February was a short month..therefore…a short video.

We continued our promise of travelling somewhere each month and after Le Boyfriend’s Birthday we took a weekend trip to Andorra and hit the slopes. We don’t have much footage of us skii because we are pretty new to it and we were fearing for the safety of our camera hahaha.

February was also a month of yummy homemade meals and a trip to the Bauhaus Archiv.

A couple of months ago I came across Sammy Paul’s Pretentious Monthly Scrapbook monthly series, and soon enought I found myself binge watching Hazel Hayes’ and Jack Howard’s take on it. Far from being a video series about periods they document in monthly statement a ‘year in the…’ and I’ve absolutely loved them.

I started this blog, as a way to keep up with family and friends while I was abroad and as a way for me to document my life for myself in a couple of years. So I started thinking that this could be the evolution of this blog…in video form.

This is the first of 12 videos that will be uploaded on the course of this year. And given this is my first one I’m going to try to not be so hard on myself and use this to also learn and learn to stop shaking when I film hahaha.

I’ve been seeing in several blogs and people I follow in various social media accounts talking about...the year of...

Beauty vlogger Zoella talked about The year of Self love, Kayla Itsines talked about the year of body confidence and even though I love both premises and hopefully I will follow them I want to make 2017 The year of Travel.

Travel can be expensive I know, but I want to force myself out of this house, even if its taking the train or subway and seeing what’s at the end of the line, making a day trip to another town close by, I want to stop saying Im going to do it and actually DO IT!

So far so good, le family and le boyfriend have a weekend trip planned to Prague in the next couple of days, a Barcelona girl trip/birthday bash in two month and I have a surprise (not really) trip for le boyfriend’s birthday too.

I’m not a New Years resolutions kind of girl but this…this I want to do. What kind of year do you expect 2017 to be? Are you a resolutions kind of person?
Jules.-

Are you planning to move to Germany? If the answer is YES, then make sure you have all the necessary documents to make your stay hassle free. Also I will talk about the Unmeldung and Abmendulg.

So what’s an Anmeldung?
An-mendulng (separable verb… I know.. why German why?) simply mean to register. If you are planning to live in Germany (tourists of course don’t need to apply for this) you need to register in the country. It is expected of expats to register in the first month they’ve arrived and within 15 days of signing a contract for an apartment.

Why is it important?
Well, to begin with, it’s illegal to stay in the country without registering (tourist excepted of course.) There is no way to get away from it and if you don’t register you will be fined [or deported] Also is it impossible (or extremely difficult) to get certain things with out and Anmeldung as well (Bank accounts, internet/gas/electricity contracts.)

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Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung

Say what?!
Yes today I encountered this word and I thought it was worth sharing it with you.

“Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung” is simply translate to “Certificate of Disability” but is merely a “sick leave certificate.” Le Boyfriend’s been feeling under the weather the last couple of days which meant he had to stay home, because of this his work asked for a certificate signed by a Doctor confirming he was sick.

So if you are ever sick and have to take some days of work…make sure you have your Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung ready.

[I began this post writing about our time in Belgium last Saturday and ended up with a full essay on travelling. The Brussels’s post will go up in the next couple of days, in the meantime enjoy my rambling on ways to travel.]

It’s 3.30am, I’ve just woken up after sleeping maybe 2 o 3 hours, I grab my camera, a jacket, two passports and I head to the U-bahn. 4 hours later…I’m in Belgium.
Sometimes, there are offers that are too good to refuse, even if it means short periods of sleep and walking non stop for 5 hours. That for us was a couple of Saturdays ago where we manage to snatch two ticket to Brussels for under 10$. (Which is insane)

Le boyfriend and I have a very particular way of travelling, and I’m not saying that we are the only ones that do this, because chances are we are not. But still, we have a particular way of travelling around. We usually don’t follow maps, we barely ‘investigate’ about the place we are going too. So basically every time we get to a new place, we have a couple of place we know we have to go to and then we walk.

We walk through which ever street looks the nicest, or more interesting o has a cute background. Which means getting lost more times than expected, not really knowing how to explain how ‘our trip was’ and possibly missing more attractions than we would want to. But I don’t think I would change it at all.

I remember a couple of years ago when Le Dad discovered the ‘street view’ on google maps and after spending a couple of hours staring at the computer, it felt like that scene on The Matrix after Neo learns kung fu, he goes ‘I just went to Paris.’

There is soooo much information out there, social media, documentaries, travel guides, travel tv show, cooking shows around the world. It almost feels like you can go everywhere without leaving your sofa.

That’s how I feel when I travel, I’ve walked the streets of Paris in endless movies, seen the Eiffel tower, the Big Ben, I’ve seen New York in winter so many time that when you are actually in the place it feels weird. The best example I can give is the Mona Lisa in Paris, we walked hours to get there, queued for an hour to even get to the museum, got to the actual room, just to be pushed around countless tourists with cameras, shouting, shoving, trying to finally get to the real painting that was no bigger than an A3 probably. I left the Louvre heartbroken.

This is why when I began travelling with le boyfriend we decided to change things, not follow itineraries or ‘must do’s’ to a tee, and discover cities on our own without ‘falling into’ the tourist path. We will still go to know attractions, for example, when in Postdam, we knew we had to go the Sanssouci Palace, so we grabbed two bikes, we went there, took some photos and then biked around the rest of the park for the rest of the afternoon, while doing that we stumble across the Potsdam University, which is amazing, but we had no idea that it was there or how it looked like and it felt better than having to walk straight from the palace to the university. We will still do certain things, but we enjoy more walking around, finding a small café, a musician on a random street, a bookshop on ‘that weird part of the city.’

It might sound a bit hipster, but my way of seeing it, travel is more about feeling the city, getting to know it fully instead of queuing for four hours to see a specific sculpture or some jewellery.

Anyway that’s how I feel, how do you like to travel? do you rather ditch the maps or prefer having an itinerary or a specific route to follow to make the most out of the day? let me know.

Until next time.- Jules

This year, as every other year, I decided I was going to step up my fitness game and sign up for a few marathons. Of course easier said than done, but given that being unemployed has given me a lot of free time and we are quite close to Tiergarden I though better star now.

This morning I went for a run, I took the U-bahn to the Tiergarden Station and started from there towards the Brandenburg Gate. Of course, I didn’t go there expecting to write a post but after a running for a while I though I’d take a few pictures to share with you.

Thoughts on my morning run:
The Pros, you actually run outside, the sun and wind hits your face and you are surrounded by the amazing Tiergarden and all of it little spots. The Cons, the undeniable though that you are incredibly out of shape, trying to question your mere existence and why, again, why you’ve decided to sign up for a running thing. The inbetween, sprinklers.

I ended up also stopping at the Reichstag and the Jewish Memorial and even spotted a protest rally at the Brandenburg Gate.

Le Boyfriends new company were kind enough to rent us a short-term apartment when we first arrived which meant we were pretty much sorted for the first month but we only a couple of weeks to find a new place.

I can happily say that we found one (hours before our Airbnb expired) and we’ll be moving soon. But the experience was a so different to the one in New Zealand that I though I’d make a little list of things to take into consideration when renting an apartment in Berlin.

1. Warm vs. Cold Rent and Rent Index
   When looking for an apartment, chances are you are going to see two prices for it which are called Cold and Warm rent, respectively, one is the net price of the apartment on its own and the other is the final price that includes heating, cold water and extra cost (such as building management). Sometimes you’ll see apartments that have a super cheap cold rent but then the warm rent goes up a couple hundred euros. Also Germany has a rent index, which mean that there is an average amount rent per M2 per neighbourhood and its ‘illegal’ to go over it. Which can be very helpful when checking if you are being changed accordingly. You can check each neighbourhood for 2016 here.
2. Don’t judge a book for it’s cover (and lack of elevators)
   Berlin is one of those cities that was really hit during the wars, which means that some of it’s beautiful buildings were destroyed and had to be build quickly again. Plus it has a huge alternative community which seems to love street art. What I’m trying to say is, some of the buildings may not look appealing or won’t have that cute european look, but most of them were completely refurbished inside, which means you can find amazing apartments in buildings you wouldn’t turn to look twice. Also is worth to note that most of them don’t come with elevators. It’s not a lazy thing, just picture yourself carrying furniture over 6 flights of stairs.
   

   Berlin’s many building facades

3. Empty apartments (but yay Ikea!)
   Berlin apartments tend to come completely unfurnished. Unlike New Zealand, where you can find furnished or apartments with white ware (kitchen, fridge, washing machine), Apartments in Berlin come completely empty, with no kitchen or electronic and sometime not even with light bulbs. So if you go to a viewing and you see a kitchen is worth to ask what stay and what goes when you move in.
   On the bright side, in Berlin you’ll find heaps of flea markets to buy furniture and of course Ikea, which is a great place to find cheap but cool looking furniture.
4. Competition
   I’ve heard this one before, but I didn’t truly believe i until I went to my first viewing. I arrived there early so I was on my one, then someone else came, and someone else and suddenly there were 56 people waiting to see the apartment (I counted them) and I keep happening in other viewings, we were queing to get to the apartment. So, be patient and be prepared, sometimes you’ll loose a place just because someone was a fraction faster. Get photocopies of all your paper and contact details and be prepared to hand it over straight away.
   
5. If it’s too good to be true…it’s probably not (Scams)
   Im talking Nigerian prince trying to give you free money kind of scams. You’ll probably see beautiful apartment, completely furnished for just a couple of bucks. Or places which are actually Airbnbs and someone stole their photo, or really nice, super normal places. Just be aware that sometime people will post things online just to make a buck, never pay upfront unless you are signing a contract.
   I received (the same email actually) from 2 different places, saying that we sounded like a nice couple but the owner couldn’t go to the meeting because he was in London or something but if we paid half of the deposit right away he would send me the keys to take a look at the apartment. Luckily the website which I was using is constantly looking for these scams and try to take the out as fast as possible. But just in case…if it smell fishy….

Extra tip: Dress to impress – Chances are the place is going to be packed and you won’t be able to have some quality face time with the property manager. But just in case, treat your viewing as job interviews, dress up nicely, you want to make a good first impression and let the person renting know that you are a ‘trust worthy person’ who is not going to destroy their apartment.

You might be wondering why I’ve been radio silent for the past few weeks. (or not..who knows) But if you were, here is were you find out why.

So…what’s going on?
After serious considering and planning and late night talks and google searches, le boyfriend and I have decided to continue our adventure around the world and leave New Zealand for a while, we might be back (that’s why there is a storage room filled with furniture and pretty decor stuff) but until we decide where to settle down, we’ve decided to travel around a bit more.

What in trying to say is: WE MOVED TO BERLIN!

Wait…what!?
Midway through 2015 we’ve decided to travel back to Argentina at the begging of 2016 and don’t come back. The plan was to go back home for a quick holiday and then fly anywhere in Europe to start over, but on a weird turn of events, Le Boyfriend was contacted by a company from Berlin and voila here we are.

What does this mean?
As much as I want to, this means that I won’t be able to be as on top of Kiwi news as before, which means that for a while (I do have a couple of cards under my sleeve thought) this blog will change to record our little adventure in the old world.

There will still be food, events and everyday life posts but this time we are doing it Berliner Style. And hopefully there will be a whole lotta traveling around.
So until next time…. wish us luck and if you have anything to recommend, it will be happily accepted.

Auf wiedersehen.- Jules

Ever since I’ve started this blog, I can’t remember actually talking about the whole legal side of staying/living in New Zealand. Yes, I’ve talked about living here, what to do, what to eat, but not really about how I got here and why I’m ‘allowed’ to stay. So as part of a little expat community service I thought today I’d talk about visas, but since there are actually a lot of visas options for this country today I’ll talk about the 4 visas Im more familiar with: visitor, working holiday, partner visa and residency.

[I am not an immigration officer, nor I’m claiming to be the only source for this matter. I’m simply sharing my story and if you are planning on traveling please also do some extra research to have all the tool needed]

Visitor Visas
This visa applies for people who want to come to New Zealand to travel and intend to stay in the country for no longer than 3 months. Some countries can visit NZ without needing to apply for this visa, but still need to stay no longer than 3 month, these countries are on a visa-waiver list, which you can find here. If your country is there, you can travel without applying to a visitors visa, if it’s not, chances are you’ll need to apply for one.  The fastest and easiest way to apply for one, is doing it online. But if you are unable to do so, you can also apply by paper, sending the application to an immigration office.
The first time I travel to NZ, I entered as a visitor. Argentina is in the visa-waiver list which meant I didn’t have to apply to a visitors visa, but when I got to the country I had to provide evidence that I was going to leave the country within 3 months. Evidence such us, plane tickets, evidence that I had sufficient funds during my stay, bookings or confirmations of accommodation, people I knew, etc. After supplying these, I was allowed to enter the country, Im writing this, because that doesn’t mean that because your country doesn’t need a visitors visa, that doesn’t mean you will be allowed into the country.

Work Visas
– Working Holiday Visa: The WH scheme will allow citizen from 18 to 35 years old (depends on the country) to come to New Zealand for a series of months, to travel and work (in order to maintain the cost of living here) For Argentina specifically there is an annual amount of people who can apply and get the visa and usually applications open during the month of September and…as expected run out in  couple of hours. WH visa holder are not able to sponsor anyone with their visa.
Le boyfriend is Italian (or holds an intalian citizenship to be more clear) in the case of Italy, there is no annual quota of people and you can apply at any point of the year, he applied at some point during April and besides the online application, he had to present an italian and argentinian police record, and send a medical examination and x-ray from one of the accepted medicals centers. In his case, his visa was approved within the month and he arrived in the country in October. He applied for a couple of jobs and was offered a position in his line of work from a company who is certified by NZ immigration as ‘sponsors’ which meant, he was sponsored by this company and offered a ‘Work to Residence Visa’ which allowed him to work full time for 2 year, only for that company. If he decided to leave the company that visas would not be valid anymore, so he’ll need to find work at another sponsoring company and had his visa transferred to be entitled to stay in the country.

• Partner Visa: The partner visa will allow a partner of a visa holding (or resident) person to work in New Zealand for the same period of time as the sponsoring visa holder. This is the visa I applied when I came to work, Le boyfriend being my sponsor, since he was already working under a work to residency visa. To apply to this visa I didn’t need an offer from any company, but I had to undergo standard immigrations procedure to it to be approved. Beside my written application, I had to supply an Argentinian police record to prove my ‘character’, I sat for a general medical check to prove I’m in good health and the most ‘crucial’ part of the application, I had to give sufficient evidence that I was in a relationship with le boyfriend and that we intended to maintain set relationship. So we provided photos of us throughout the years together, with friends and family, bank statements and legal documents that showed we were living together and we wrote a letter with how we met, the reason why we were in NZ and how we were planning to live, etc. I was granted a work visa for two years that expired at the same time as le boyfriend’s and allowed me to work anywhere I wanted.

Residency
A residency will allow a person to live and work in New Zealand without the need of a work visa and be able to enjoy some of the opportunities that NZ citizen are offered. (e.i getting loans from the bank to buy a house) There are different ways one can apply to a resident class visa, from being a skilled migrant, to an entrepreneur, to family or sponsored options. Depending in the way the visa is granted you will end up with either a Resident Class Visa with travel restrictions or a Permanent Resident Class Visa, this means that it is possible that when you are first granted a RCV it will have a travel restriction before it becomes permanent, which means you’ll need to stay in the country at least 6 month per year for the course of 2 years before the visa becomes permanent and the restriction are lifted. In our case (because we applied together, le boyfriend sponsoring my visa) we were given the permanent resident visa straight away, this was because we applied under the Skilled Migrant category and because le boyfriend had been working under a Work to residence visa, which allowed him to apply to the residency after 2 years of working in the same company. In other cases permanent RCVs can be granted went the main applicant earns more than 90k per year. For this application we had to provided updated Argentinian, Italian and New Zealand police records with translations, birth certificates, job offers, English certificates or evidence of our proficiency on the language and once again sufficient evidence that we were in a relationship, we had been for the last couple of year and we intend to be in the future. I received a letter a couple of weeks after we applied saying that our evidence was not sufficient and we needed to provided more info that we were living together in a stable relationship (its a tad annoying that a stranger is going to be the one weighting on your relationships and is the one to decide if you are or not a stable, but I understand the reason and we provided all the rest of the evidence needed)

Ok, I think that’s all for now, I hope it can be of help and if you have any questions, ask below and I’ll try to answer them soon, if not be sure to check the immigration New Zealand website. I hope I didn’t forget anything and I’ll see you soon.