Anyone from Dunedin?!

Welcome to Expat.com Sumantra26!

Harmonie.

Hey, howdy?

Welcome to Expat.com Sumantra26!

I wish you get lots of new contact here.

Do not hesitate to share your experience on the forum New Zearland.

Thank you,

All the best,
Christine

Thank you!

Hi! I live in the USA and am also thinking of moving to Dunedin. I know very little about it other than what I have been able to find on the internet. If you find out anything from anybody already ther can you pass the information on to me too please and I will do likewise with you.
Thanks,
Valerie

Hi Valerie, I still have not reached Dunedin, I will reach Auckland on 4th Feb, so maybe a day or two after. I am now in Bangkok, travelling. What I found out thus far is Dunedin is comparatively cheaper than Auckland or Wellington, and also much colder. The flat sharing and property rates you can find out by registering in easyroommate.co.nz, I already got a few calls and shortlist a couple of them. Ofcourse I have to go and see before finalising, as it is not prudent to pay through net.

The weather is like I said, pleasant, but chilly. It is primarily a student city, with lots of activities, and people from all over the world. Job options in South Island is also good. I plan to settle down there too, hopefully. And I got a few good Indian markets and restaurants in the central Dunedin area.

I will keep updating more in my blog, dailyworldwatch.wordpress.com, so you can subscribe (free) to that if you wish!

Do stay in touch, and all the best!

Thanks Sumantra. I have been pricing apts. and homes in that area and so have a pretty good idea of what I can get on my income. I met a lady on here from the USA and she told me to bring my skin care products as they are limited in variety and very expensive in NZ. I am hoping that they sell salsa and picante sauce in the stores but so far from Mexico I am not too optimistic. The reason I am thinking Dunedin is because of the medical school there. I plan on my daughter coming to live with me eventually and she would like to attend U of Otango. She is in her junior year of college currently. Will you be attending the University?
Valerie

Hi Valerie, yes, I am doing my second Masters, in International Studies from University of Otago. After that I plan to apply for a PhD in International Relations too. It is a great University, and the oldest of NZ. I think you will get the sauces as they have some good supermarkets like "Farmers" etc, and also a few others, in the Central Dunedin area...but I am not sure if you are looking for any specific brands, you might not get them. Same goes for skincare products. My mum was also iffy and wanted me to take mayonnaise, and some Indian spices, in flight, but I somehow managed to dissuade her.

I am glad to hear that you are going to the university there. My daughter met a young man that attends her current college who is from New Zealand. He told her he is going to school in the USA because it is cheaper ($27,000) per year and also easier academic wise. My daughter has half of her tuition paid for by scholarships and is afraid that if she goes to Otago that she will have to pay for the whole tuition out of pocket as her NZ friend told her there are no scholarships in NZ. Do you know if any of this is true?
Valerie

No, there are lots of scholarship and bursaries in NZ! And medical should most definitely have scholarships. I guess you should just email the University of Otago Med school, and they will give you all the details about application, scholarships, sessions etc.

Plus, with a student Visa, one gets work permit to work for 20 hours per week, and full time during the off sems. So basically the living cost comes out of it completely anyway.

Also NZ Govt. have marked special areas of talent invitation in the country, and they value education a lot here, so even the Government spends a lot on student grants and scholarships for research and post grads. But yea, before a leap like that, I think it is good to email the staff at the University to find out more. Don't know about the study part, whether it is harder than US, it is most surely not harder than here in India, as I saw the syllabus, and it looked quite manageable to me.

Also, if she gets a Med scholarship there in US, then she can also do Med there, and then apply for a visa to stay with you and work here in the med sector, with a working visa, and then apply for residence. You might want to check the Immigration NZ website for various schemes they have for professionals. Just an idea!

Thanks Sumatra. I have sent for the university catalog for her. I will see her in 2 weeks and show her your blog. Perhaps I can encourage her to make some friends on line here. Do you know if the university has a student blog sight that I could recommend to her?

Hi, here are a few links, just kindly copy-paste them in the address bar, as I can't seem to hyperlink them in my reply!

1. ousa.org.nz

2. facebook.com/OtagoInternationalOffice

3. For scholarship and other queries, here're the email addresses.

[email protected] , [email protected]

4. otago.ac.nz/international/index , otago.ac.nz/international/otago005596 , otago.ac.nz/international/otago005495


And here's the FB page of my blog,  facebook.com/DailyWorldWatch

and my blog itself :
dailyworldwatch.wordpress.com

I will post the photos, and articles in both.

Hope that helps! Ask me anything if you want to know more...