Is Wellington a nice place to live? I am an Californian considering a job opportunity there. I've never been to New Zealand, but have a good impression from people I have met and what I know.
I am interested in the running scene, but also just general lifestyle and especially how two teenagers might find the transition.
Thanks for feedback.
I think Pete Pfitzinger and Greg Lautenslager live in NZ. They are both contactable.
Wellington picked as Best Little Capital in the World by Lonely Planet:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/press-centre/press-release.cfm?press_release_id=503
Only 150,000 and has a balance between being a small community and having a big city ambiance.
Running scene is OK, depending on your standard and event preference.
probably best place to go for more info about the running side of things.
Ring of Fire wrote:
...but also just general lifestyle
Ask a Kiwi the difference between a sheep and a limousine.
Wellington has the best running scene in NZ, with Scottish Harriers being the best represented club. 150,000 in the downtown, but the great Wellington region is more like 450,000. Not the best weather in the country by any means, but on a good day, one of the best cities in the world for sure. Windy most of the time, so if you hate the wind, maybe not the place for you, but the culture in Wellington is by far the best in the country. Easy to get around without a car also.
The training is amazing - lots of beautiful places to run, hills and trails right around the CBD, never too hot or too cold. The racing is not so good because it's pretty much always windy. If you want to run a fast time, you travel to another city.
For teenagers, depending on what you're used to it could feel very small. There are good cafes and nightlife, and it's great for all kinds of outdoor activities. Schools in NZ are very good and essentially free. Universities are very good, and still cheap by US standards. Again, though, it's small. Wellington is basically a tiny spohisticated cosmopolitan city inside a big parochial country town.
Finally, don't imagine that because it's small real estate is cheap. Housing, whether renting or buying, is frighteningly expensive. So do some research on that before committing.
All these replies have been informative; thank you. How are the universities in NZ generally ranked? Is Victoria University in Wellington considered top flight academically?
Just curious, if you wouldn't mind sharing, what type of work do you do and how did you come across the opportunity? Been toying with the idea of living/working abroad for years and NZ would be high on my list.
No problem. It is a university job posted on the university website.
Victoria's where an acquaintance took a job a few years ago. likes it a lot. People would go there just to study w/him but in general your colleagues wouldn't be ambitious stars.
I teach at VUW. It is one of a handful of good state universities. Auckland is the best university in NZ. VUW, Otago, and Canterbury are all pretty even on the next step down.
VUW is academically distinguished in some departments, but not others. It really depends on your area. The university is very supportive of energetic people doing interesting research - you might find that you get better conditions here than you would at a higher-ranking place.
The students are truly excellent at the undergrad level. (Not so much at the postgrad level.) I've taught in a few countries. The students in NZ are just so well educated coming out of high school. I taught at an Ivy League school for a while - the standard of the undergrds here is uniformly better.
Hopefully at this time next year i'll be doing a semester studying abroad in wellington.
not to change topic or anything, but can anyone give some personal experiences on the differences between being in dunedin (university of otago) or wellington (massey university)? basically just from running/scenery/night life. The things that I've read seem like both would be a great place but anyone able to give any personal experiences?
Dunedin's a cool city. Great student life, and lots of good places to run. It's really cold though. If you're thinking about Massey, make sure you know whether you'll be on the main Palmerston campus or on the Wellington campus. Palmerston is actually quite a long way from Wellington (they don't like to advertise this fact) and it's really, really quiet. Also, Otago's definitely the better university.
The differences - not much couch burning in Wellington.
Great place for a sheep f***er.
Wellington City has 150,000, Wellington has about 375,000. Still a small area.
I also am a Californian, and having heard New Zealand's good rep, spent three precious vacation weeks there a few years ago.
On the plus side, the people are uniformly friendly. Even the airport security people are nice. If you like to hike, play rugby, drink beer, jump out of helicopters to tackle deer, and generally spend time being physical in the great outdoors, and you don't mind a lots of rain, you could love it.
On the other hand, if you are a more intellectual type, value culture, enjoy a variety of foods ... well, just google ["new zealand" boring]. It's like what England must have been fifty years ago, before they had Indian food.
Here's one infamous review that rings true for me:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2002/feb/28/netjetters2001ellie.netjetters
Many people swear they love New Zealand, and I believe them. But if (like me) you are not one of those people, well, you'll be sorry.
When I was visiting, students were protesting in the streets because the top/major university (University of Auckland?) was instituting admissions requirements for the first time. In other words, the university wanted to change the existing policy of admitting everyone who applied, and the students thought that was unfair.
It gives you a sense that the academics are a bit more relaxed than at Stanford-Berkeley-Caltech. Which may or may not be a bad thing.
Look before you leap: I'm not sure when you were in NZ, but there have been moderately difficult entry requirements for University study in New Zealand for decades. I scored 1190 on the SAT 20 years ago but didn't get Uni Standards to go in NZ.
The difference between NZ and US is that in NZ only those that really want a Tertiary education go to Uni, whereas in the US everyone goes.
I'm sure there are some part of New Zealand, where you can't enjoy a wide variety of foods and perhaps those were the parts you visited. I'm in Auckland and in a 10-15 minute walk from my front door I can find Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Turkish, French, Indian, Italian and Malaysian food. There is also an English style pub that brews it's own beer and has a selection of English ales and what you might call English style pub food, although I'm not really into English food so I don't go there much. I would have to walk another 15 minutes or so if I wanted Vietnamese food, Mexican food and some others and would probably have to get a bus or taxi into town if I wanted Mongolian food or something like that.
Perhaps where you live, you can get all those types of food and more and much closer to home too, but as a runner he should not mind a 15 minute walk. I can't vouch for Wellington as I haven't been there in a few years, but from what I remember the selection was quite good at the time.
However there are still some people here that think Starbucks makes good coffee, so perhaps we are bit backwards in some respects.