4. What I Did in the First Week in NZ

And then the first night passed after I opened my eyes in NZ. On the first morning, I saw the sunlight streaming through the window along with the unfamiliar cold. The room I got (wait a minute) should probably be called my bed because in a room of about 15 square meters, there were four beds for guests. There were 2 bunk beds opposite each other, and there was only one window that allowed me to see the view and breathe in the outside air. It sounds compact, right? But it was not that bad. I meant, if it's winter weather like in NZ right now, where the temperature at noon is about 15 degrees and at night about 8 degrees, only one window was more than enough. Because in reality, we rarely opened the window fully. But then again, when I was alone in the room during the day, I did like to open it fully. I like the airy and spacious atmosphere.

Alright, let's continue with what I did after I woke up. I started contemplating while I was still in bed before I even got up. The first thing I needed to do before thinking about anything else was going to a toilet and relieve myself completely. I feel that this activity is very reasonable since we allocate time for three main meals a day. A complete release will make the whole day feel more open, with nothing bothering me. My thoughts and feelings won't be pressured (Am I going too far? Well, I'll stop here). After that, I looked for something to eat. Of course, that would be instant porridge. Nothing could be easier than this. Fortunately, the accommodation has a small shared kitchen with various utensils available. What else is there? Oh, the bread that came with me. So, I just ate, so that I have enough energy for another 2-3 hours, and that's fine. I would find something to eat outside later.

The first day's goal was to apply for a tax identification number (IRD). This number is essential for applying for legal jobs in NZ. Simply put, it's the identification number for all workers in NZ. The government will deduct taxes from our income through this identification number. The place where I could apply for this number was a state bank called Giwi Bank, which has branches all over the city and the country. It's somewhat similar to the government bank back home. As for the documents needed, I checked online beforehand while still in Thailand and prepared everything before departing, grouped and neatly categorized them with paper clips. When I need to use them, I can just pick them easily. It saves time. I recommend this technique if there is any task that can have the documents prepared in advance.

Once I submitted the application, I had to wait about a week before the government would send the code we requested back to the address we provided, which was the address of the backpacker hostel I was staying at. This allowed me to reasonably predict that I would definitely have to stay here for a second week.

And the next thing to do was to have a bank account number. This is a way to receive payment for work and helps manage my money. I went to contact a bank, which, to be honest, should be similar in every bank. However, some banks might have long queues, so you might need to make an appointment and come back another day. Some banks or branches can handle it right away. This depends on the city you are contacting. If it's a bustling city like Auckland that I was contacting, there will likely be an appointment system for a later date. However, in other general cities, it should be possible to do it immediately. That is because opening an account requires one staff member to be with you for about 15-20 minutes to guide us in filling out the documents and entering the password we need to access our account online. (This procedure was in 2015)

Once I finished these two tasks, I exchanged the US dollars I had brought from Thailand, around 500 dollars, for NZ dollars. I brought US dollars because it was more convenient when exchanging at bank branches in rural areas compared to directly exchanging for New Zealand dollars. But if you have the opportunity to be near a currency exchange shop, directly exchanging for New Zealand dollars would probably be more beneficial. I remembered that after the exchange I had about 600 New Zealand dollars at that time.

Then I tried using my debit card from a bank in Thailand to see if I could access my account there. It turned out that I could access it without any issues. However, I intended not to use this card unless it was necessary. I planned to use the 600 dollars I currently had as my initial capital while settling in this new land and not touch my savings in Thailand. So, once everything that needed to be done was completed, all that's left is to wait for the documents to be sent back. Therefore, I decided to stay in this city until I received all the documents, and I did not want to rush anything either. I needed to adapt to the atmosphere of this country, whether it's the weather, money, shops, or everything around me. So, I started looking for a job and took the opportunity to walk around the city as well.

      I went to ask several restaurants, both Thai and foreign, and most of them still did not need to hire more staff. Some restaurants were looking for people, but my qualifications might not meet their expectations. For example, my visa was very flexible, meaning I could move anywhere without any commitments. Sometimes, based on the experience of restaurant owners I knew, it might not be worth their time to train a new employee, given the uncertainty of how long that person will stay. Another reason was that my qualifications might not stand out. Some restaurants wanted someone who can cook or had some kitchen experience.

However, if I may say, my English skills, which I considered my strongest and most useful asset when applying for jobs in Thailand, were not particularly impressive in a country where English was already widely spoken. In summary, I could only walk around looking for jobs and offer to help as a kitchen assistant. But even so, after about a week, I still hadn't found a job.

Some days I felt discouraged or in a bad mood, so I changed my plans to just walk around and explore. I must say that in NZ, there are many places that allow people to get close to nature, even in the city. There are several parks, and the scenery is beautiful. Even in a city with a large population, there are always beautiful views to see. Over the year and three months I spent there, even though I had to work hard and be in the sun, the opportunity to be close to nature all the time made me hardly ever feel that the work I was doing was heavy. The cold weather might also contribute to not feeling tired or exhausted when doing similar work as I would in Thailand.

After nearly two weeks of job hunting and facing disappointment, all the documents I needed had been sent back to me. Now, I had a bank account, a tax ID number, and some cash left. I intended for tomorrow night to be the last night of my two-week stay here, as I didn't want to keep trying to find a job in this city anymore. I was preparing to move to another city, hoping to find better opportunities. My cash was running low, and I was quite worried at that time. Then, in the early evening, I received a call from a Thai person working at a Thai restaurant where I had previously inquired and left my number. They wanted me to come and try working at the restaurant tomorrow. Of course, I had to agree.