I have heard it suggested that NZ has a service culture. Having lived in a rural country town for several months I would have to say living in a rural NZ town is like going back in time. My partner and I were setting up a USD bank account. This apparently never happens in rural areas. More surprising was the fact that the process took 1.5 hours, and that is despite the fact that I already had an account there.
The second incident was at the hospital. They must have been bored because my partner had an allergic reaction. We were attended to by 3 nurses on 3 separate occasions, 1 resident doctor, and also a fully qualified doctor. Each doctor and nurse asked us the same questions. The last nurse wanted to check their diagnosis so we had to wait for the doctor. We were left there for about 30 minutes so we started to wonder, and went looking for the anti-histamines since we already got a few diagnoses. We were told the doctor has to give priority to emergency patients. Fair enough, but perhaps the 6-7 nurses sitting around doing nothing might have mentioned that.
They said we should wait, or if we are 'impatient' we could see a GP next door. So we thought we don't want to wait for a 'busy' doctor if there is an available one next door. The experience was pleasant aside from the fact that the hospital was empty and it took a lot of time, and the service was redundant.
I am finding New Zealanders in rural areas amongst the friendliest in the Western world, but I do not equate 'friendliness' with service. They are not so much service or goal-orientated, just prone to a good chat. If you enter a shop you might be waiting a few minutes for a couple of locals to wind up a conservation. This is the slow life. Is that the relaxed life? Well for prior city people like me, I love the friendliness, but can't I get it with a productivity chancer! I do note that New Zealand's productivity is particularly bad.
Thr city of course is going to be far better. I am sure I would be very happy with the service there. The problem is - they are not so friendly. Perhaps there is a satellite city suburb in between that offers the best of both worlds. Fortunately we don't require service very often.
The second incident was at the hospital. They must have been bored because my partner had an allergic reaction. We were attended to by 3 nurses on 3 separate occasions, 1 resident doctor, and also a fully qualified doctor. Each doctor and nurse asked us the same questions. The last nurse wanted to check their diagnosis so we had to wait for the doctor. We were left there for about 30 minutes so we started to wonder, and went looking for the anti-histamines since we already got a few diagnoses. We were told the doctor has to give priority to emergency patients. Fair enough, but perhaps the 6-7 nurses sitting around doing nothing might have mentioned that.
They said we should wait, or if we are 'impatient' we could see a GP next door. So we thought we don't want to wait for a 'busy' doctor if there is an available one next door. The experience was pleasant aside from the fact that the hospital was empty and it took a lot of time, and the service was redundant.
I am finding New Zealanders in rural areas amongst the friendliest in the Western world, but I do not equate 'friendliness' with service. They are not so much service or goal-orientated, just prone to a good chat. If you enter a shop you might be waiting a few minutes for a couple of locals to wind up a conservation. This is the slow life. Is that the relaxed life? Well for prior city people like me, I love the friendliness, but can't I get it with a productivity chancer! I do note that New Zealand's productivity is particularly bad.
Thr city of course is going to be far better. I am sure I would be very happy with the service there. The problem is - they are not so friendly. Perhaps there is a satellite city suburb in between that offers the best of both worlds. Fortunately we don't require service very often.
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