Your January Mobile Newsletter

January 2022

Happy New Year! We hope that you're refreshed and ready for the year ahead. We are looking forward to welcoming many of you to the shores of New Zealand and remain optimistic about positive changes on the way for MIQ, immigration, and the borders in general. No matter what this year brings, we'll be beside you on this journey.

In this month's newsletter, we're sharing:

Why you should be more like cosmonauts
Latest Move to New Zealand Resources
Immigration & Border Updates
The Mobile Experience: What is worrying you?
Visiting a sausage sizzle
Word of the month: roadie

New Year, New Ritual

Cosmonauts wee on the rear right tyre of the vehicle driving them to the launch pad before heading into space. In each match, tennis legend Serena Williams bounces the ball exactly five times before her first serve and two times before her second serve. Singer Beyoncé listens to the same playlist, does the same stretches, and meditates for the same amount of time before each performance.

While these simple actions could be easily dismissed as superstition or good luck charms, scientific research actually shows that those who do rituals have lower anxiety and perform better than those who do not engage in ritualistic behaviour ahead of a big performance.

According to Yale University Psychology Professor Dr. Laurie Santos, ritual allows us to control our anxieties and doubts through big changes and life events. Ritual gives us a sense of control, distracts us from our nerves, and helps to establish stability.

If ritual helps elite scientists, athletes, and entertainers perform at their peak, maybe they can help you as you transition into the new year and life in New Zealand.

Whether you’re moving countries later this year or have already been in NZ for a little while, now is a great time to consider starting a ritual. Perhaps you can begin reading a special poem or drinking a specific drink ahead of difficult meetings or interviews. Maybe your family can establish a special handshake or other ritual that you do before leaving the house each morning. Better yet, come up with a ritual that is meaningful to you and will give you a little distraction and comfort ahead of challenges.
What better time to establish a feeling of control and stability than when you’re facing a whole lot of new people, places, and experiences?

If you want to dive deeper into ritual, including the science behind it, take a listen to this or this podcast episode by The Happiness Lab.

Each family moving to New Zealand has different worries and concerns. That’s why we deliver bespoke services that look a little different for each person/family we help settle.

One family arrived in the middle of the New Zealand winter and was concerned about entering a new pool of germs. During MIQ, we were able to help them locate a medical practice that could see them to deliver flu vaccines on the very same day they left isolation.

Whether you are concerned about a specific medical condition or a particular requirement for living your best life in New Zealand, we are here for you.

Sausage Sizzle

As people begin coming back from holiday and organised gatherings safely resume, sausage sizzles will be popping up all across the country.

A sausage sizzle involves serving an ordinary sausage, fresh from the BBQ, wrapped in a slice of white bread from the back of a vehicle holding a BBQ pit of some sort. The iconic Watties brand tomato sauce (ketchup) is a must-have garnish, and you may also be offered fried onions or mustard.

Sausage sizzles appear at school events, community and church fairs, outside hardware stores, and any place needing to feed a crowd on a budget, with each sausage usually costing $2-$5.