But she would not have had it any other way, and now it was time to put down roots, she said.
The German-born physio first came to New Zealand in 2012, after her parents decided it was time for a change.
It was only meant to be for a year but ended up becoming permanent because they liked the place so much.
"The people are very friendly here," Ms Maierl said.
"Germans are very straightforward, and Kiwis tend to be very friendly and, yeah, very, very polite.
"So we liked to run a lot, so we went for runs, and everyone greeted us and said hello, and that would never happen in Germany, so that was very nice."
Settling into Columba College was initially a bit different.
"We don’t really have private schools or semi-private schools [in Germany], and we don’t have uniforms, and we don’t have single-sex schools".
She met her now-husband Liam Guthrie at the end of secondary school — both were "chemistry nerds" who took health science in their first year at the University of Otago.
Over the past year, it has been a whirlwind for Ms Maierl, who went back to Germany for her wedding and travelled for several months before touching down in Dunedin recently to complete her citizenship.
"I thought that the bureaucracy of becoming a citizen wasn’t actually too bad.
"Now we’re back, we thought Dunedin would be a great place to set up some roots and now plant my tree."
Seventy people became citizens yesterday at a special ceremony in the Fullwood Room at the Dunedin Centre.
They included: Claudia Margit Ammann (Germany); Jorg Thilo Frauendiener (Germany); Richard William Annable (Canada); Sharie Michelle Razo Aviso (Philippines); Zachary Aviso Vallarta (New Zealand); Christine Arishma Begg (Fiji); Goeknil Meryem Biner (Germany); Colette Majella Bolger (Australia); Karen Bernadette Cookson (United Kingdom); Ian Geoffrey Swain (United Kingdom); Callum Paul Cooper (United Kingdom); Kerry Jane Cooper (England); Paul Roy Cooper (United Kingdom); Marlyn Robina Dass (Fiji); Courtney Jeane Giddens (United States of America); Rachael Louise Hart (Australia); Carl James Hatfield (England); Joerg Hennig (Germany); Maud Schroeder (Germany); Olga Herdt (Kazakhstan); Lichelle Sano Jadulan (Philippines); Laura Keller (Germany); Ahmad Mohamad Lababidi (Syria);Huiyuan Li (China); Yuan Lyu (China); Elisa Marlena Maierl (Germany); Shobin Mathew (India); Remya Shobin (India); Agna Shobin (India); Aloysius Shobin (India); Alonso Abram Shobin (New Zealand); Thomas Mattern (Germany); Claudia Ott (Germany); Hanna Ott (Germany); Holger Thomas Regenbrecht (Germany); Helen Plowman (United Kingdom); Reyna Kristi Prameswari (Indonesia); Robert Luke Pritchett (United States of America); Ling Qiu (China); Alban Nicolas Ribet (France); Felix Terence Andrew Robinson (Australia); Róisín Leila Scott (Australia) Min Shin (Korea); Tina Marie Noreen Sleigh (Canada); Shane Stockenstroom (Zimbabwe); Shanice Stockenstroom (South Africa); Zander Stockenstroom (South Africa); Bryan Navarro Sunglao (Philippines); Tosoimatuu Talatonu (Samoa); Ivona Talatonu (Samoa); Toso Junior Halla Talatonu (Samoa); Vanessa Manderine Talatonu (Samoa); Mark Antorythan Tosoimatuu Talatonu (Samoa); Henry Nathan Tosoimatuu Talatonu (Samoa);
Graideena Karauna Tosoimatuu Talatonu (Samoa); Kevin Leigh Tucker (China) Francois Dirkse van der Westhuizen (South Africa) Ezelle van der Westhuizen (South Africa); Sascha Warnken (Germany) Armin Harald Baesler (Germany); Alexander Ethan Yeo (New Zealand).
