For some time now, Ilir Merja has chosen to live in New Zealand, an engineer who currently works there as the head of the sector in a highway maintenance company.
In an interview to an Albanian local radio, he tells how he got there. "I have always dreamed of being in this country, just as I dreamed of it, so I found it. This is a wonderful place, I can walk here during the weekend and only grassy fields, large farms waiting for tourism and it is wonderful", Ilir says.
People there welcome a foreigner very well and he says he has from other states and has not seen any kind of racism. "There are no asylum seekers because it is too far away and you can not deport," he said.
As for the Albanians, Iliri says that there are not more than 150 people, while Kosovo Albanians are more.
"Only Kosovars came in 1998, about 700 Albanians from Kosovo, while the number of Albanians from Albania is small, around 150 people. Of course, there are Albanians, we are everywhere ", says Ilir, adding that when he came to the current job they had not heard about Albania, but now they know very well Albania thanks to him.
Ilir also talks about work where he says that there are calm people who do not talk about the volume of work but the quality. "They hold meetings for 30 minutes, 25 minutes talk about safety at work, and five minutes about work," he continues.