Christ's College (New Zealand): Clay McLemore

   After spending the night in the Dallas airport, going backwards to Memphis, spending thirteen and a half hours on a plane going to New Zealand and arriving a day late, James Higgins and I had one more flight down to Christchurch on the southern island before we could rest. Coming to the baggage claim, we met our host families, the Scholz’s and the Fowler’s. I would stay with the Scholz’s and James the Fowler’s. Eliot and Mrs. Scholz picked me up, and we then went to get my uniform. Later I met Eliot’s brother, Oliver who is a year 11 and Mr. Scholz. The Scholz’s were incredibly nice and made me feel at home right away. Crossing the street reminded me that kiwis, New Zealanders, drive on the left side of the road after I almost walked into the path of a car.

My two host brothers and I

James and I attended Christ’s College for three weeks. I was a member of the Somes House, one of six day houses at the college. I was able to hang out in the year 12 common room where we would all relax throughout the day. Sadly because of the large earthquakes Christchurch experienced in 2010 and 2011, the main academic building had to be torn down and several other buildings on campus were damaged. There is still construction going on around the campus. Earthquakes are common in New Zealand, as I found out after feeling a few in the first couple of days.
Twice a week during break, the school would meet for a chapel service, and once a week, we would meet in the chapel for “Congers,” a run-through for the church service on Sunday.  For the Classes, James and I both took Chemistry, Economics, Materials Technology (shop class), Classical History, English and PE. PE was different because for a few days a week we would be in the classroom. For the other days, we would kayak in the pool. The classes were discussion based and were never boring, but I could never follow the class schedule because the class times changed every day. After school on my second day, the Christ’s College rugby team lost a tough match against their rivals, the Christchurch Boys’ High School. This rivalry is equivalent to the MBA-Ensworth rivalry. 

For sport after school, I played on one of the rugby teams. The team accepted James and me quickly as we learned the odd rules of the game. I had a blast and enjoyed scrimmaging during practice.

One weekend we attended a rugby match between the Christchurch Crusaders, the local team, and the Wellington Hurricanes with James and the Fowler’s. 

The main quad

Crusader’s Game

After the three weeks of school, we had a week of holidays. During the holidays, the Scholz’s took me to Arthur’s Pass which is a national park in the middle of the mountains. We rode a train up into the mountains and were met with fantastic views during the ride. It had snowed a day or two before we went up, and the mountains were still covered with snow. We sledded and did some hiking while we were there. Since we were already halfway across the island we took a day trip to the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes on the western coast where the tides would make a geyser at high tide. We also went to the zoo in Christchurch and were able to see several kiwi birds among the other indigenous species of New Zealand.

Arthur's Pass

Punakaiki National Park

I would like to thank the Warner Family, Mr. Gioia, and MBA for making this opportunity possible. I would also like to thank all the people at Christ’s College and the Scholz family for hosting me. Going to Christchurch was a once in a life time experience that I will always remember, and I hope to return to New Zealand one day.