13653662:ThaLorax said:
Soooo, I'm going with Sean, and found the job for us.
1. Why do you say that New Zealanders aren't friendly towards us yanks?
2. Im 27 and Sean is 28, why would we not have fun? Are you 20 or something and think anyone over 22 cant have fun anymore because theyre not in college anymore?
3. We'll be ski boot fitting. I dont think we're stealing any important jobs.
To shed a bit of light on this...
We get a SHITLOAD of older american tourists who come out here (usually by the cruise-ship-full) and talk (read: complain) loudly at everyone and skip queues and act all entitled. Unfortunately this stereotype then gets applied to younger americans, but generally the ladies in your kinda age bracket shouldn't have too much of an issue with it as long as you're not a younger Donald Trump.
In the nightlife scene, it's a bit of a sliding gradient, the larger majority of big, obvious nightclubs will be full of 16 (with fake ID)-20 year olds who have pre-loaded furiously before hitting town. 74.2% of the guys will be looking for a fight. The DJs in these clubs tend to play poorly mixed pop shite, there will be a huge queue and when you get in it will be packed to the walls with the aforementioned people, then a drink will cost you $12-$14. If you are 25+ you probably won't have the best time.
Then you have your smaller, slightly more off the main street clubs/bars/whatever which cater to the older crowd, they're usually less loud, less dark, the floors are less sticky, they will typically have a much narrower style of music, and a drink will still cost you $14.
A much better option (in my opinion) is to follow the ancient kiwi tradition of putting on a BBQ and beers at your place, in which case you can get both drunk and fed for $14. If you're working at a ski shop then you shouldn't have a problem, making a sweeping generalisation here but ski shop staff seem to be universally chill and party hard.
trademe.co.nz is the place to buy/sell pretty much anything, you can get a car and a couch and find a place to rent on there. There is the odd Nigerian scammer floating around on there but they're pretty few and far between.
The Auckland housing market is kinda insane right now, resulting in rather expensive accommodation. It's much cheaper in south Auckland (Manurewa, Otara, Mangere) but that's because this area is the closest to the "Hood" we really get in New Zealand, large gang presence, fair bit of theft and violent crime. Pretty much the only place in NZ (apart from maybe parts of Porirua) where you can get stabbed for wearing the wrong coloured clothing.
Generally speaking kiwis tend to be both friendly and very relaxed, city-dwellers (especially Aucklanders) may be initially a little bit sceptical of you but will warm to you quickly if you're not a complete cock-wallet. Sometimes our sense of humour can be a bit quirky.
Getting a bog roll at 4am... most of the supermarkets close at somewhere between 10pm and midnight, if you really really need something after that then a petrol station or some of the convenience stores are 24 hour but you will pay a premium for it.
Borty is tripping balls on the hot sauce thing, maybe Ohakune New World just sucks but your average big-city supermarket will have a huge variety, some of the locally produced stuff is amazing, try some Culley's Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion or Bhut Jolokia (workmates call that stuff "Butt Jolter") if you like spice. You can totally get everything you need to make a glorious burrito, but as mentioned, when you are hungover as hell a dodgy pie from the local Dairy (suburban convenience store) and a blue Powerade is what you need. There are also shitloads of awesome takeaway stores in NZ, we have an huge migrant population so you can get some really good Chinese and Indian. The kiwi staple of Fish and Chips is also definitely worth a go.
Also gardens are illegal.
cool to hear buddy, We are excited for you
