China bound - going home!

Hello Everyone!

We just got another step closer to going back home to China!

After all it was the Chinese who said that the journey of a 1000 miles, begins with the first step!

We continue to make the steps, as the interviews are over, the medical checks are completed, the residence and work visas have been approved and airline tickets are booked - we are finally going home!

I have accepted a great position in Guangzhou as a Director of Studies, and will start in October! This will be a new adventure for the family, as our previous postings in China, were in Xi'an and Beijing, in fact both my wife, and our son, were born in Beijing! So we will experience the hospitality of the south, along with all of the fine food!

There are still many, many more steps to go through - saying our "good-byes", deciding what goes and what stays, not to mention packing for the children - but we are making process with each passing day. The stress level is high in our household, and the children and I are most careful not to disturb anything too much, but the days until we depart lovely New Zealand are very short indeed!

I have almost completed my "disengagement from Dunedin" and have resigned from all five of the Boards of which I served and am now in wrap-up mode! We have received some very positive feedback, from some of the local people, as to what we have been able to accomplish for international students and migrants here in Dunedin, however if you have read this blog for any length of time - you will know that positive feedback has not been the norm!

Hopefully I will make more regular contributions to this blog, as I made an earlier promise to our intern from France that I would!

What is Maverick Group anyway?

As I mentioned the other day, I see 2009 as being a great year of opportunity for anyone who can see past the doom and gloom that most of the sheep speak of these days! We have decided to increase our marketing budget so as to expand our exposure both here domestically, as well as overseas. Locally we see 2009 as a time to provide even more services to the newcomers to Dunedin, be they international students, foreign workers or new migrants. We will add more Employment Search workshops for people looking for employment, and also start a new Dunedin Settlement workshop that will focus on the entire family, not just the breadwinner or breadwinners. We also might expand our services to providing some assistance in finding suitable housing, be it rental or purchase, and possibly some other area as well! Overseas we see tremendous opportunities in the international student, overseas worker and migrant recruitment in many countries that most people in New Zealand overlook!

During the process of talking to all of these marketing and advertising people, someone asked me a very simple, but interesting question - "what is Maverick Group anyway"? She followed on by asking why do we care about these "foreigners, who do not speak proper English or might possibly take our jobs, besides no one asked them to come here anyway"! For the contents of this writing, I will try to answer the first question - "what is Maverick Group anyway" and leave the second for further discussion and debate in the future!

OK, so what is Maverick Group? Maverick is a group of companies that provides pathways in education, employment and immigration for our clients who wish to study, work and live in New Zealand! The group currently consists of three companies mainly involved with education, consulting and charitable support for people arriving in New Zealand. In 2009 we are looking for opportunities for expansion into housing, employment and recruitment.

We think our business is a bit different from most other education providers in Dunedin, as we strive to give ongoing support and assistance to any international student, overseas worker or new migrant, whether we recruited and brought them to NZ or not? Simply put, we have assembled the best educational providers at Maverick School, the best business professionals at Maverick Consulting and a talented pool of multi-cultural volunteers at Maverick Trust, to handle the three biggest needs and concerns of newcomers to Dunedin - Education, Employment and Housing.

All Languages Spoken
Maverick School of Languages Ltd provides a full range of English language courses for international students, as well as Chinese courses for local students and business people.

Providing Pathways to the World
Maverick Consulting Ltd offers advice and assistance in the areas of student, employment and residency visas for immigrating to, or migrating from, New Zealand.

All Cultures Welcome
Maverick Charitable Trust provides ongoing and overall support for newcomers, be they international students, overseas workers and new migrants who choose to study, work or live in Dunedin, NZ

As an example of how we are different, we set up a NZ government approved Charitable Trust (Maverick International Student and Migrant Support Trust) to provide support and help, to inspire all newcomers from abroad, be they students, workers or migrants to reach their full potential, and settle themselves with dignity and respect, within the Dunedin community. Through the trust (Maverick International and Migrant Support Trust) we are able to run employment search and settlement support workshops for international students and new migrants to New Zealand, as well as providing a hub for the various other ethnic community groups to connect and network with each other.

This is what we believe Maverick Group to be at present, but as mentioned earlier, we would like to expand our services to many other areas. We think that by being focused on our core business - newcomers to Dunedin - we can provide needed support, make a few dollars along the way and make Dunedin a culturally diversified and integrated community that welcomes all newcomers!