Life Update

After a week or so of absence I'm back for more kiddies. You know you love it.

A lot has happened in the past week or so, a lot of emotions, a lot of questions. A lot of cold, crappy weather. But that's ok. The following is just a couple (or three or four) different ideas that have been running around my brain, getting all sweaty and going nowhere.

Irony. It is ironic when you pay for gas at 1.70 per litre and ten minutes later the sign is changed to 1.65. It is ironic when you go out for a bike ride in the freezing winds and two hours after returning, the sun is shining brightly.

It is ironic that I have come to one of the most beautiful and pristine countries in the world and I am living in...smog. Yes, smog. It is everywhere, in the air, in my HAIR. And it's still New Zealand. I guess nobody's perfect. But it is painful, for my lungs, and my nose. It makes my sinuses itch and it makes me stuffy. It's almost like being home in Binghamton, but worse. Because I've never actually been able to see it billowing below the streetlights or creeping in our open doorway like a monster in the mist. But here I can.

You see, we live between some very very high hills to our south and the Southern Alps, which are incidentally to our North. And because of these two barriers all the wood-burning fires in the winter, the car exhaust and well, any other air pollution is caught between them. And it sticks. They are actually starting to outlaw wood-burning fires in the city, with good reason. But I guess I should consider myself lucky, because the smog does discriminate. Some areas are just horrible. It's like swimming through some sort of liquid-solid mush. But where our house isn't so awful. We're nearer the outskirts of town, so it's only just average. And it is possible to get out of the dirty mist, by going to tops of the hills or out to the country. But alll in all, it's making my winter a sickly, nasty one. Just like my years before Hamilton.

So there's the smog. Then there's the job prospects. Or lack therof. Which I think could also be considered pretty ironic. It's not that this country doesn't have the jobs available. On the contrary New Zealand has a HUGE need for employees in nearly every industry. So while many of those official-like people are scratching their heads at how to fix this problem I've gone and figured it all out. So listen up Kiwi-land:

Something like 35% of all people with a University degree leave New Zealand. They are accompanied by numerous others without degrees who are leaving the country as well. Hell, my boyfriend and I are scheming about how to get him out of here. But my point is that there has to be some reason that people are leaving. I mean, they have a fantastic health system and an equally exceptional education system here, so that can't be it. They have great government programs to help people find equal opprotunity within the work force. So what on earth could it be? Let's examine, just a simple job vaccancy listing in this weekend's paper:

Café Opening
New café looking for barista, servers, dishwashers. Must have an outgoing personality, enjoy customer service and at least 5 years experience at the café level.

Quiz time: What wrong with that statement? Go on, think about it for a bit.

Answer: FIVE YEARS EXPERIENCE?!?! For a new café? For dishwashers! There is something wrong here and that something is at the root of New Zealand's stageringly high need for employees. And this may be a simple example, but it is everywhere. In nearly every industry, every type of job, a worker needs experience. At least two years here, or three years there. And every once in a while you get the ad that asks for something like five years experience, in cafe work nonetheless. No offense to people who love working in Cafes, but come on. Five years is a damn high demand for an industry of constant roster changes.

But I can understand, if you're a law firm looking for a new lawyer, why not look for someone with experience? Then you don't have to train them. But wait, didn't their education already give them the necessary training to be fully qualified to work with you? It's as if a degree just isn't enough in this country. And so many kids with great degrees end up working for peanuts, being told that they are lucky to be given the chance to get some experience; that it will pay off in the future.

And maybe it will. But over the pond, in Australia, those guys are just itching for newly graduated employees. Experience? Pishaw. Who needs experience? As long as you've got a degree and some determination, we'll take ya. And we'll pay you what you deserve. Not some pissant minimum wage to punish you for your lack of experience. Come on over and play with our kangaroos.

So the kiwis skip to Oz and leave their country needing workers. And then there are news excerps about how the New Zealand government is trying to recruit it's own citizens to come BACK to their home country to work. Right. It's a pretty sad day when a country has to beg it's own citizens to return. But I don't feel bad. Because I'd do the same thing. Besides, the New Zealand dollar can barely stand up to most foreign currencies. It simply crumbles beneath the pound. Then again, most currencies do. And now I'm straying from my point.

New Zealand employers need to get their acts together. There is too often the feeling that they "can't be bothered" to train someone new. That they don't have the time or want to go through all the mistakes that a new employee may make. That they don't care that someone has a 4 year degree in rocket science, because if they've never been in a rocket, they don't count for shit. These employers need to realize that sometimes you have to go out on a limb and train the people you employ. Not only will they give better and more acceptable service for you, but it'll also give them, well, a job. And maybe your citizens wouldn't be so quick to the ditch your country for the prospects of working in a more welcoming and financially rewarding place.

That in effect is what I've found...over the past few weeks of my job search.

I have more tales to tell. Of birthday parties, and kiwi gatherings. Of visiting Oregonians and bike rides in the rain. And I've still got more pictures to post from my father's visit. But on another day, at another time. My computer is going dead and I'm off to battle in the world of the experienced employee. In the end, if you can't get the job without experience, I guess you can just lie.

-NMK