Nationalities

What/Who do we have here?? How different is life? And does anyone EVER phone you??

I/we are from North Wales, UK, we love out patch of heaven and what we are learning, and doubt we would go back. Our phone rarely rings.......

It might help letting people know your phone number!

I am primarily English - but with German and Russian Gt Grandparents/Grandparents on one side (but raised/educated in NZ for most of my childhood).
Wife is half German (but with Polish input) and half English (but with French Huegenot input).

Reckon that makes the children full blooded mongrels

Very few social phonecalls - other than the kids requesting money or support (does that count)?

quote:Originally posted by maggies mum

It might help letting people know your phone number!

Don't know who gave those surveying outfits my number then, most of them with Indian accents.

We were German in our previous life, if you want to call the Rat race we had back there "life"! Now proud Kiwi Passport Owners!

Life started on the 7th of February, 2000 at 10 past 10 in the morning! That was when the plane touched ground in NZ! And yes, it is completely different than it was before! From that moment on it got better and better. Actually that's something which worries me since I sometimes think "When do I wake up?"

Not sure why you ask for the phone ringing thingy but yes, our phone rings often.

Cheers

Peter

Hmm... phone? umm... is that the funny thing on the wall?

Doesn't ring too often here... mostly relatives, sibs, cousins, uncle/aunts etc. 90% of the time when it calls the reason was to check something, ask a question or organise things, very very rarely just to call and have a chat, the chat and gossip happens after the business that prompted the call is sorted and dealt with and before the phone gets hung up.

For example, Mum may ring the neighbours 15 Km away to ask if we can borrow their trailer, and after arranging the pickup/dropoff times, which takes 1 or 2 minutes, the rest of the 20+ minutes on the phone will be gossip. Or the neighbour across the inlet will call to ask if we have some goats milk to spare to bottle raise an orphan lamb with, and after being told to drop around anytime with a few bottles, theres 10 mins of chat about local gossip.
No-one tends to ring "Just" to gossip...

Brit... and I dont encourage the ph thingee to ring.. being in one of the smallest toll free areas, or local calling, I cant be bothered with ph calls, also I have yet to get one thats at the right time.....either having a nana nap, just got gumboots on, or about to go shift the stock before the next shower drops.
I have no time for those unwanted ph calls, and would be considered abrupt and rude in my answer to them as the ph gets switched off.[]

I doubt there are many people in this country much past first or second generation NZ'ers. My father was Welsh, my mother a Scot. My daughter on her fathers side is English and Norwegian. Kevin is German on his fathers side, English on his mothers and his children are Moari on their mothers side.

We are a melting pot - and that's what makes us New Zealanders:)

Cheers,
Ronnie

quote:Originally posted by Ronney

We are a melting pot - and that's what makes us New Zealanders:)

Love it!!

I think the phone call thing was aimed at the Brits/Immigrants. Have been here nearly 2 years & I reckon we have not had 10 phonecalls from back "home", i think they get fed up of hearing how good life is!!!!

We get calls LF but not from as many as we thought we might, the onus seems to be with us a lot of the time. But then with many on MSN or Yahoo we can chat and talk and see online so that way to me is much better.
I have my blog but I think that maybe more friends read it that family, a recent discussion with my sister turned out that she never reads it! It's funny how the ones you do it for, especially for their kids are either too lazy or can't be bothered.
It does make me wonder why we are bothering to go back to the UK next year, as the ones who say are soooo looking forward to it are the ones that make no effort to stay in touch!
I think that maybe we have changed quite a bit since being here and I'm worried I'll have no patience with the ones there that will spend all their time moaning about this and moaning about that when they're not prepared to change or do anything about it!

Brit...

Hubby is a 4th (or 5th) generation kiwi.

three of my grandparents had their grandparents born in nz, and my wife has two the same. that means my four sons are seventh generation kiwis. hows that for colonial lineage
i usually dont answer the phone unless the other half sees me trying to ignore it. those who are important to me know to use email (i check that at least once per hour when at home and at work) as they are guaranteed to get me that way. the telephone is the most intrusive invention ever. i hate it completely in a private context. the way you are expected to drop everything and answer it immediately and devote all your attention to whomever is calling is plain wrong. also, if you have taken the effort to go and see someone, and then that person answers a phone in the middle of communicating with you, it drives me nuts. i will walk away and leave them to the phone call. and cell phones are the worst of the lot. i usually swear at someone who will look at an incoming text message when i am trying to talk with them. a text message can sit there for a minute or two surely while the current conversation is finished. rude sods. call waiting? i hang up if they put me on hold - most especially if they rang me in the first place! i like my nice quiet house/garden/shed where if one of my loved ones wants to talk to me, we can have a uninterrupted chat without any external interruptions. until one of the kids can be heard yelling after fighting/hurting themselves/fallen in the water etc etc etc rant over...

MC the phone can and does ring right at the wrong time.
And I have to say I do hate getting text messages, the phone just keeps nagging you until you read it too, well mine does anyway.
It's when you've gone to bed and snuggled in the warm you here you phone say from the other end of the house yell 'New Message' and unless I go and read it it will tell me every 30 seconds all night! I turn it off at night if I remember. Surely there is nothing so important to be said after 9pm that can't wait until morning, and then why text it, why not just ring up and say it!
I'm hopeless at texting, and would rather not do it really, in fact how did we manage without mobile phones? They are a useful tool I admit but I think I might jsut start limiting my use of it from now on.
E-mails are better if you check them regularly.

Oh yeah ...English, been here 4 years in April next year.

I'm transplanted from southern Arizona, home of sky islands (think mountains with forest on top) and cactus (including saguaros) and snakes and scorpions and mountain lions and other cuddlies. Wife hails from the damp parts of Oregon, so she feels a lot more "at home" here. If it wasn't for Skype I wonder if the phone would ever ring...but the grandkids are quite a draw.

I'm English - well, half English half German, but born in England, and been in NZ for 21 years in October! Am I even that old?!

My phone doesn't get a chance to ring, as my son has it stuck to the side of his head from the time he gets in from school till he goes to bed. Sometimes he goes to sleep with the phone still on and to his ear!