Quality of Living

Did you know that Mercer, a world leading insurance broker and risk management advisor, management consulting and human resource consulting company, do a survey each year on the Worldwide Quality of Living Rankings?

Mercer conducts the survey to help governments and multi-national companies compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. Mercer’s Quality of Living reports provide valuable information and hardship premium recommendations for major cities throughout the world. Mercer’s Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city.



Here is the Top 10 list for 2011

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Auckland, New Zealand
4. Munich, Germany
5. Dusseldorf, Germany
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Bern, Switzerland
10. Copenhagen, Denmark

13th  Wellington, New Zealand.

I was impressed that New Zealand had 2 towns in the top 15 and even more impressed, or was that let down that none of the United Kingdom were in there! Nor any of America?

26th  Dublin, Ireland
29th  Honolulu, USA
30th= San Fran, USA; Adelaide, Australia; Paris, France
38th  London, United Kingdom!

They also, this year, did a survey that separately identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement effectiveness and the host country’s international relations.
So in other words, which city they felt was the safest to live in.

1. Luxemborg
2. Bern
3. Helsinki
4. Zurich
5. Vienna
6. Geneva
7. Stockholm
8. Singapore
9. Auckland
10. Wellington

Aberdeen and Glasgow both rank 44 and are the highest ranking UK cities on the personal safety list. Birmingham (53) and Belfast (63) both rank higher than London (68)
However, Baghdad (221) is the world’s least safe city, followed by N’Djamena, Chad (220), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (219), Bangui, Central African Republic (218), and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (217).


The link to their page gives a lot more information. It was really quite interesting reading.
Go over there and have a little check of your favourite countries, see where they positioned!!

Thirteen

For some people this number is totally unlucky, for others this is their lucky number.
Me, I come from the long list of people who are a little dubious of the number.

However for today only I am very happy with the number 13.

Why I hear you ask??

Today, as this post goes live, I will have been in New Zealand for 13 years.
Is this lucky or unlucky for me I guess you are asking...?

It is lucky.

I was 27 when I moved here and I don't know if my life would be where it is today if I had stayed where I was in England.
I was living at home, working as a Theatre Nurse at the local hospital.
I really, looking back on it, had no life.
I went to church every Sunday in the village but didn't really socialise much, there wasn't really anyone I wanted to socialise with. They were not my type of person. Don't get me wrong, I knew them all but they had all lead very different lives to me and some had great trouble in understanding the type of life I had lead up till then.
I had spent my main schooling years in a boarding school whilst my parents lived in foreign countries. I had travelled loads and had a very different out look on life. I was very strong willed, stubborn and very independant. If I wanted something to happen, well I just set about getting it achieved, within reason. I had very large grand ideas on what I wanted to do in life.

I hadn't dated for about 3 years, never met people to date either. So life just ticked over day by day never changing.

Coming to New Zealand, sort of made me have to start again. Make a difference, get a life etc and I did.
I met Steve within the first 2 months of working at Auckland Hospital but it was another 18 months before we finally got together as a couple and since we did that, then life has just rolled on forward.

So here I am now, 40 years old, married to my man of 11 years with 2 gorgeous boys, thinking how lucky I am to be here in this glorious country.
I am sure I would have survived if I had stayed in England but I don't think I would have been so happy, life would certainly have been very different there.

So happy anniversary to me and Happy Valentines Day to you all.

Countries

How is your Geography??
Funny I can name more countries than I can colours???

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