Take a chance
Recently I moved -- away from all my family, my friends, my theatrical career, my doctors, my car, my house, my Life in California -- to New Zealand.
What wild chance have you taken? How has it affected you?
(sar "though she be but little she is fierce", Fri 28 Mar 2008, 10:14, 2 replies, latest was 17 years ago)

I want to know more.
Tell me the story!
Why did you do it? How has it been? Any regrets?
This is a story I'd love to hear, please! Then PM me!

At some point in the future I'd like to live abroad. I've almost finished uni and will have some debts to pay off, then depending on how things are going, I'd liketo go to new zealand or maybe Italy.
(joepublic 's opinion does not represent that of the public, Sun 30 Mar 2008, 13:14, Reply)

well joepublic...
...it is a long and sordid story, but judging by your 'karma' story, you are old enough to hear it. it all began roughly 4 years ago. things weren't so great in the old us of a: we had a fraudulent president, an unnecessary war and asshats saying 'liberals' were an aberration unto the lord.
fortunately president bush II's reign of terror was almost up. john kerry was sure to be elected, despite aggressive nastiness from the republicans, and things looked distinctly rosy. my boyfriend and i had long joked that if bush was reelected - even though he wasn't actually elected in the first place ;) - we'd leave the country. we looked at andorra (a principality between spain and france), which doesn't accept immigrants, the dominican republic, which is next to haiti and far too close to zombies for my liking, and finally new zealand. i had a friend in school there and we thought, hey if it looks anything like it does in lord of the rings we're golden. it also had the benefit of being one of the 'coalition of the unwilling' -- those unwilling to commit troops to iraq. BUT this was all a joke really, since mr. kerry was going to be elected, kick out that gibbering idiot and assert his rightful place on the throne.
sigh.
not so much.
many tears were shed as well as teeth gnashed (never done that before? check with your dentist beforehand. trust.) and we felt we'd jinxed it. a sad time was had by all. 2 days later we were in new york city at the new zealand consulate asking what to do to be accepted by nz. we were apparently not the only ones -- the office had been flooded with requests. yikes.
flash forward a year and some on and we've finally been accepted. the man was a given, being a studly video-game programming god; it was i who was the sticking point. a screwy actress? who needs her! but in the end his fabulousness outweighed my drawbacks and we were set. we left in may of 2006.
enter culture shock! i've lived in england, traveled all over europe and america, but i've never experienced culture shock like this! it's because the society is just enough like home to be similar and different enough to make you look twice.
i've had a hard time of it. in fact i went home for a visit just 5 months after i arrived. homesickness, feeling a stranger in a strange land, they both colluded in making me unhappy. christmas without friends and family is very hard - no matter your religion; it's a time of togetherness. without those closest to you nearby --- it was very hard.
it's a funny place, new zealand. hard drinkers, cops with no guns or even batons, greatly feared maori gangs (no big deal to me with oakland as my stomping ground), a dearth of choice in shopping, facial tattoos, all of these make day to day living a bit odd.
the country is beautiful. it is really like LOTR. the landscapes and variety of geography is astounding. we haven't gotten around as much as we'd like, mostly because we spent almost 6 months back in california last year, but what we've seen has been gorgeous. they are big on a thing called 'the flying fox' -- it's basically a rope with tires at both ends, and you grab a bitty platform thing and go flying down the line, to crash against the tires. it's total james bond!! people here are friendly if a bit hesitant. once they've heard our accents they ask a: where are you from? b: how could you elect george bush? c: have you been (insert some cool nz place). even the gang members lighten up at the sound of an american voice, at least when it's cool to them (which we are), encouraging us to go here or there and break out of our comfort circle. we have friends now who've been lovely: having us over for x-mas dinner, taking us to bbqs, basically being good pals.
the decision to come was hard -- the principle was noble, but in the end you are leaving everything you know and are. while my bf can work anywhere, i as an actress am bound by my body of work and people knowing it well. here i have none of that and have suffered for it. actually leaving was so so hard. i wept so very much. but in the end my friends still love me and i can skype them, my family is always there and also at the end of a phone line - and i'm a flight away. granted it's a damn hell ass long flight, but i can come home whenever i want to. in the end, i'm glad i've taken the dare. in many ways life is ordinary and much like home -- but i remind myself i'm at the bottom of the world with grand adventure outside my window. take the jump, face your dream - it will often be like what you left behind, but the possibilities are endless. if you come to wellington, i'll be here to help you see them!
(sar "though she be but little she is fierce", Sun 20 Apr 2008, 8:50, Reply)