 I think we're live. Hold on. You're a little close to me. I did not know. Like literally I just had a blank screen. Like black. Black. Never did that before. Like what the heck? I mean what the heck? For real what the heck? Can you hear me? I feel like my things are not. Can you... Let me know if you can hear me. Can you hear me? Because my audio is not showing. Hello. Hello. Okay good. You can hear me. So we won't try to understand it. Where's everybody joining us from? I'll let some people join. I know I didn't endownsit. I'm just coming on live to talk about a couple things. Okay great. It's working. It's nice when technology works right? Yeah. How's everyone? Where are you guys from? I think you probably said on the last one but I don't remember because I was trying to figure this out. Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum. So are you guys a New Zealand? I guess is my question. Because right now. Oh Mississippi. Okay US, there we are. Hamilton, nice. In isolation 12-year-old tested positive. Yes. My 10-year-old tested positive on Sunday as Well. Oh, cool tan. Do I have a tan? Well, summertime. It was just summertime. Okay. Crystal Claire from Upper Hut. Yay. So yeah. So if you are not from New Zealand, if you get COVID in your family, anybody in your family, you have to, the whole family needs to isolate for 10 days. So the problem, the hard thing about that is my son and my husband have it, and there's five of us total in the house right now. And so like if I were to test positive on day 10, we have to do it all over again. And it's like, what? I'm only like on day three and I'm like, oh my gosh, get me out of the house. Get me out of the house. I felt a little sick on the first day. I had a negative test yesterday. So you're showing symptoms, but negative test. Yes, mine too. I had some symptoms, but negative tests. I don't know if you're vaccinated or boosted or wherever you're at. Hello, hello. You had to go to work with COVID in the US. Welcome to America. You tested positive on Saturday. Oh, yes, boosted. Yeah, I have everything. So I'm well protected, so I don't know. But the symptoms that my, oh, it's nice because people are picking up food for me. That's nice. And someone's dealing with my car issues tomorrow. That's nice. So it's nice to have all the annoying work that you don't want to do done, but anyway, yeah. So, how are you doing? We're not really self isolating because I have little kids and whatever. My teenage son is isolating because he wants to get the heck out of the house. But anyway, hi from Christchurch. Oh, you're going to the US for the first time in, first time ever for three months. Oh my gosh. Okay, so like you've never been to the US and you're gonna go there for three months. So exciting. Tell me where you're going, tell me everything. I am going in June for a month or more. We'll see if I can work it out. So the content is gonna get good because I'm about to show you guys everything I've been talking about. Like legit, I'm just gonna be recording everything. Couldn't drive my family nuts. Probably not gonna deal with it when I'm on the trip, but if I have the video, but the check out this is what I'm talking about, this is what I'm saying. So sorry, I'm getting so close. Okay, I need to calm down, calm down. I haven't gotten out of the house, I'm getting a little crazy. Anyway, I wanted to come on here and talk about a couple of things. Hold on, I got some questions. Still compulsory to wear a mask on pub transport here in Sydney, okay? Yeah, I'm going to New Zealand next year. That's why I stumbled across your channel. Welcome, yes, so exciting. Are you coming to move here? Are you traveling here? Working day, my workmate received a text of, oh no, Clayton. No, I know. It's like, you know, and like my kids, like their schoolwork takes them 10 minutes, you know, cause it's just a lot. I mean, there's no, there's no, yeah, teachers and they're getting sick, like what can you even do? So it's fine. The thing is like, I'm trying to get my house to be like really clean because nobody's doing anything. Why don't you just clean up? But that's another story anyway. So so exciting for people coming here, people going to the US. I am here to help. So reach out to me if you have any questions. I have a consulting business if you don't know that people, you know, can book a time to chat with me for like an hour and I can answer all of your questions and help you plan anything and that is really nice. I get, I've been getting lots of bookings since the borders are opening. And so it's fun. I love it because I have all this up here and I just want to share it with you. So another thing, oh, you're moving with your phone. Say, nice, are you getting married in New Zealand? It's a beautiful place. You're not going to find somewhere nicer. Anyway, anything, I just wanted to tell you that I mentioned it in my last video, if you saw it. I have been, okay, a couple of things. I quit my job. I quit my job last week. Couple of reasons because while my businesses are doing well not well enough really to quit, but you know, you just get to that point where like you hate what you're doing. Like it's just, it's sucking the life out of me where all my other business. So I started digital marketing company last year and you know, I have this YouTube influencer type stuff that's going really well. I have huge brand deals this year and I have Amazon business. Anyway, all of this taking up so much time and I'm just going to focus on it. So it's a little bit scary to be honest, but like I'm doing it, I'm out there, I'm doing it, I'm living it. So we'll see. You can always get a job. I don't need to be doing things at my age that I don't like to do anymore because you know, why, why would you? So, yes, you should get married at the Bay of Islands. Yeah, so anyway, the other thing I wanted to say was, so as I've been kind of reviewing everything and I'm just going to be diving in, I think that my content is going to be really good and things that I can provide you is going to be really good because I can focus on it now that I'm not like six brains going everywhere and then I still have four kids and all of that. So, yeah, so I am coming out with a membership on my website, a membership. You know, I've debated like a hundred different ways of doing this, but like what I want to do is give you guys content where you can find out everything you need to know before you move here, everything you need to know about living here, everything you need to know about cultural competence, okay? As much as I can, obviously like I have my own limitations but the benefit that I have is I understand what it's like for somebody on the outside. And so I would ideally like to have some guests on there, people that would know cultural things better than me and it'll just be like video trainings that you can just kind of watch whenever you want and just be a lot of them, all different things that would apply to you. I'm hoping to get a way to, for you guys to all connect together to help each other for people that are moving here, for people that are traveling here and then a lot of exclusive content where we'll just do, I think it'd be like monthly Q and As where we can sit down and chat together and you guys can ask questions and da-da-da, I think that would be really helpful. It's just, I'm just getting so many questions and a lot of them are the same and a lot of them are customized. So like, I think all the ones that are the same I could just put in a training that could be helpful and you may be able to just buy them separately if you just want videos, that's fine. Like I'm not trying to be crazy, but like the problem is, is like working with clients is finding out about living here and moving here is not a one-time situation. Is I'm like, oh, now you're trained and you're good because what you need to know in the beginning is different than what you need to know when you get here and then what you need to know as you are living here permanently or if you're just traveling, what your needs are different. And so like, I think I have it here actually. I'm actually working on this. So hopefully to come to you, oh, from Utah, welcome in my way, get away from the political situation. Yeah, so yeah, it would be a future work stream. I think it'll be helpful. If it's not, it'll be helpful to at least one person. Let's see, okay, cause like I literally spent, I'm not joking you, two minutes and I have a huge amount of content that would be helpful, but not something that would be really helpful to the bigger audience on YouTube, like just doing the free videos on it would be. So everything you need to know before you move, there's tons of stuff. But like when you get here, like I would do videos on like setting up your bank account, your IRD, housing, like how to cook here, like it's different. Like, okay, so this is probably the hardest thing. If you're coming from the US, the UK, you know, Canada, you know, places that are very similar, you're gonna come here and it's not going to be that different. It's not going to be that hard to get acclimated as opposed to like an Eastern country if you're a Westerner or place that doesn't speak English, but it is totally different at the same time. And so I was just thinking about like what would have been helpful to me coming in if someone could show me all of these things that's taken me six years to figure out, still not there yet. Okay, so like school systems, understanding sports and how they do it here, churches, where to buy things, understanding the stores, I can't believe how many stores I don't even realize what they sell, how to get insurance, your license, buying a car, like all these processes, like I'm just gonna review it because I understand it from an expat perspective. And then just like trainings, cultural competence really, like how to make friends, how to function in the workplace, what's appropriate, what is it? Just because you could avoid a lot of problems. I'm here to help you avoid problems. Traditions, understanding the traditions here and the different public holidays and what's important and yeah. And so like anything that I feel like I'm limited on, I'll just send you a million links if you wanna look at that. And then moving here, it would be like what to bring, what not to bring, should you sell your house, your car? You know, how do you say goodbye to your family? Like all of these kind of things. So I touch on these a little bit on my YouTube channel but this would just be way more in-depth for somebody that would care. And so it would be just kind of, you can come into the membership as long as you want, like there's no obligation. So yeah, so let me know what you think of that. Actually, if you have anything that you would like me to do a training on or thing that you'd really, cause you know, it's been really helpful doing all this consulting is like, I'm going, oh my gosh, it's like sometimes I forget like what it was like to first come here, what it was like for somebody that has not been here. And you just, the thing is, is like you don't know what you don't know. So I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna tell you what you don't know because there's being here the timeframe that I have and spending so much time comparing the two countries on, I would say TikTok has been the most helpful people. I totally think I understood the culture and then they'd correct me. And this would be over and over and over for like a year and a half. And it's been great. So this community has been nothing but helping me understand it better. And like, oh, you're actually a little bit off on this or your understanding is a little bit off. It's different in the South Island to the North Island. Like, oh, okay. I didn't know this. And it's like, that's a thing. It's like people don't know what they don't know when you're living in a different country. So anyway, that's coming out. If you're interested, there's a link in my description here. I put it in there. And it just, you're not signing up for anything. It's just, if you want to send me your email, I can let you know when it's available and it'll be out. If you want more information on it, just put your email in there if you want. So yeah, so there's that. So that's exciting. So I put my job. I'm starting to do things. I have a digital marketing company. So any of you have like, need any help with that? Because it's worldwide, it is limited to New Zealand. I can certainly help you with that. We're coaching companies. Mainly coach small, medium-sized businesses on how to organically grow their business. And we do classes, we do courses. So I don't know if you know this, but I've been a professor for 20 years. So I'm bringing the academic side plus very applicable experience because I've owned like four businesses now and in all different industries and marketing been marketing forever. So yes, it's different in the South Island than North Island. So yeah, so I am here to help you with that if you would like, or if that matters to you or you know somebody that could do it, it's great. So this is me and my workmate. She's from the other owner. She's from Finland and we are fun. So if you wanna work with fun coaches that actually do help you with actual things, it's really cool. I just wanna say one more thing about that is that we are gonna be offering courses like nobody else. So we have been teaching marketing forever and we just, we literally sat down on the day and was like, there is a huge disconnect in terms of what academia teaches and what they actually need to know in the real world because we own businesses. And so, and as much as we have fought the system in academia about that, we are not getting anywhere. And so we started our own company. So the courses are so cool because they have simulations attached to them. And sorry, I'm gonna sneeze. Sorry. Anyway, can't control when that's gonna happen. So anyway, so I teamed up with a company in the U.S. actually and we are going to be offering simulations. So like if you wanna learn how to do ABC ads, if you wanna learn how to do Facebook ads, if you wanna, you know, you actually practice doing it, practice doing a landing page, and like learning all the terms because I think that's what's overwhelming to people as well. So that's coming out as squiggly as I could get that organized. So all exciting stuff. So that's what's new with me. Oh, and another thing I wanted to mention to you guys is despite the alcohol. If you guys are expats, if you're Americans living overseas, it's our favorite time of the year, tax season. And I've been working with this company, Bright Tax. Now, I haven't used them. I'm using them this year, but they seem great because let me tell you, I have called everywhere in New Zealand to see if anybody can help me because my American accountant is finding me a little too difficult at this point. And so she's like, you might need to find somebody else. So these people specialize only in American expat taxes. I've talked to the owner. It seems great, but I can't officially say, I highly recommend it. But if you want to check it out, I talked to them to give me my community $50 off your tax return. And I think it's around 500 to get your taxes done. They're doing mine. So mine are complicated. So they don't even know it. They just walked it too. And so yeah, I always hear people asking me this question. And so I'm just putting it out there because it's tax season and it's annoying. Great tax. Link is in the description as well. What else? There's something else. Yeah. So what questions do you have? There's the update on me. Sorry, I'm just like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just trying to give you information. That's helpful. Oh yeah, tax season. Yeah. So if you're an American, no matter where you live and work in the world, you have to submit your taxes to the IRS every year. And during COVID, it's been good because you file taxes. You are a tax resident. You get all of the COVID money. So that was nice. But yeah, let's get hot in here. It's so nice outside. And I can go for a walk, but that's it. I want to just go jump in the water. It's beautiful out. Anyway, so that's what's new. Please, always, a couple of things. Let me know what videos you'd like me to do, topics. Let me know what trainings you'd like me to do in the new membership. If you're interested in that. And yeah, it's good. If it's good, if it's good in New Zealand. But I'm excited to come back to the US because I have not seen anybody for so long. And my kids are gonna look so big to my family. Oh, that's another thing. In the membership, I think that you, what was I gonna say about that? Oh, I think that my family will be willing to do videos in the membership. So, so many people want to talk to them. And I have a lot of teenagers, so I'm not trying to be difficult and have them come on lives or like my YouTube videos. So that'll be your chance to connect with them as well. Do you still have to pay taxes when you become assistant of another country? Great question. As long as you're a citizen in the US, you have to pay taxes. So if you wanna become a citizen, say in New Zealand, and then revoke your US citizenship, then you wouldn't have to pay it. No, okay, someone just commented how easy the New Zealand tax system, can I just explain it to you? When I first moved here, and this is not a joke. This is not a joke, this is true. I was handed, I wish I could describe it to you. Okay, I'll kind of describe it. It's actually like this size, this size, but it was a pamphlet, a piece of paper. Three-fold pamphlet, fill it out. It like took five minutes, and that was me doing taxes in New Zealand. In the US, and I'm not exaggerating, it takes me 40 hours to do my taxes. I have a couple of businesses, but not big. Don't make a lot of money or anything, 40 hours. So now the New Zealand tax system is all automatic, and so you don't even have to file anything, especially if you're just like a regular employee, but because I have businesses, I'll have to do stuff, but it's so easy. And at any point, this is amazing. So if there's any write-off, or you forgot that you contributed to this charity and you wanted to write it off, then you could do that at any point. You just log in and be like, oh, I forgot to submit this, and they'll give you your return. There's no due dates, there's no penalties. It's like amazing. So, and I've been doing all of my own taxes all the way up until two years ago. Started to get a little bit too complicated, and I hated it, so I needed to just, not just need to go. My Amazon business started making enough money where I'm like, yep, I'm paying somebody to do this. And also, another thing that prompted me to do that is, so 2019, my taxes were submitted and they came back. I checked, okay, so like, this is how it works. So they have an agreement, the U.S. and New Zealand, so that you don't have to pay double tax, right? So when you file your IRS tax return, you just show that you, what you made in New Zealand and that you pay taxes here, and they have an agreement, right? So it's no big deal. But it's complicated and I do it online. And I clicked one little box wrong, one little box wrong. And I got a bill in the mail for $20,000 that I owed the IRS. And of course I'm in a panic attack. And so I call them and there is no getting through to them in less than an hour. And then when you call them, they just literally make you more scared. Oh, wow, you shouldn't have done that. But at that point, I didn't know what I did wrong. And so they were like, oh, well, you're gonna have to pay them. I don't owe it. I know that I don't owe it. I don't know what I did wrong and I need you to review it. And they were like, nah, can't do it. You gotta hire an accountant. So then I hired an accountant. This is, hence the accountant comes into the picture and had her look at it and she was like, oh yeah, just one little check box. And so she had to submit it, redo the warm, resubmit it and I had to pay her $20,000 US, by the way. And I was like, okay. And then I get a letter from the IRS that says, what did it say? It said, and they had like three months to review. Like I had a limited time to get this done. So I did it with right away. I get it in and they're like, oh, we didn't have time to look at it. We need another three months. Meanwhile, you know, it's just like a little bit hanging on your shoulders, right? Like you just want this to be secured. I wait another three months. I get another letter in the mail. So sorry, we still haven't gotten to it. Need another three months. They took, I think nine months to get back to me and say, oh yeah, you're right. You don't know it. Welcome to America. Okay. Okay, yeah. So if you're a US citizen, but living in these, you have to pay US tax. No, no, no, no, you don't have to pay. So you just have to show that you work here and you pay taxes here and that they have an agreement that there's no double taxation. And so that's fine. Yeah, 20K is a lot. Okay, so there are, yeah. I mean, there are due dates, but like I'm saying in terms of like, that's in terms of submitting your taxes. But I was just saying there weren't due dates for me to like, you know, if I forgot about a charity that I donated to get a refund. That's what I'm saying. It's like the new system is set up where you can just enter stuff in. So thanks, Mark. I am homesick. I'm dying to go back. You know, it is, you know, I'll probably get there in the over in five minutes, but generally that's the case. When I fly into LA, I think I'm flying into LA or San Francisco and everybody becomes really loud and rude. And you're like, okay. I am no longer in Kansas anymore. It's so true. Like it feels like we, especially if you take Air New Zealand best airline ever, I will not fly out anything else. They are like so nice. It's just pleasant experience. And then they have like these really heavy doors that open up into getting like all of your bags to go through immigration. And LA is like, and it's like screaming and yelling and pushing and I'm like, not in New Zealand anymore. The season in the US when I go a summer. So it's the best time. It's July. No wonder I'm living, yes, are you guys starting to get a clue? I mean, the US is great for some things, but it is really not great for other things to be at us. So yeah, would I ever live there again? I get that question all the time. Yes. I mean, it's home for me, you know, especially if my family needed me or whatever, but I have no intention of leaving. Like, I love it here. So, okay. Okay. You see on the US TV, they pay the wire to answer. No, I mean, they have a banking, internet banking in the US. They just don't have pay wave. They don't have this where it's like immediately out of your account. It'll be debited and there's charges. Everybody makes money off of something in the US. Just that's how you have to look at it. You've come customized. Yes. Yes, it's true. Yes, I do know that I've gotten used to New Zealand when the US surprises me. What do I miss most? Good question. While certain foods, when you haven't been able to go back for a couple of years, that's probably the hardest. Mexican food, actual Mexican food. I don't know what they're doing here. It's laughable. I should do like tons of videos on that. I should go and order this, take a video of it and show it to people in the US. Okay. So, late fees. Yeah. And again, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about late fees. I'm talking about things that you can do after your tax or file. So, this is a problem in the US is you have to know everything and do everything right the first time. Whereas in New Zealand, it's a little bit more flexible. But again, like it's $50, $250 or 500 or so, it's not. What do you mean, small earthquake? Did we just have a small earthquake? Did we really? I didn't feel it. I wasn't shaking. Yeah, I don't even like New Zealand Mexican food, but just so you know, it's not Mexican. Chicago style pizza, just pizza. It's way better in the US. Yeah, you get seven years to claim your rebate. Thank you. Like that's what I'm saying. Yes, you need to come over to try real Mexican food and real burgers. I don't like the burgers here. The only place in all of New Zealand, they're like up north of the North Island. They've moved, so when I, I'll tap my head. I think Taranga, they moved. Cereal Griller, only burgers that I like here. And they don't pay me to say that. Thank you for all the work you do with COVID because you guys have had to work the whole time where the rest of us are complaining that we have to be at home. Everything's better in the US. Which state will have the best Mexican, like Texas, California, you know, New Mexico, all the ones closest to Mexico? My dream road trip around the US, honestly, I think it would be the best. Yes, road tripping. I have road tripped and we were actually gonna take a year. Instead of, before we thought about coming here, we were going to get a camper van and go around the US, spend a year, right? Because my kids were at the right ages at that time. And then we realized we had already done all that. We've seen everything. So then we decided to go international, but do most New Zealand schools have a school nurse? Where do they get cut because of the funding? Oh, a school nurse, that's a good question. Do we have school nurses? I've never had my kids go to the nurse. I mean, it's so easy. Like for me, like the health center that I go to, I call them up, I can get in the same day. So like, I don't know that it's necessary. Have you seen any good New Zealand films lately? The movie coming out about, oh no, I haven't. I don't watch a lot of TV or movies, to be honest. I'm trying to create my empire. I have done, yes, I have traveled all of, all the way up to Cape Ranga. So yes, it was just now centered in Bay of Quincy. Okay, hello from Venezuela. Hello, hi. Okay, wild kiwi makes good margarita pizza. Good to know. I don't normally go out and order pizza because I don't like it. The only pizza I like so far is style's pizza because the cheese is from Wisconsin, the sauce is from New York City. You know, it's all imported. Yes, they just have a first aid room, that's right. Have you been, have you been town in the West Coast? I'm from, yes, I traveled the West Coast this summer. West port and down. I went gold mining on the West Coast. Wow, what was that town that I was by? I'm having a blank right now. Yes, I've pretty much been every single place in New Zealand except for Stewart Island so far. Obviously I haven't been to White Island either. Yeah, so I really enjoyed the West Coast. Like I just heard nothing but negative about the West Coast. People were like, oh, you're gonna get killed by sand flies and it's always raining and da-da-da, that was not my experience. It was fantastic. Oh, sorry, West Coast, North Island. Sorry, I was in the West Coast, South Island. Yes, I haven't spent enough time there, so that's a good point. But I have traveled all the way through it. Some high schools have wellness centers and nurses and counselors such as rural girls, yeah. So it will vary. West Coast is a dive while West Port is. Well, it wasn't too bad. Best part of living in Auckland? I've never lived in Auckland. I don't really care for Auckland, to be honest. You love travel? Yes, thank you, I'm not crazy. Best part of living in Wellington? You can't beat Wellington on a beautiful day like today. I just love it, like the whole setup, the layout. I think there's the biggest problem with Auckland is I don't like the layout, right? Traffic and it's not functional and it's like going around and you're like on this bay and it's beautiful and there's always different suburbs and the city is easy to get to. You can walk from one end to the other easily. You haven't been to the South Island in your 28? Accorora, yeah, I went there. What is that, that French village? Yeah, yeah, it was fine. I don't think I need to go back, but yes, you're right, Queenstown. If I wasn't living in Wellington, I would be living in Queenstown. I love Queenstown. I love it. I'm actually trying to talk my family into moving there, but my kids are like, no, not leaving school. So here we are. Have you had, yes, my family has been here. Lots of friends have visited before COVID. Yes, you need to travel. Top three things. Well, it all depends. Top three things to do in Wellington. Are you a couple? Do you have kids? Are you outdoorsy? You know, it's like, it's hard to explain. But do you like Lord of the Rings? Like, you're not gonna want to miss the Wettet Cave. Definitely go to Tepapa. All that considered, go to Tepapa. Yeah, I can tell you like great places to get certain things. I haven't gone out, you know, I haven't worked. Oh, I did work in Wellington for like a year. That's true. But I like, I want to be at every restaurant. I want to try everything. I have it. Coffee, no. My favorite coffee in Wellington was Flight. Are they still open? Really? And I'm gonna be totally frank here. Any coffee you get in the city of Wellington is gonna be good. And there you have it, books. This is a true statement. So like, even if it just is like this little on the side of the road, it's gonna be good. It's gonna be good. So yeah. So anyway, I don't mean to be like talking everybody's head off. Now my throat is like, mm. I should go check on the kids, make sure that they're doing their work. Anyway, so please don't hesitate to reach out any questions. You can book a consult with me. Let me know, link in the description if you want to be a part of the membership or find out more about that. And if you need to ask help, the details are in there as well and you get $50 off. So I will and look forward to, okay, so since you're all in my life, I can give you like heads up on the video for this week. Just filled it yesterday. This was a kind of video, some of my best stuff I come up with in the middle of the night. And I wake up and I'm like, and I've learned, I become a professional because I have made this mistake where, oh, remember in the morning, any and never do. What's the title of it? It's so good. I think you're gonna like it. See, I've done so many things. I haven't been busy, look at all this. Yeah, I talk about things that are normal to Americans that will be surprising to kiwis. And I came up with 15 things and I think it could have gotten more but it started to get really long, so I stopped. But yeah, I think you're gonna like this one. So that is coming out. I'm going live with it noon on Sunday because I'm locked out anyway. So yeah, so continue to just let me know what kind of videos you'd like to see and look forward to connecting with you in different ways. Do you think your kids will stay in New Zealand when they're older? Yes, my oldest goes to university here. They all like it here. I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them went back to the US. I don't know, it's a good question. Yeah, so yeah, hope you guys are doing well. Stay safe and enjoy the day and get out. You can, because I can't. Anyway, see ya.