http://www.bom.gov.au/bmrc/clfor/cfstaff/nnn/culture.PDF

e.g.

The mid-19th century saw a succession of arguments about whether the Australian climate was
“healthy” (Nicholls, 1997). Just one of these debates concerned tuberculosis (then known as
consumption or phthisis). As early as 1850 Australia was being promoted as having a climate beneficial
to consumptives, leading to a “rush” of consumptives to the colonies. One medical critic of this
promotion was expelled from the Medical Society of Victoria for his “heretical” views. The debate then
raged between the medical profession and the Victorian Government Statist, Henry Heylyn Hayter, who
used his Victorian Government Year Books to attack the belief that the climate was favourable for the
cure of consumption. The Age newspaper took Hayter's side, but the debate continued until the end of
the century. Writers encouraged emigration to the colonies by stressing the quality of the climate:
“What do our struggling thousands gain by emigration to such lands as Australia and New Zealand, and
what do they lose? For the foggy uncertain climate of Great Britain they will find one equally healthful
and invigorating” (Heatherington, 1883).

 

and

About the same time, on the other side of the world, a development in climatology which would have a
profound impact on the Australian economy was under way. After an injury forced him from active
service, Lieutenant Matthew Maury of the US Navy in 1842 took charge of the Navy's Depot of Charts
and Instruments in Washington. While in this office he compiled oceanographic data from old and
current ship logs, to prepare charts of winds and currents, “for the improvement of commerce and
navigation” (Maury, 1857). His published charts and books were in immediate demand from sailors, and
led to a sudden reduction in the duration of voyages. Maury notes that the charts reduced the England-
Australia round trip from 250 days to 160 days, saving British commerce an estimated ten million (U.S.)
dollars annually (Maury, 1857, viii). The commercial importance of this increased understanding of the
climate of the globe must have had marked impacts on the Australian colonies.

australian women in 19th century poetry - Google Search

Several branches of the families came as assisted emigrants. Wilhelmina McLeod and her mother Janet Mackay with 3 siblings arrived in 1839 on the James Morgan from the Sutherland Shire  of Scotland. The Sanders ( William and Mary Ann) came by the VICTORIA in 1849. In 1853, The Jacksons arrived in the WILLIAM BROWN but I don't yet know under what conditions they came. Also in 1853 the BEEJAPORE sailed to NSW and NZ and on board were John and Harriet Hurrell ( who died in the same year 1853. Many died on that ship and Harriet's death may well be as a result of the voyage. ) Also on board were the Scottish CRAIGS. The extract below is from a NZ thesis on death and mourning amongst the Scots who emigrated .

 

IT WAS HARD TO DIE FRAE HAME’:

DEATH, GRIEF AND MOURNING

AMONG SCOTTISH MIGRANTS

TO NEW ZEALAND,

1840 -1890

By

Debra Powell

A Thesis

Submitted to the University of Waikato

in fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

in History

Official aggregates from ships surgeons’ reports reinforce the impression of

diaries that

"few immigrant ships arrived in New Zealand waters with their

original complement of passengers. Infectious diseases, chronic illness,

accidents at sea, dysentery and diarrhoea, and the debilitating effects of constant

seasickness on pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers, all took a toll on

passenger numbers. Migrants were not unaware of the risks involved. The loss

of babies and infants was considered an inevitable consequence of long seaboard

journeys. William Usherwood on board the Beejapore to Sydney in 1853

expressed a common sentiment when he wrote: ‘The … adults are all in good

health, we have lost several children but this was quite expected, being always

the case’"

William Usherwood, cited in Robin Haines, Doctors at Sea: Emigrant Voyages to Colonial

Australia (Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 2

_______________________________________

By the mid-nineteenth century there was a plethora of emigration societies set

up to assist Scots to find new homes abroad. In 1839, for example, a society was

formed among the weaving community of Fenwick in Ayrshire. The society

oversaw a ‘constant flow’ of departures to immigrant destinations including

Australia and New Zealand. Its constitution reflected a sense of impending crisis

and was unequivocal in its expression of the conviction that ‘ordinary folk’

should have the means to improvement, and an escape from the prospect of

unemployment, pauperism and starvation. It states:

A fearful gloom is fast thickening over the horizon of our country. Every

prospect of comfort to the working man is daily becoming darker and

more dreary. Trade and manufacturers are rapidly leaving our shores and,

to all appearance, a crisis is at hand in which the sufferings of the working

class will form a prominent feature

Cited in Jim Hewitson, Far off in Sunlit Places: Stories of the Scots in Australia and New

Zealand (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 1998), p. 19

_________________________________________________

FROM DEBRA POWELL'S THESIS

"The ocean voyage between Scotland and New Zealand could take anywhere

from three to five months. These months represented a transitional period for

individuals and families, and acted as a liminal zone between the old life and the

new. Migrants’ experiences of death at sea were an important part of this

transition, as traditional ideas and practices were challenged by the exigencies of

sea burials. Of necessity, the time between death and disposal of the body was

 

 

I have elected to include the diaries of English as well as Scottish migrants to New Zealand and

Australia, both for what they reveal about perceptions of ‘Scottishness’, and because of the

obvious commonalities in both experiences and responses to death at sea.

short. In the case of stillborn infants, and when infectious diseases were aboard,

this may have been as little as one hour.

 

The complex traditions of waking and

kisting which had served to facilitate the mourning process among Scots in their

home communities had to be dispensed with in the cramped space aboard ship.

Moreover, many adult patients spent their last days quarantined in the ship’s

‘hospital’ being cared for by a matron and the ship’s surgeon rather than their

own kin, as they would have been at home. This removal from the dying process

often left families with little to comfort them through the difficult process of

mourning. There were several modes of reaction to the disruption of the grief

process through death at sea. Aside from the negation of traditionally held

customs and observances, sea burial provided the family with no fixed place of

interment, effectively denying them the comfort of future visits to the graveside.

Furthermore, the body of the deceased could never lie in the family grave sites

that were to become a feature of colonial graveyards in New Zealand, as they

were in Britain and Ireland. On a religious or superstitious level, many migrants

still held onto fears concerning resurrection. People witnessed the bodies of the

deceased dropped into water teeming with sea-life, protected by nothing but a

weighted canvas shroud. Residual beliefs concerning the resurrection of the

body and its dependence on corporeal integrity at death, meant that the fear of

burial at sea resonated with that of dissection in many minds"

Beejapore

‘IT WAS HARD TO DIE FRAE HAME’:

Whites leaving SA in droves

July 22 2008 at 06:13PM

The number of white South Africans who give emigration as the reason for selling their home has shot up in recent months as high crime levels and political and economic uncertainty spur the flight of whites from the Rainbow Nation.

A survey by South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) showed the proportion of homeowners who said they were putting their homes on the market because they were emigrating had doubled between the last quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2008, from 9 percent to 18 percent.

Emigration was one of the most frequent reasons given by homeowners for selling up, next only to downscaling because of financial pressures, according to the FNB residential property barometer.
Foreign embassies in South Africa report a jump in emigration applications from mainly white South Africans in recent months, amid growing disillusionment over high levels of violent crime and the populist slide within the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

A power crisis that has made blackouts a feature of life in a country that prides itself on having first-world infrastructure, and a recent outbreak of xenophobic violence have also added to sense of doom and gloom fuelling emigration.

On Monday, a plane carrying 100 Jewish immigrants landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on the first ever specially-chartered aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) flight from South Africa.

According to the Jewish Agency, the body that manages immigration to the Jewish state, the number of South African Jews interested in making Israel their home is set to double in 2008. From 178 last year, their number is set to reach over 300 this year.

The Agency said the political situation and crime and violence were behind the trend.

In South Africa, 50 people are murdered every day and over 130 rape cases reported. While the past few years have seen a slight drop in contact crime statistics, the level of violence used during robberies and other criminal acts has sown terror in the population.

Many white South Africans also take a dim view of the endorsement by the ruling ANC of party leader Jacob Zuma as its candidate for president in 2009 elections. Zuma faces trial in the coming year on charges of corruption and fraud.

South Africa's Institute for Race Relations estimates that around 800 000 whites emigrated in the decade from 1995 to 2005. - Sapa-dpa

John Hurrell was born in 1828 in Cawston Norfolk, to Mark and Elizabeth Hurrell according to his emigration record. He died on 14th Janurary 1908 at Mcleay River, NSW. He also had cousins named John Hurrell. Mark Hurrell (John's father) married twice, Elizabeth was his first wife, and Mary Warner was his second. He was an Agricultural labourer. Living Eastgate, Cawston in 1851 census, aged 53, widower with his son Thomas and Mark's brother John age 60(pensioner - from services - Chelsea hospital)widower and John's children Susanna and Ann M. I don't know how many other children Mark had with either of his wives.
John married firstly to Harriet Tenpenny Abbott, in Holbeach Lincolnshire England, in Mar 1/4 1849, Folio X1V, page 561.  Then living at Sutton Crosses, Sutton St Mary, Lincolnshire in 1851. Occupation Farm labourer.  Came to Australia on the Beejapore in 1853 with Harriet. Dreadful conditions on this ship with many deaths and illnesses. Harriet died 1853. John could read and write, and paid 2 pound for his and his wife`s passage to Australia. On immigration record at State Records NSW, was living in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire prior to emmigration, and knew no-one in the colony. Mother Elizabeth deceased prior to his departure for Australia.  No children of marriage to Harriet. 
Remarried: Ellen Crowe, 26/11/1854 in Parish of ST Lawrence, Sydney in the County of Cumberland, NSW  (C of E)677/41B  Witnesses: Frederick Louis William Herrmann of Castlereagh St, Sydney, and Jane Hermann of Castlereagh St.  Age 37, Occupation Farmer at time of Thomas birth in 1865.  Buried Frederickton Cemetery, McLeay River, NSW Row M. Church of England section. Ellen Crowe was the daughter of Michael Crowe, and was born in Dublin, Ireland in c 1831. She died at McLeay River on 12/2/1899.
John and Ellen Hurrell had the following children;
John jr b 1855 ? Sydney died 1875 McLeay River NSW
Eliza Mary b 12/2/1858 Sydney d 3/8/1939 m William Sanders
Lucy Jane b 1861 McLeay River, NSW m Frederick Sanders
Mark Hurrell b 1862 McLeay River d 27/7/1910 McLeay River m Ruth Henry
Mary b 1863 m William Price
Thomas Dennis b 10 May 1865, Kinchela Creek, married Isabella ?Smailes
Ellen Matilda b 1867 McLeay River d 1943 Ashfiled NSW
James b 1869 McLeay River d 1946 Liverpool, NSW
Ann b 1872
George b 1873 McLeay River d 1875 McLeay River
Information on Lucy Hurrell and Frederick Sanders and family were given to me from Yvonne Szwedye website `For those who Came before` (Rootsweb).
Lucy was documented as 38 yrs of age on her mother's death certificate in 1899.
Lucy and Frederick had the following children:
Frederick William Sanders b 13/2/1879 d 27/7/1950 m Euphemia Nelson
John George Sanders b 10/4/1881 d 10/11/1950 m Elizabeth Craig
Maud Evelyn SAnders b 13/6/1883 d 14/6/1954
Clarence Macleay Sanders b 13/7/1885 d 15/5/1960 m Beatrice Dangerfield
Meta May Sanders b 24 Oct 1887 d 22/9/1888
Clement Constant Sanders b 15/9/1889d 31 Jan 1961 m Ellen Woodward
Janie Sanders b 27/10/1894 d 4/8/1903
Herbert Berdett Sanders b 6 Nov 1896 d 23/7/1916
The Sanders boys were the sons of William 'Blackberry' Sanders, b 15 Apr 1823 in Kenton, Devon, England D. 19 Dec 1910 M. Skimmings, Mary A. 
on
28 Aug 1848, D. 13 Nov 1882, and were 2 of 13 children born to William and Mary A.

 

http://www.myheritage.com/site-29656891/lynne%27s-heritage-web-site

I see here that the Hurrells -  John and his first wife, Harriett Tenpenny Abbott, came on the BEEJAPOORE in 1853. It was on the Beejapore that Thomas Craig and his family came - also in 1853. Thomas' daughter Elizabeth Craig was my grandmother and she married John  George Sanders , Lucy Jane Hurrell's son at Kinchela in the early 1900s.

LYNNE BELL SANDERS

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, South Africans are feeling less and less satisfied with the way things are being run in the country. The Mail and Guardian website reports that nearly 29% of adult South Africans are either actively seeking to emigrate, or are giving serious thought to it. That's a shocking number, and the numbers are pulled from across racial groups. Typically, the group of people willing to leave the country are highly educated folk with great access to media ("media savvy", as termed in the report). The statistics are worrying for authority figures, because it shows a great disillusionment with the way things are.

I'm one of the aforementioned number of people actively seeking to leave South Africa. It's a great country, mostly. And it's difficult to deny that there are a lot of things right with the place. But it's also very, very difficult to deny that there's a lot more things wrong. I don't think that many people who are seeking to emigrate are under an illusions that a life away from SA will be all honey and roses, but it IS a matter of what kinds of problems you're exchanging, and which kinds you're willing to put up with.

Personally, I'm frequently finding that I'm being frustrated by an uncertain future for my children, high prices, rude and unfriendly service, bad drivers, crime, and bad earning power, not all necessarily in that order. To exchange those for an unfamiliar country with unfamiliar laws, people, flora and fauna, and a different way of life without wood braais, beautiful scenery, and late night shopping every day of the week. I think I can deal with that. I'll be getting peace of mind, security and a future for my children, less road rage, better service from all sectors (government included), and a feeling that my life isn't in danger every time I go out for a walk.

My family are all still here, and that's going to be the biggest part of what I'm giving up. My closest and most amazing friends have all departed for other countries already, however. Leaving seems worth it to me.

If you're South African, what are your reasons for staying or going?

[Link: Mail and Guardian]

1. Radio 4 without the timeshifting.  Sure, I can fire up iPlayer on my laptop but The Today Programme is just too chirpy for 10pm.  And no fucker wants to wake up to Today in Parliament.
2. Excellent ready meals.  I had no idea that this was a British speciality.
3. Decent cheese.
4. Corner shops.  (They have these here too, but it's a 20 block walk on average.)
5. 240V electricity.  Trying to make toast on 110V is painful.

And that's it.

BELOW IS THE CASE OF THE "INDIAN" - AN EMIGRANT SHIP OF 1859 WHICH BROUGHT IRISH EMIGRANTS. THE "OUTRAGES" WERE RAISED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. WHILST OUR EMIGRANTS ARE APPARENTLY SCOTS AND ENGLISH , ( OUR IRISH HAVING ALREADY ARRIVED AS CONVICTS) THE ARTICLE BELOW IS CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH THE MCELODS, MACKAYS, SANDERS' ,JACKSONS AND CRAIGS.

The Sanders are marked on their disembarkation papers as "assisted emigrants". The 19th century newspapers fill in a good deal of my lack of understanding of emigration in the 19th century. I have images of William Sanders and of Mary Ann Skivings Sanders but none of the other " emigrants".

Mary Ann Skivings Sanders and the elderly gentleman seated is BlackBerry Bill Sanders:

NSW STATE ARCHIVES REEL 58.

ASSISTED IMMIGRANTS INWARDS TO SYDNEY PER SHIP " VICTORIA" ARRIVED 2nd SEPT 1849.

SAUNDERS, William. 26 years. Butcher. Born Kenton Devonshire. Son of William and Elizabeth SAUNDERS- still living in Kenton. C of E  - reads and writes. No relations living in Colony. in good health. Complained of short issue of rations during early part of voyage.

SAUNDERS, Mary Ann. 19 years - farm servant - born Silverton Devonshire - daughter of George and Grace Skivings. Still living in Silverton. C of E - Reads and Writes - no relations living in Colony - in Good health.

The Researcher (whom I think may have been Dick Sanders) has added - ( SAUNDERS should read SANDERS )

THE JACKSONS. from READY OR NOT - compiled by PHIL READY.

On 17th May 1853 a sixty ton ketch, WILLIAM BROWN, had arrived in Sydney from Honolulu. Aboard were immigrants WILLIAM JACKSON and his wife ELIZABETH and one daughter. William who had been born in Nottinghamshire in England was a Coppersmith by trade. On 26th November 1849 , in London he had married EIZABETH JOHNSON who had been born in Norfolk England.

In 1853 William whose trade was very much in demand set up in business in Steven Street, Ultimo. The following year his address appeared in SANDS directory as BAY STREET GLEBE. Julia from whom I descend  was born on 5th June 1860 - listed as Newtown.

THE OTHER 2 FAMILIES OF EMIGRANTS SO FAR TRACKED ARE :

• WILHELMINA MCLEOD who came from SUTHERLAND SHIRE with her mother and siblings : JANET MACKAY.
• THOMAS CRAIG a lad of 8 and his family.

DAILY NEWS OCTOBER 7th 1850 LONDON ENGLAND

http://melindakendall.wordpress.com/

]]> http://schwarzrotgold.wordpress.com/?p=55 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:48:13 +0000 schwarzrotgold http://schwarzrotgold.wordpress.com/?p=55 Die Schulden des Staats (62 % des Bruttoinlandprodukts) sind bedeutend höher als angenommen.
Rechnet man zu den bestehenden Verbindlichkeiten die in Zukunft anstehenden hinzu, kommt man auf eine Verschuldung in Höhe von 225 % des Bruttoinlandsprodukts (BIP). Mit diesen zukünftigen Verbindlichkeiten sind kommende Forderungen an Renten- Kranken- und Pflegeversicherung sowie Pensionskassen gemeint. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass die in Deutschland lebenden Ausländer durchschnittlich weniger Abgaben zahlen, als ihnen an Sozialleistungen zufließen. Läßt man diesen Punkt außer Acht, verringert sich die Schuld auf 168 % des BIP. Das BIP 2007 betrug immerhin 3.322.147.000.000 $
Quelle
Es wird Zeit Multikulti Kritik öffentlich zu akzeptieren. Ob es für entsprechende Schlüsse schon zu spät ist werden erst die nächsten Generationen spüren.

First, there was the First. That was unexpected. I have been meaning to write a post for some time now about child prodigies and intelligence in young people. If I had this would all make more sense now, but I will come back to it at a later date.

Suffice it to say that the First has made me think I am reasonably clever after all. I've spent many years thinking I'd gone backward and others have caught up with me. It's probably true to some extent, but I'm still smarter than the average bear. And modest too...

Then there has been my birthday. I've suddenly realised that I am actually quite old to be still doing bugger all with my life. Nothing concrete anyway. Most 23 year olds have started work by now. This has made things very complicated for me. I am sick of living off my parents' back. I want to be of independent means at long last. I got used to it while not living here as a student... but the difference there was that I wasn't earning the money myself. Mr and Mrs Taxpayer were handing it to me in loans and grants.

Having a taste of that, I want to go further. Plus, I see the sacrifices my mum and dad have made for me. I don't want to keep asking that of them. I want to give them something back.

I can't do that while I'm poor. And it's highly unlikely I'd ever be able to do that as a teacher, either. It's not a well paid profession unless you become a headteacher. And then you have to put up with government targets, league tables, assessments and inspections in a massively high pressured environment. And then after all that you don't get to teach any more, which is what most people ostensibly go into the profession for. Not much of a reward, is it.

Suffice it to say that in the past few days I've become quite sceptical of the idea of becoming a teacher. This is quite a radical turnaround.

So I'm getting older. I've got less time to make a go of life. But I have the tools to do it now. I don't necessarily need to spend another year doing the teacher training. I really should only do that if I definitely want to be teacher. I had originally thought that it would be good to do it even if I don't become a teacher, because that way I keep the door open. But after all this time, it might not be sensible for the reasons above. It may not be my life's ambition after all.

It gets worse when I consider the best plan for leaving this country, if ever I chose to do that. But then it means me making a career choice with emigration in mind. I could probably turn my hand to most things, though... which means that if I want to leave I should choose the career that is the most in demand. Teachers are always in demand. But it's very difficult to transfer knowledge of one country's curriculum to another country.

This is serious reflection time. My thoughts on this are all still very muddled. I don't think I'm quite in a "blues" situation... but I will be if I can't turn all of this into a logical plan which will stand up to scrutiny. I just know for certain that for a multitide of reasons, not least being fed up with feeling like a drifting, aimless student all the time, I want to reject teaching.

Will it stretch me enough? I don't know.

I need to get some answers and quick.

Miguel's mother and father have already crossed to border between Mexico and California. Miguel is waiting for word from his father that it is time for him to cross "the line" and come to America. There is only one person in Mexico that Miguel can trust - Don Clemente. With everything arranged, Miguel begins his journey north - alone - so he thinks. During a disturbance on the bus, Miguel discovers his sister, Elena, followed him and is planning to cross "the line" with him. Will the journey be too tough for Miguel and Elena? What kind of trouble will they run into? Will they get caught or make it safely to California? Read La Linea (it is only 125 pages).

… Pour tous ceux pour qui c’est possible, une solution : quitter la France, s’expatrier.

La France est livrée, pour quatre ans encore, à ses pires ennemis, qui ont toute latitude pour faire voter les lois les plus scélérates, sans que la solidarité, qui, naguère, permit à son peuple de manifester pour empêcher les graves atteintes à ses droits les plus élémentaires, ne puisse plus s’exprimer : les Français étant totalement divisés, montés les uns contre les autres, isolés par le souci de leur propre survie, confinés dans le sauve-qui-peut-chacun-pour-soi, que les forces de la destruction au pouvoir ont réussi à imposer.

Les Français, sous la pression de conditions de vie de plus en plus précaires, se retrouvent soumis, oppressés, menacés, extorqués de leurs droits et de leurs libertés.

On épargnera l’épouvantable liste de toutes les mesures prises à l’encontre des citoyens ; chacun les connaît : démantèlement du droit du travail, franchises médicales, déremboursements, suppression de la durée légale du travail, remise en cause des droits des chômeurs, du RMI, des heures supplémentaires (à leur ancien taux), bientôt (c’est en route) du Smic, et des congés payés, lois liberticides, chape de plomb sur les médias, fichage des citoyens, précarisation du travail, atteintes au droit de grève, démantèlement de l’Education nationale, des services publics de proximité (hôpitaux, postes, tribunaux), économie en récession, inflation galopante, alignement de la politique extérieure sur l’Otan et les Etats-Unis (bientôt, sans doute, participation à une attaque guerrière en Iran), suppression du droit d’asile pour des milliers d’exilés menacés chez eux, chasse aux sans-papiers jusque dans les écoles, exercice d’un pouvoir autoritaire et absolu, sans le moindre contre-pouvoir possible.

La politique du petit Kondukator tout-puissant s’avère bien pire que tout ce qu’on en craignait, légitimement.

Rien ne s’arrangera d’ici la fin de son règne : on sait même que les choses ne vont faire que s’aggraver, pour la très grande majorité des citoyens.

Ce pays, livré au désespoir, n’a même plus les ressources de ses traditionnels moyens de lutte pour se défendre : les syndicats, divisés, n’arrivent plus à entraîner de mobilisation pour des grèves générales, les moyens d’expression légales : droit du travail, prud’hommes, sont mis sous l’éteignoir ; on n’assiste plus que, sporadiquement, à des manifestations corporatistes (pêcheurs, routiers, agriculteurs), sans aucun lien entre elles : chacun ne se battant que pour ses propres intérêts.

Ce pays n’est plus un peuple, mais un agrégat d’individus, de corporations, de communautés isolées et quelquefois opposées les unes aux autres ; le lien social en a été totalement rompu, le syndrome nimby y règne en maître, l’intérêt collectif n’est plus qu’un vague souvenir, le bien public une notion tombée aux oubliettes.

Ce pays est en danger. Quand les moyens légitimes d’expression des citoyens sont empêchés, leur dignité bafouée, leur liberté mise sous le boisseau ; toutes les conditions d’une montée en tension, prélude à une guerre civile s’accumulent, sans plus aucune soupape de sécurité pour les empêcher.
Les conditions d’une résistance sont étouffées dans l’œuf.

La cocotte-minute se transforme en bombe à retardement ; l’explosion sera inévitable, irrémédiablement suivie d’une répression qui créera toutes les conditions d’un Etat policier.

Tant que cette équipe sera au pouvoir, aucune amélioration n’est possible.

Aussi, une solution est tout à fait réalisable, pour toutes les catégories de citoyens pour qui c’est possible : s’expatrier le plus vite possible.

Pour tous les jeunes, en quête d’un premier emploi, l’horizon est large : d’autres pays de la communauté européenne (Espagne, Allemagne, pays scandinaves), le Canada, l’Australie, voire l’Inde.
Pour tous les cadres, qui viennent de voir voter une loi qui ramène leurs conditions de travail un siècle en arrière, de même.
Pour tous les retraités, contraints de grappiller les conditions d’une survie de plus en plus aléatoire, les nombreux pays de l’arc méditerranéen, où le niveau de vie est beaucoup moins élevé, et où leur retraite de misère leur assurera un niveau de vie décent : Maroc, Tunisie, voire Thaïlande, Vietnam ; où ils recevront, par ailleurs, un accueil des plus chaleureux.
Pour tous les travailleurs susceptibles de trouver de meilleures conditions de travail, à qualification égale, certains pays de la communauté européenne (toute la Scandinavie, l’Espagne...)

Je sais que l’expatriation n’est pas forcément une chose simple : rompre les liens quotidiens avec les familles, les amis, changer de cadre de vie, d’habitudes et de coutumes de vie, etc.

Pourtant, à bien y regarder, la plupart y ont beaucoup plus à gagner qu’à perdre : meilleur niveau de vie, nouvelles expériences, nouvelles relations, accueil chaleureux, conditions de travail améliorées, motivations à se créer un avenir.

suite de l'article sur :

So today while reading the SA newspapers and NZ newspapers online, I came across a couple of articles that show the startling differences between crime in NZ and crime in SA.

The first article is taken from the NZ Heraldonline today, which is all about the increase in the number of people who are filling their cars with petrol and then driving off without paying, which is happening on average ONCE A WEEK in NZ! Wahahahahahahaha!!!! ROFLMAO!!! :-) I mean really, get real, that's probably less than what we average in a day here in lovely SA! (comment is dripping sarcasm)!

And here is a very interesting article from the Cape Argus that details how being a petrol attendant has become quite a dangerous job. Because while in NZ people are simply driving off without paying for their petrol, here in SA, we go one better. If you don't feel like paying for your petrol, you can stab, shoot or run over the petrol attendant!

So while the comments from my Kiwi friends relate to how violence and crime happens only in certain area's in NZ and that you just should avoid those area's, in SA, crime and violence comes looking for you, you constantly have to be on your guard because there's almost always somebody out to get you!

Développant une nouvelle démarche en ce qui concerne la prise en charge de cette importante frange d'Algériens (environ 4 millions dans le monde, dont plus de 1,5 million en France), les autorités diplomatiques algériennes semblent s'éveiller sur une nouvelle exigence qui a été, ailleurs au Maghreb, mieux perçue, prise en charge et gérée. Au Maroc, les MRE (Marocains résidant à l'étranger) ont leurs propres structures d'accueil et de départ (police des frontières, douanes, banques, voyagistes), et, comme en Tunisie, les transferts financiers vers leur pays des émigrés représentent plus de 5 milliards de dollars annuellement. Dans leur pays, ils disposent d'une panoplie de mesures qui leur facilitent et rendent leurs vacances agréables, alors que leurs investissements dans leur pays bénéficient de toutes les facilités (bancaires, administratives, etc.).

Aujourd'hui, les autorités ont-elles compris le besoin impérieux de la communauté nationale à l'étranger d'être d'abord mieux représentée et défendue dans les pays d'accueil, ensuite d'être bien prise en charge lors des grandes vacances ? L'intégration de cette communauté est également un des objectifs des autorités diplomatiques, d'autant que la diaspora algérienne à l'étranger représente un formidable potentiel en termes financiers et de savoir-faire. Selon M. Medelci, cette intégration mettra au profit du pays le potentiel représenté par la communauté algérienne établie à l'étranger en matière de «savoir-faire, de ressources et de disponibilité», et la mettra en communion avec le reste du peuple algérien, qui lui aussi doit être informé de ce qu'est la communauté nationale à l'étranger.

«Il faut mieux écouter les préoccupations des ressortissants algériens, percevoir leurs messages et assurer d'autres niveaux de solidarité, outre la solidarité humaine», a-t-il dit à l'adresse des chefs de poste, avant de relever que «peut-être dans certains cas nous, qui sommes ici dans le pays, nous avons une vision un peu étriquée de ce que représente notre communauté à l'étranger. Il faut donc que cette communication entre Algériens puisse se faire d'une manière plus large, plus intelligente et plus mobilisatrice». Il a ainsi annoncé que des programmes d'actions conjoints entre le secteur des Affaires étrangères et celui de la Solidarité nationale seront élaborés et concrétisés selon les moyens disponibles en faveur de la communauté nationale à l'étranger. Il n'a pas précisé quels seront les moyens qui seront déployés pour mieux prendre en charge les besoins de la communauté nationale à l'étranger.

De son côté, le ministre de la Solidarité nationale, de la Famille et de la Communauté nationale établie à l'étranger, M. Djamel Ould Abbès, a affirmé que son département ministériel oeuvrera à la protection des droits de la communauté algérienne émigrée. «La consolidation des liens avec la communauté nationale à l'étranger se fixe comme objectif premier de mettre à contribution la ressource humaine pour l'intérêt du pays et l'octroi, à ceux dont l'incapacité de produire est établie, le droit à une juste reconnaissance dans la dignité et le respect». «Nous veillerons sur la protection de leurs droits», a-t-il ajouté, avant de lancer un appel pour la mobilisation de cette communauté en faveur du développement national et la relance de l'économie nationale.

Pour autant, les deux ministres ont laissé beaucoup de points en suspens, notamment le degré d'intervention des autorités diplomatiques algériennes en faveur des sans-papiers, des harraga détenus dans les centres de transit, les cas sociaux, les reconduites aux frontières, etc. Autant de questions restées sans réponse, d'autant que les émigrés algériens, en Europe ou ailleurs dans le monde, sont souvent astreints au parcours du combattant quand ils veulent investir dans leur pays, ou simplement se faire virer de l'argent à partir de leurs comptes domiciliés dans les banques en Europe. Des questions, comme celles du transport et de l'accueil dans leur pays, qui constituent actuellement le talon d'Achille de la politique actuelle en matière de prise en charge de la communauté algérienne établie à l'étranger. Ou bien ce brusque intérêt n'est-il que conjoncturel, une opération de charme sans lendemain coïncidant avec la période des vacances

par Ali Babès

le qutidien d'oran

When I woke up this morning I had plenty of things I wanted to do: read the Qur'an, go shopping for summer-ish cloth, and hang out with someone I care about. Instead, I spend my whole day arguing with a human wall who doesn't understand that writing a letter to the United Nation's Refugee Resettlement Agency on behalf of your crazy nephew in East Africa doesn't bring them here. I have already written two e-mails on behalf of this boofis-consumed individual (I don't know the equivalent word of boofis in English - but it's a word Somalis use to describe someone who spends day and night talking, thinking, and dreaming about emigrating to the West), which has resulted in nothing.

So today, because of this guy's boofis-induced state of mind that concocted wild story, I had to spend my whole day explaining at length and eventually writing the useless letter. I'm all for helping out someone who has a "case" that needs help with translation and bureaucracy stuff, but I absolutely resent being asked to do the same thing over and over again, which I know leads to nowhere. 

I've gone through the process myself like millions of people and I know it by heart but when this guy thinks that a letter written on behalf of him by his elderly aunt (in which she will say she's willing to take the financial burden of the trip, blah blah) will magically bring him from Jomo Kenyatta to JFK, I feel angry and disrespected. Just listening to his logical thinking infuriates me. 

People who have boofis are obsessive compulsive on top of having all the psychological disorders found on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder. I wasn't doing for him but for his elderly aunt that happens to be my distant aunt. What is criminal about this guy is how he manipulates his elderly aunt day after day. I wish I still had my Mungiki connection so I can have him bumped off.

Yesterday I received a very surprising phone call from Faieka, an SA Kiwi living in NZ for the past 4 years. To understand how surprising this is, let me back track a bit. Faieka and I, although both South Africans, come from totally different worlds. Faieka is a Muslim woman of approximately my age, who probably felt the effects of Apartheid much more than I did. I, on the other hand am a white female who grew up in a prividleged, Christian home. Aside from us both being South African, we're also both originally from the magnificent city of Cape Town. We would probably have NEVER met, spoken or socialized in any way, shape or form if it weren't for our chance meet as colleagues at MWeb more than 6 years ago. This is not to anything other than our paths would never have crossed if it weren't for MWeb. Even then the differences between us were tangible. Faieka, was a stable, married woman with one daughter and another one on the way. She was exceptional at what she did at MWeb, I was a wild child in my early twenties, recently divorced and living life large with no direction what so ever. We have not seen each other in 6 years but have randomly on the odd occasion emailed each other with titbits of news etc. But Faieka has been one of the greatest sources of information and support for our emigration. She phoned me yesterday from NZ, long distance international call and probably spent about a half an hour on the phone giving me all kinds of tips and bits of information, Faieka, if you're reading this, you have no idea how much that phone call meant to me, you have no idea how much the information helped both Walter and I.

It has given us a certain peace of mind to know that we probably are not going to starve on the streets of NZ, or live in a cardboard box in the park. :-)

Elsie is another friend/acquaintance who has been a source of information for both Walter and I. She worked with Walter more than 3 years ago, when we lived in the shit hole Maputo, Mozambique. Perhaps the reason we're all so brave about packing up and moving to a strange country is because WE SURVIVED MOZZIE! If you can survive that place, I reckon you can survive anywhere. Understand people, going there for a holiday, sitting on the beach, sipping a cocktail is a VERY different kettle of fish to actually having to live there. It was hell. It was awful, it was filthy, dirty, depressing and corrupt. Hhhm sounds allot like South AFrica doesn't it.

Anyway, back to Elise, she has been invaluable in sending us snippets of information that have given us a great incite into what our first few months as SA Kiwi's will be like. Here is an email with some interesting insights I received from Elsie this morning:

"Today we gave up, or gave in (not sure which), packed Wendy (the whining GPS) and headed over the Auckland bridge to …..

…………. BROWNS BAY.. *hear horror music in the back ground*

Also known as Little South Africa, Browns Bay is famous to be teeming with South African expats and their (much sought after) merchandise.  Tannie Sannie behind the counter (and her triple chin) greeted us with ‘wat kan ons vir julle doen’, while boere musiek is blerring from the huge flat screen TVs. Dis ‘n bokjol and it can like scare even hardened Pretoria type Afrikaners.

This is also the only place in the country (and most likely the world) where you can buy the old South African flag, the old South African flag key ring and the old South African flag bumper sticker along with shirts that read ‘South African Kiwi’. The shelves are filled with boerbeskuit, koeksisters, melktert, biltong, boerewors and …. Aah yeaah… (can you hear the faintest of Kiwi accent yet?) GOOD SOUTH AFRICAN WINE.

We went bos. Yup letterlik. Off course the same bottle that costs R30 in SA, now set you back $40! But hey! A small price to pay for the Geewd Stuff!!

Posters advertise a sokkiejol and Afrikaans Musiek Konsert (all in die taal natuurlik) and in one shop you have two clocks: one displaying  Johannesburg time, the other Auckland time. A sign of the times, indeed. Had it not been for the weather, you would be forgiven for thinking you were in Bloemfontein, Benoni or Boksburg.

You hardly hear English around here and on the odd occasion you do, it can like be talked in a very heavy Boksburg accent.

 No wonder the Kiwi’s think we talk funny. But then, who are THEY to judge right? If ever you wondered what raping the English language would sound like, head on over to my part of the world. A pear is a pair, sheark is a shark and that is about where the similarities end.

 The truth is, even though I am reluctant to admit this, there is a certain amount of comfort in finding the familiar. Even if it’s the familiar you intentionally tried to remain unfamiliar with. At the end of it, I guess there is not much difference between Tan Sannie and me. We are all South Africans that decided its’ is safer to love South Africa from afar.

An opportunity I am grateful for.

Well thank gawd for foresight.  Just as we arrived in Auckland,  I found two bunnies at the Warehouse (think PEP stores on drugs – but really the only thing you can afford with South African monopoly money) We call it bunnies cause its big fluffy and silky soft bath robes and PERRRFECT for the cold, wet Auckland winter nights.

In fact, we like our bunnies so much and live in them so often it is a problem to clean. We suffer severely from separation anxiety and so bunny wash days are now scheduled. But only when we are ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY SURE we won’t be at home where we might need them.  It is a problem, but we are not seeking counselling..yet.

The other good news is that our container finally arrived. Our entire life is in a box at the harbour awaiting inspection from our friendly customs officials. I can’t wait to be reunited with my ‘Stuff’. I particularly miss my clothes. In Auckland you have such a wide variety. You can pick from black, grey and black. I’m thinking more in line with orange, red and yellow .. In all honesty, the few items I did manage to bring over with me have served me well. They are head turners of note.

I guess when everyone wears only black you tend to notice someone swinging past you in a green, blue and yellow striped jersey.. J

Personally, I believe it is a conspiracy amongst the retail outlets. They stock ONLY black, in the process they minimise competition and bore everyone into depression. And we know what depressed women do … right?

YES! ..SHOP!!! ….I smell an evil plot!

Well the other interesting titbit is that we are now closer than ever to snow capped mountains and ski slopes J There is a slope (not a real one but close enough) just 20 min north of Auckland. I can’t wait to get further south to give the real ones a go!

This is such a beautiful country. I have attached a link to a fabulous site. When opening the link click on the top banner that reads ‘welcome to youngest country on earth’ to play a lovely video about our new home.. it truly inspires J

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/International/            

Well, that is that from far south. Tonight we are in a most fascinating position. The All Blacks are playing the Boks in Wellington. Either way, we win!! He He J.

So to even the score we devised a CLEVA supporter’s strategy! We decided that we will support the underdog. When SA is playing NZ on NZ turf, we shall be Bok supporters. When NZ plays Boks in SA, we’ll be supporting All Blacks.

Not sure which way things will swing if both teams are playing each other on foreign turf K .. but we will figure it out when we get there. Maybe we will share the support 50 -50 amongst ourselves. Who knows?

Go Boks! "

 

I can't wait for it to be me sending these titbits of information!

I can't wait to call myself an SA Kiwi!!

Go bokke, go All Black's!!!

It perplexes me how so many Americans keep saying that Mandarin will soon replace English as the world's trade language. The thought I would assume comes from the idea that if our country's dominance ceases, so will our language. It is completely false. The Greeks, led by Alexander the Great conquered the known world by force of arms, though their culture made a far stronger impact and it's language which had been set up as the world's trade language; remained dominant for centuries after the fall of the nation. As the Roman nation rose, Greece fell to in-fighting, the Romans didn't rise in spite of the Greeks but instead used it to propel them. The Romans had already begun to emulate Grecian culture, Greek slaves were prized by wealthy Romans; the educated revered as teachers. And when Greece fell, Rome gained the philosophers, the artists, the poets and the like by way of immigration. It seems like a modern idea, but the cultured of the world have always gravitated towards new happening places; The Greeks left a dying Greece to go to Rome, the Romans left for Constantinople as the Roman Empire began to fall, Mansa Musa of Mali was such an inspiring figure that he sucked talent from Europe and the Middle East creating a Golden Age in Timbuktu that even now we don't fully know the extent of it, When Constantinople fell the cultured came to Italy and sparked the Renaissance, and of course the United States of America has had massive migrations of talent from around the world; the greatest example being the Jewish-Germans thinkers that immigrated during the Nazi reign of terror. America's dominance in the world is waning, but will our culture and our language disappear from the scene; unlikely.

Now I hate to bring China up but I have little choice. China is not a free nation, it's economy is controlled and it's laws are merciless. I bring it up due to it's people's thirst for American culture and language, the former for it's entertainment and the latter for it's economic purposes. In my model of a Roman-Greek relationship China is most certainly the Rome to our Greece; something to keep in mind as you chuckle at China's Shijingshan Amusment Park (a blatant copy-off of Disney World) or beam with pride as they ship students to our Universities and hire American computer scientists for their own Silicon Valley. They seek to emulate us because they seek to replace us. Now the question is, will they. I would say they have a very good chance to. They've done a great job of opening up the market and turning themselves into a massive producer of raw goods, refining goods, and consuming goods; loosening up restrictions on those in the dense south-east while keeping those in the north and west drowning in poverty seems to be working for them. Also with massive increases in education, the Chinese are turning into a smart little bunch. Now the double-edge sword of education is the more educated a person becomes the more restless the need for freedom will be. That along with Christianity spreading like wildfire (bringing morality to a secularist people) has a good chance of turning China into a very strong free nation.

Now, you may be asking yourself, how can I profit off of my homeland's fall? What a despicable thought. Here's how; In our ever globalizing world taking an overseas position can have massive payoffs. Companies opening up new branches overseas often want to bring their own people over as managers, overseers and trainers but Americans hate leaving home so the benefits tend to be substantial. Good to keep in mind if you're sensing your company is going to export yours and your fellow co-worker's jobs; a potential problem can turn into a new beginning if you look for it. Also just having a good command of the English language is extremely valuable, even without TESOL certification (though it's great to have) there are countless jobs for English speakers abroad, many in Asia, where when cost of living is factored in; you can make out quite well. People around the world love us, don't ask me why; we're rude, loud, pay no attention to our host culture and act like we should be treated like royalty. But for some reason they do; milk it for what it's worth.

Slightly off topic, but quite typical for me; Estonia. Remember the name, keep an eye on it, the gains they are making in terms of freedom and economics are fascinating. They are well on their way to first world status. Libertarians have a habit of sounding off on which countries they're going to immigrate to due to this or that law being passed, this country should be first on their list. I stand in awe of what the Estonians have done since gaining independence from the Big-Momma. I keep going back and forth on whether I want go for my masters at Tartu University in Baltic Studies, they keep up the good work and I'll probably be set.

In the lines of support needed, if you have time, please pop over to my dear friend Super M, she got a BFN from her first IVF today, and although was kinda prepared for it due to negative HPT's, the hurt is still intense.  She needs some love.

And my other friend Shaz needs some hugs as well - her house sale has fallen through which means that her emigration plans have had to be put back onto the back burner for a while - she has also just received a visit from AF and is not happy to see her...

Wicked Wednesday struck twice today.  I wish I could help heal my friends hurts, but know that support and love from you chaps makes it feel better, so head on over if you can.  

Can something just work out? Can I just have at least ONE of the things I really really really with all my heart so desperately want?

To add insult to injury I got my period yesterday, so not only am I unable to fall pregnant, I'm also unable to sell my blasted house and leave this sodding country! :-(

I really don't understand it, I've had 4 cycles since my surgery, a surgery which by all intents and purposes is supposed to make you very fertile. I've never battled to fall pregnant before, I can't believe it. Three rounds of having sex, yes people, having sex and still no pregnancy! WTF??? I heard that ones rate of pregnancy drops after 35 but come on, this is ridiculous! Its been almost two years since my last pregnancy which was at 34, perhaps my rate of pregnancy has just STOPPED?

I guess I'm getting a true life lesson here...

You can't always have what you want when you want it. But come on God, I've been waiting, albeit not so patiently, but I've been waiting SIX YEARS for my baby! Perhaps its time I learnt that you can't always have what you want? But that sentiment makes me want to stomp my feet, throw myself to the floor, arms and legs flaying, tantrum style screeching: "WHY NOT! BUT I WANT IT! AND I WANT IT ALL NOW!!!"

I'm feeling so frustrated with the world today that if I was a cruel person I'd probably kick a puppy, instead, I'll spend the day kicking myself! What a looser, can't even have a baby, what a failure as a wife and a woman, what an idiot for thinking that I could have it all.

Today is a very bad day for me, I know this is probably going to sound totally pathetic, but I feel that I have nothing to look forward to. And I need something to look forward to. I need that to keep me motivated and to keep me moving forwards, but right now, when I look into the near future I see a whole lot of nothingness..........

I'll end the pity party now, give myself a fat slap and I promise be back to my old self tomorrow.

Polar, tragédie, conte d'amours impossibles : sémantique du sang qui irrigue, qui ravine corps et familles, circule d'Est en Ouest, de la mort à la vie. Métaphorique et trivial, l'avenir est une promesse, un éclat indéfinissable des profondeurs sordides.

Les mots de David Cronenberg semblent appartenir au langage commun, mais leur sens s'affranchit du dictionnaire ; ses films, bien que respectueux des genres, en trahissent de tous côtés les codes. N'est-il pas le réalisateur de Faux Semblants ? Pour lui, chaque histoire se double d'une autre, qui la dément. Ses personnages sont d'une nature ambivalente, partagés entre deux mondes, dont l'un, inavouable, doit demeurer secret. Sa seule simplicité s'exprime alors par la narration. Ici, une histoire banale de rivalités mafieuses, les Russes et les Tchétchènes déportent leur guerre dans les bas-fonds londoniens, une jeune femme trop curieuse, un mystérieux journal intime - boîte de Pandore - un enfant qu'il faut protéger de la fange dont il est issu. Et si ce récit se déroule dans une linéarité qui n'exclut pas un certain suspense, de plus près déjà il se trouble, comme un mirage, et laisse entrevoir sous sa trame imprécise, fuyante, des zones sombres d'une texture bien différente.

L'impact physique et cérébral produit par Eastern Promises réclamerait un délai avant analyse, si justement l'état premier, entre malaise et éblouissement, n'en donnait pas une compréhension plus adéquate. Intellectuellement, les pistes se contredisent. La mafia russe à Londres, d'un réalisme limpide, la rivalité attendue, cette histoire de filiation, de vengeance, d'amour - génèrent autant d'interprétations en interne, dans l'œuvre du cinéaste, qu'en externe, vers la société et l'état du monde. Chaque fil narratif, chaque plan, chaque geste, suscite questions et associations d'idées. C'est la voix officielle de Cronenberg, son langage commun, qu'il prolonge volontiers dans ses interviews, lorsqu'il explicite tel ou tel élément de son œuvre. Le choix de Viggo Mortensen, acteur chez lui pour la seconde fois, qu'il présente volontiers comme un alter ego. Ou celui de Jerzy Skolimowski (l'oncle russe) cinéaste polonais qui, après une longue pause cinématographique, présente à Cannes son nouveau film, Quatre nuits avec Anna. Les détails pittoresques sur le mode de fonctionnement des Vory v zakone (littéralement les « voleurs dans la loi »), mafia russe immigrée, sa loi, sa hiérarchie, ses rituels - dont le tatouage n'est pas le moins intrigant.

Pourtant, si le film se limitait à ce que Cronenberg en dit, ce ne serait qu'un polar ordinaire, aussitôt oublié. Dès l'ouverture l'image bascule dans l'horreur. C'est bref, sec, et sans appel. Après, quel qu'en soit le déroulement, l'histoire se reverse sur autre chose, une autre compréhension, ni anecdotique ni conceptuelle. Une compréhension organique. Le réalisateur lui-même explique : « A cause de mon orientation philosophique, existentialiste, cela me rend très conscient du corps. Le premier acte de l'existence humaine, c'est le corps humain, je ne crois pas en l'au-delà. Pour moi, la réalité, c'est le corps. » (Positif, novembre 2007). Cette insistance sur l'existentialisme est a priori étonnante, rapportée à un film multipliant les références bibliques : une femme met au monde un enfant sans acte sexuel, deux frères se disputent les faveurs du père, un roi en remplace un autre, l'amour ne peut être que spirituel... Comme chez Dante, Baudelaire, Dostoïevski, Blake, la religion est omniprésente. Par la dégradation. La foi, même évacuée ou reniée, débarrassée de toute transcendance, persiste structurellement, transposée, par effroi, dans la société, comme une inévitable régression aux mythes fondateurs, à une violence originelle. Dans l'Ancien Testament, Dieu est cruel, jaloux, impitoyable, et ses fils ne valent pas mieux. La vie se manifeste par le sang, aussi riche, aussi dispensable. Sacrifices, combats, le film fait souffrir la chair, exacerbe sa fragilité, son absurdité et, par là, sa beauté. Affirmer, en d'autres termes, qu'il n'y a rien de plus, dans la vie, que cette chair, c'est lui restituer une intense, une difficile primauté. Les tatouages consacrent la valorisation du corps, mais représentent aussi une tentation de transcendance. Offrir sa peau au marquage, c'est à la fois renoncer en partie à son intégrité physique, mais plus encore réinscrire son corps dans une perspective métaphysique, ici celle d'une fraternité idéale, une famille d'élection, où le sang prend une signification nouvelle, mortifère, à la fois monnaie d'échange et gage de fidélité. Les hiérarchies se mettent en place par la violence et le mensonge. Une base aussi instable les rend vulnérables, forcément exposées à une surenchère dans la violence.

Cette sombre traversée n'a rien de cathartique ; elle est simplement inévitable. Est-ce ainsi que Cronenberg se représente la genèse ? Le titre, les promesses de l'Est, pourrait nous orienter vers cette interprétation, et conclure l'histoire - le dernier plan idyllique - sur une vision de paix profondément mélancolique.

Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg (2007), avec Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts et Vincent Cassel

READING the write-up in the Fringe booking kit, one would expect this to be an insightful piece looking at the reasons why South Africans choose to emigrate.

But it’s not. It’s a weird, self-indulgent combination of drama, physical theatre and poetry that doesn’t really achieve anything or answer any questions.

Nicholas Welch and Belinda Belseck are the two central actors, acting out their scenes in the centre of the stage in a small apartment in an unnamed northern hemisphere country which they have just moved to.

Although they seem to be very much in love, their interaction is weird. They predominantly speak to each other in poetry rather than normal conversation and it’s all flowery language with big words that don’t really convey any meaning or emotion.

There is nothing interesting or attractive about either character that the audience can connect with or latch on to.

Meanwhile in the darkened areas either side of their apartment, two shadowy figures dance and move, gradually decorating the empty stage with a collection of plants native to South Africa.

Whenever she gets depressed about her situation, the wife wanders into this area, looking at all the things which remind her of home.

But the more this happens, the more you realise it is all in her imagination and she is slowly going mad.

There is very little to keep the audience’s attention in this bilingual (English and Afrikaans) production and one wonders if the title “Why we Left” could refer to what is going through the audience’s minds as they ponder whether it’s even worth staying to the end of this mediocre work.

So after declaring Sunday CV day in our home and spending hours pouring over Walter's CV, ensuring that the English Grammar was perfect and that it was so called "Kiwi Styled" the moment of truth arrived last night....

We logged onto NZ's biggest recruitment website and applied for about 12 suitable positions for him. Within one hour he had 8 responses! All of them expressing interest in his CV and informing him that Oracle DBA's are a critical skills shortage in NZ and that they'd like to telephonically interview him. Tonight, we have to type all our responses, he also needs to complete emailed skills tests and set up telephonic interviews, which in itself is going to be interesting due to the time difference. His interviews will need to take place between 05h00 - 07h00 or 21h00 - 23h00 South African time.  My poor husband looks like a deer caught in the headlights, his eyes are as big as saucers and his hands are shaking. I have also not taken this next step as easily as I thought I would initially, I had my first anxiety attack at 03h00 this morning. Woke up from a hideous dream that our plane crashed into the sea on the way to NZ, my heart racing, my hands sweating, my body shaking, couldn't go back to sleep after that. Have you ever noticed how things can seem to much worse in the pitch dark of the night?

One of the BIG questions all the recruiters want answered is WHY NZ. My automatic response is WHY NOT NZ? I can't help feeling it must be one of the world's best kept secrets. I mean it has everything to offer. Two of its cities, Auckland and Wellington were voted into the Top 15 cities in the world to live in terms of quality of life. It offers big city life with small city vibes, Auckland has a population of one million, more people live in Randburg in Johannesburg than in the entire metropolis of Auckland? Auckland has more restaurants, bars, clubs, coffee shops and shops per square kilometer than Sydney. When you take all of this into account and include in that the very very very low levels of violent crime, then you really are left thinking how fast can I get there? Not to mention the Public Health-care, Standard of Education, the low unemployment rate and of course the All Blacks! :-)

So when one considers South Africans favorite countries to emigrate to, Australia, Canada, UK and New Zealand, the choice is obvious. The UK is just horrible and I'd NEVER survive there, the life style is just too different to ours, not to mention the weather. In Canada language could be an issue depending on where you're based and I don't think we'd adapt well to the weather, as for Australia, well to be totally honest, the one thing that puts me off Australia is.... Australians! Just kidding! Where New Zealand, the weather is similar (if you're used to a lot of rain, and growing up in Cape Town I am), the lifestyle is similar, very out doorsy , lots of mountain biking, fishing, walking and of course Rugby. It feels like we could have the best of both worlds by moving there. We could continue with a similar lifestyle to what we're used to but without all the political sh*t that goes on here. None of the corruption, none of this bull of traffic cops shooting and the police, of future presidents being accused of corruption, of future leaders chanting about killing to get there own way, no more Xenophobic violence etc.

This morning, after Walter got over the shock of the responses to his CV, the first words out of his mouth were: "We're going to be living in NZ for the next rugby world cup"! Yes Hartjie, we are.......