Zealand and learned we were moving to New Zealand made a bee-line for me and gave me this warning:
'Shop while you can!'
'Ha ha!' I said 'You're so funny! We've visited, I've seen that there are shops.'
'No', she said 'you can not understand the luxury of choice that you currently have. Heed my advice and shop while you can.'
I shrugged it off as nothing, although I did try and use it as an excuse to shop David saw right through me. We were already dangerously close to our weight limit on our packing and putting just one more t-shirt in a box would have likely tipped it over.
Almost five years later, I get it.
It's not like there aren't shops in New Zealand, there are. There's Maxx, and Country Road and Glassons, and Cue for clothes. There's Dick Smiths for electronics, and Noel Leeming or Harvey Norman for appliances. And, of course, there's the Warehouse, for anything and everything else.
What I'm missing, though, is variety. Having recently begun my Christmas shopping online for our overseas family and friends, what has struck me is the amount of choices available at just one store. Did you know that you have 239 choices of dryers at Sears? I don't love dryers that much, really, but the choice of 239 different types? MIND BOGGLING. Noel Leeming has 5 on offer. FIVE. I don't even have a dryer.
I would also like to believe that I'm not really into buying that much, that consumerism hasn't taken over my mind. But I DO like nice things. I like my home to feel homey, welcoming, comforting. But the price of furniture and appliances in NZ are higher than I thought they would be, and that's before we begin talking about mortgages. Did you know that the average house price in NZ is $355,000, but that the average household income is just $45,000. I'm no financial guru, but the numbers just don't make sense to me.
This is starting to sound a little whine-y, and it's not intended to be that way. New Zealand has a lot to offer in terms of lifestyle,freedom, decent education and healthcare systems. But given that eventually we would like to live in house bigger than a shoe box,work less than 50 hours a week, live on just one salary and perhaps live a little closer to our family we're taking a good long look at what our options are.
It's not an easy conversation to have. It's loaded with dreams that we had before we moved here, some of which have been met and some that just haven't been, promises we made each other, and goals that don't always match. I know we're not the only married couple having these sorts of conversations. Given the economy, I'm sure there's even a higher number of people having this sort of debate - should we stay, or should we go? No where is perfect, but would somewhere else be better?
And after reading everything above, what strikes me most is that IT'S HARD BEING AN ADULT.
What are the hard issues you're debating with at the moment? Whether it be yourself, your partner or a whole family, what decisions are you trying to make? C'mon, don't leave me drifting alone out here. Am I the only adult overwhelmed by the responsibility?