I better start using this blog again

After few months without using this blog I think it arrived the right moment to start using it again.

Well, news?

I resigned by my last ( and first ) job in New Zealand after 11 months working there.  I’ve never really loved that place and that office and it was starting to be too annoying to go working just for the money..lucky I had some good reasons to complain and I left with good references, good reputation and good money..in New Zealand it doesn’t exist the “liquidazione” so when you leave a job you don’t get anything that just your last payroll ( unless you’ve good a good reason to leave..and a good lawyer ).  Now I am looking for a job, but the right one this time.

I am nearing to finalize my residence aplication, unfortunatly I didn’t count with my second citizenship, so Immigration NZ requires me to provide a Cleareance Police Certificate from Colombia, so I have to wait another 2 months ( more or less ) to get this done. Hopefully before July I will be resident. ( I can’t wait for it )

I applied for assessing my Economic degree, the New Zealand qualification authority as all the documents that are required to evaluate the degree, once it is done I can apply at the NZICA a.k.a. New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants to assess te degree and they should be able to tell what and how many papers I have to study to become quialified CA in Kiwi land.

I think I might join a gym for three months, to keep me busy and to work out, I lost some muscles tone and it annoys me a bit.

Summer is ended and autumn is coming soon, leaves fall from trees and it’s getting Cold.  Las week I was in Dunedin, in the South Island, it’s a really quite and the oldest city of New Zealand, 160 years old!  I went ther for Aimee’s studies and I appreciated the cold weather ( it riminded the italian weather ), it would be cool to live there, the mountains to go sking are just about 2 hours by car from the city and the winter is pretty long so lots of opportunities to ski.

I talked a lot for the first post since the last year.  I will leave with a saying thatmakes me laugh, a kiwi saying:

Cool Bananas to everybody,

Tommy

TAX CUT

The Crown ( Government ) will cut the tax rates from the 1st of October, here a link with the new rates!

It will be a 70 dollars more every month on my income!! I won’t be rich but it’s a good news, overall if I think about Italy, since I remember I could not see a tax cut just because of the inflaction.  In Italy when there is a tax cut, the GOVT brings the money in other ways, as new prices for medical exams.

VISA!!!

I am finally a happy visa owner !! it’s a 12 months visa but I’ve already applied for the residence and in 4 months the Immigration will look at that and hopefully before the end of the year I will be resident, WOW!

Now I wait for my passport to have back from the immigration with the stamp of the visa.

Now we have to celebrate.

Tomaso.

Kiwi Hackering

 

As you can see if you open the link, this guy committed  hackering when he was just 16 and now he will go overseas to work for for a big company. These things can really happen!

tomaso

Immigration: The ODC

After the application, after the second letter with all the information about us, the immigration is still giving us an hard time.

They are making me feel like if I was not a human being, I am here because of Aimee and our relationship is genuine but they are so death, now we will see if we can talk to them for an appointment.

Anyway: yesterday afternoon we talked with the Jp, the official for our wedding, she will marry us. we talked about the money, about how it will be and what we do during the wedding. I asked if my witness “Giovanni” can wear a priest costume and sing for us and she told us that it’s ok so he will do that that day, I know he wants to do it, will be funny!

We went to play bowling yesterday night, the italian couple that we know left the job at the Skycity yesterday night so we went to play “AGGRATIS” ( for free ), hehe.

tommy.

The Coldest day of the winter

Today is the coldest day of the winter, but I am not sure about it anyway.

This week is very cold and even if today is not the coldest is fu**ing cold!!

A couple of weeks ago we went to Wellington, maybe because of the weather but I did not like that much, it was ever interesting to know the Capital of the NZ. I think it could be better in summer time, that’s why I want to go the next summer, I could judge better the city.

Finally we knew Clod and his girlfriend, we went out for a pizza and then for some beers, nice! We met also Ziglio and his family, the administrator of “Italiansonline”.

The flight back to Hamilton was cancelled because of the wind but fortunatly we could fly to Auckland and the Aimee’s parents picked us up ( Auckland is just 1 hour and a half from Hamilton )

We are organising the flights to my parents from Italy, now the price is 1405 with Singapore Airlines, a bit expensive but I think it’s still reasonable considering How long is the flight from Italy to here. My friend Paolo cannot come because of it, but who can complain about it? he’s got a family to look after. Hopefully my other friends Fabio and Gio ( vanna ) may come, we will see what happen later this year.

I am looking forward to see my parents here and how they could be surprised to see this country, I think they will really like here, it would be the same for my friends if they come.

All the other people that I invited to come to our wedding said no, because of the price obviously, but I think there is another reason why they don’t want to come, because all those people are not used to travel and take planes for so many hours.

Anyway I am happy because of my parents ( they come ) and my closest friends are trying to see if the can.

The next week there is the Timabaland concert in Auckland, I don’t know if we go or not, but Aimee wants to go and I’d like to do it to make her happy.

On friday the Iphone will be realesed in NZ, what a shame, the prices are so expensive, I am upset about it, I wanted it but the price is crazy, I read a lot of comments of people telling that they won’t buy the Iphone because of it.

Today on grabaseat there a flight to Tokyo or Osaka for 699 NZ Dollars ( about 350 Euro ), someone’s envying?

 

Tommy.

Friday Luch

Friday lunch: Hungi!

Te Wananga organised a Maori’s Luch, 8 $ for a luch. I did not know what was the luch, I went to pick it up and it was hungi, I a not sure about the spelling but It’s something really Maori, the food is cooked for hours in the ground, nothing really new because in many places in the world the food is cooked in the gournd, but it was funny a workmate of mine:

“where was it cooked?”

“…somewhere in the ground in New Zealand!” =/

hehe..british sense of humour..

Tommy.

Wellington

YAY, we are going to Wellington this weekend, we have a plane at 7.20 in the morning. We’re lucky we found a room in the Ibis Hotel ( 4* ), just 100 dollar for three persons and the place it’s cose the centre city.

We will go to the Te Papa Museum and we will catch up with clod and his girlfriend, I think we will go out for a belgique beer in this place in Wellington, I can’t remember the name ot the place.

The last week we brought the tickets for Australia VS New Zealand the 2nd of August, I can’t wait to go!!

The job is going well, this week I’ve talked with my manager about my job and she gave to me a list of things that I have to do, a long list but atleast I will be busy doing things that I like, the first couple of weeks were very annoyed because she was not in Nz and she could not train me.

I need to start to study for the Ielts exam, I want to do it in september, I need of it to enroll at the Uni, I don;t know which kind of course, if a Master or a Postgrade, But the next Year ( after become resident ) I want to enroll in the Waikato University or The Massey University as an extramural student so I can work and study at the weekend, it will be hard but it’s not the first time and I want to do it because after that I will be very skilled and I think I might find a very good job and earn more than now.

We’re looking the prices of the tickets with my parents for the next februarym 1400 euros with Singapor Airlines the cheapest that we found, but we have to hear from my mum what she could find at the agency in italy. It’s agreat country, but to come here it’s a lot of money, unfortunatly!

I think it will be here just my closest friends, other people can not effort that money just for my wedding, but who care, I think it’s a good occasion to know a good country and honestly I want just them here with me, I have ever wanted just the closer people to my wedding and will be like that!

Tommy

No photos today

It was a great weekend the last one, we went to Auckland the last saturday for the All Blacks game and was spectacular, the vibe was great and all the people was there to enjoy the game, the coreography before the game with 2 small armies emulating the cavaliers of the mid age ( AB & ENG ) and then the game, with people ( women ) crazy for Dan Carter, the first try of Conrad Smith, everything was amazing.

During the day we went shopping in Auckland, great city, it has something similar with San Francisco but is better, greener and more cosy, I like it. I’ve bought a pair of puma’s, amazing puma’s is better to say ( thanks of Aimee to bring me downstairs there ). Aimee needed to buy new boots but then she haven’t bought them…anyway she was happy after..with her engagement ring! Now it’s official, 14/02/09 Valentine’s day we will get married here in my new country ( i think nowe I can say that, I am not going to move from here! just to travel obviously ).

then the SkyTower, shit! It’s high as the Tour of Paris but I don’t know why i felt vertigo so strong, WoW..

Sunday was relaxed with a Potluck Italian lunch, many italians, about 30/40 people, some old people but some guys too, I’ve met this guy from Udine, 5 years here, resident with a Kiwi-american-japanese girlfriend. He knows Brescia, The “Valle Camonica” and other places up there, he spent 4 years in the army in italy as “Alpino”..it’s amazing because all the Italians here have some interesting stories about them and about the reasons to be in Nz, and all of them are happy to live here, we agree on the things that don’t work in Italy. I have his contact, I will ring him once to go to his house upper Auckland, he said “Io ho poco, ma se vuoi venire su un divano c’e'” translated “I haven’t many things, but if you want to come there is the couch ready”, that’s my people, this is how i wanted to live!

Today or tomorrow I will apply for my visa and my residence, the residence will be frozen till the next march, I Have to live together with my Kiwi for atleast 12 months before to apply for it, but I will do now so I can save the money of the medical tests.

Next update soon,

Tomaso.

Visa, soccer, job, travel, beer

It’s been a busy and short week ( monday was the queen’s birthday ), the job is going well and in three weeks I learnt a lot ( still to learn heaps of things ).

I’ve done the blood test, the x-ray chest and see the doc, so now I am just waiting for the results and then I will apply for my relationship visa ( hopefully the residency too ) and then I will have all the rights like a kiwi ( I don’t know about voting but I don’t care at the moment, I have other things before more important ). I paid 390 NZ $ for all the test ( alot of money ) but atleast I’ve done that so I don’t have to be worried about them anymore ( but the visa cost 560 NZ $ ( bucks for the kiwis ) ). In 30-60 days i will know the result of the request.

Last Thursday I’ve gone to train to this team of soccer, I’ve tried to see if I could play here and they want me to continue to go ( just for fun ), so today I’ve bought soccer boots to go the next tuesday night to play again ( 80 NZ $ for adidas boots, a umbro’s soccer ball and protections ). I can’t play rugby but I can play soccer and I will train every week at night twice so I will fit ( I hope so ). It’s funny because in my team there are guys of the NZ soccer team U23, but I know guys in italy better than them to play and they are playing just in the last division ( terza categoria ), there is also this retired man, a retired soccer player, he’s been playing for Derby County and other good teams in UE.

I decided to go and see the New Zealand Maori, the Maori rugby team of new zealand, they are playing the Pacific Six Nation, in 2 weeks they will play in Hamilton, 25 NZ $ to watch them. It will be good because all of them are good players of the Super14 ( to play with them they must to be 1/16 of maori’s blood, so many players could play with ). I am looking forward the next saturday in Auckland, a shopping morning and then the AB game against England, I am very excited!

I was also thinking to go somewhere for 4/5 days in september ( I want to wait atleast 4 months before to ask for a couple of days off ), maybe Sydney or a Pacific Island ( Fiji, Tonga, Samos, Cook Island, Tahiti..I’ve seen the prices of the flights, 400/500 $ return so I think we can effort for 3/4 days of beach and relax ).

I’ve tried this beer tonight, Moa beer, just one bottle 7 $..Aimee’s workmate said it sucks..I don’t think so, I liked it, it’s expensive but it’s very tasty!

Tomaso.