Stroud McMahan, Sam Papel, and myself arrived at the airport on June 20th to depart on our journey to New Zealand. Our first flight was a four hour trip to Los Angeles where we had a few hour layover before our big flight across the Pacific. Naturally, we were extremely excited and eager to get to New Zealand, but we were not looking forward to the thirteen hour flight by any means. However, with the aid of movies and sleeping pills, we endured the flight and touched down in the land of the Kiwis. After the long flight into Auckland, we had a short flight to the Hawkes Bay area, on the east coast of the North Island. We landed at 5:30 AM New Zealand time, about 12:00 PM Nashville time, meaning we had been traveling for roughly 24 hours. Nevertheless, we were energetic to meet our host families who were waiting for us at the gate in Napier.
Ready to take off!
Everyone introduced themselves and the three families parted ways. My host family, the Barons, live in a small town named Havelock North, about thirty minutes inland from the coast. Interestingly enough, my host mother, Jackie Barron, is the headmistress of Woodford House girls school, meaning the Barons live in a home on campus. Living on the campus of a girls school was a entertaining experience, to say the least. During this first day, my host, Henry, showed me around Havelock North and Woodford House, allowing me to get acclimated to the area.
The Baron's house
The girls school, Woodford House
Courtyard next to our house
The next day, Sunday, we went to chapel at Lindisfarne College, the school I would be attending for the month. Lindisfarne was founded in 1953 and is generally regarded as one of the best boys schools on the north island. The student body, like that of Hogwarts, is split into four houses, Aidan, Cuthbert, Oswald, and Durham. The houses compete against each other in various arenas, including sports, drama, and the ever popular Haka. A Haka is a traditional war cry and dance practiced by the native Maori people. Various sports teams and schools throughout New Zealand have their individual Hakas and the four houses compete to see who can best perform Lindisfarne's Haka . My host, as well as Stroud's, is in Aidan house. Unfortunately, they are in third place in the house competition. An interesting aspect of life at Lindisfarne is the dress code; a red blazer, grey pants, dress shoes, and a school tie are worn by every student. However, the blazers are only required on Mondays and Fridays, leaving a blue "jersey" (or sweater) to be worn the rest of the days. The standard tie is red and silver stripes, but depending on academic achievement, a student can earn a maroon academic tie. The atmosphere of Lindisfarne is very similar to that of MBA, due to the nature of boys schools. The sense of camaraderie is unmistakable and many of the days are filled with jokes and laughter. Another positive dimension of Lindisfarne is the wide range fantastic classes they offer. Stroud and I took math, an english course in film, biology, media studies, and our favorite, agriculture & horticulture. This hands-on class was unbelievably interesting, as we learned how to care for livestock and successfully grow crops. Seeing as we do not have any sort of class like this at home, we we quick to select this class as part of our studies. A typical day included these five classes and either assembly or chapel. During our second week at school, we were officially welcome to Lindisfarne through a formal ceremony, including a special Haka and our receiving Lindisfarne ties. In addition to these activities during school, I was lucky enough to play for the school's soccer team, while Sam and Stroud played rugby. Playing soccer in New Zealand was a special experience, as it so perfectly connected myself with boys from half was around the world. Despite being so far from home, soccer was one thing that we had in common and were able to share. One of our favorite experiences as school, however, was being able to celebrate the Fourth of July and boast our patriotism, while teaching the Kiwis a little bit about America. We sported our American flag bandanas and were able to fly the flag from the flagpole in front of the school. Attending Lindisfarne College was a fantastic experience that will absolutely be memorable for years to come.
Lindisfarne College
Main courtyard at Lindisfarne
Administration Building
Sam and Stroud ready for a day at Lindisfarne
During our second full weekend, my host family and I traveled to the southern portion of the north island to visit New Zealand's capital, Wellington. Wellington is a beautiful coastal town where we were able to have a fantastic weekend. We toured amazing museums, experienced great shopping, and even attended a professional rugby match. The rugby match made for a fantastic evening; the match between the Hurricanes and Highlanders was very high-scoring and entertaining. Rugby is one of the most physical sports and there was never a dull moment while watching 200+ lbs men throw themselves at each other with no pads.
New Zealand's capital, Wellington
Rugby match, Hurricanes vs Highlanders
Scrum
We returned to the Hawkes Bay area for another week our school before our vacation. The highlight of this week, without a doubt, was the earthquake we experience during study hall. Stroud and I were sitting upstairs in the library when it hit. We saw a boy enter the library just before the quake so we thought he must have slammed the door exceptionally hard. This disturbance, however, was not caused by any door. Stroud and I looked at each other during the initial rumbling as the building shook horizontally back and forth. It only lasted about three or four seconds, but it was riveting nonetheless. I'm sure we made absolute fools of ourselves in the ensuing excitement. To all the Lindisfarne boys, an earthquake is no big deal, but for us, it was exhilarating. We hopped on the computers and found it was a 4.9 on the Richter scale, with the epicenter only about 60 miles away. Although potentially dangerous, the earthquake was a thrilling event and we felt as if we had received a true, authentic New Zealand experience.
During our final week in New Zealand, Lindisfarne had vacation so all three of our families traveled to the central part of the north island to a town called Taupo. Despite the many unforgettable experiences I had already experienced thus far during my exchange, the week in Taupo was truly incredible. These few days were crammed full of some experiences and memories that I never would have made had I not gone on this exchange. We enjoyed various activities, such as visiting geysers and hot springs, fishing, jet boating, and riding a downhill luge. The event that stood out most, however, was bungee jumping. The Waikato River runs through the center of Taupo and the bungee jump was positioned 47 meters above a bend in the river. After a long line of signing papers and putting on harnesses, we walked out onto a platform suspended over the river. Despite being a little nervous, I could not wait until it was our turn to leap off. Stepping up to the ledge was rather intimidating, but I looked straight ahead and went for it. The initial acceleration downward was a little unnerving, but once I felt the chord begin to catch me, the feeling was unbelievable. After all the anticipation and build up, the jump seemed to end far too quickly. Although incredibly scary, bungee jumping in New Zealand was by far one of the best experiences of my life.
Me Bungee Jumping
Rainbow Trout on Lake Taupo
Geyser in Taupo
Jet Boating
Downhill luge
This exchange to New Zealand was a life changing experience and I made many friends and memories that will remain with me for the rest of my life. I would like to say thank you to Mr. Gioia, MBA, and especially the Warner Family, who made this trip possible. I cannot thank you enough for your incredible generosity. Also, I want to thank all the Kiwis who made me feel so welcome and made my experience so memorable. To the teachers at Lindisfarne College, the amazing guys I became close friends with, and to my magnificent host family the Barons, I am extraordinarily appreciative of your hospitality. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to everyone who made this exchange possible; this adventure has made a profound impact upon my life and I will always cherish the memories.
Host families before departing
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