Christ's College, Christchurch, New Zealand 2019

Thanks to the generosity of the Warner family, Zach, Will, and I were fortunate enough to spend a month in Christchurch, New Zealand, and to attend Christ's College for three weeks. Last April, the three of us had hosted those with whom we stayed during our time in Christchurch, so getting to reconnect with the friends we made in April was one of the many things we had to look forward to during our nearly twenty-four hours of travel, that included over seventeen hours in the air and an almost-missed flight. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Elia, Liam, and Jim, whom we had hosted last April, as well as their families. After spending a day or two recovering from the jet lag resulting from the drastic time change, each of us spent our first week with our host families (since the first week we were there was a school holiday), and many of the activities in which we participated were done with our own host families, so each of us will describe our experience in more detail below.

The view from the plane on approach to Christchurch

Christ's College

Wesley: I was hosted by Elia Garratt and his family, and the experience they provided me was exceptional. As soon as I arrived in Christchurch, they immediately provided me with many opportunities to experience Christchurch and its culture. We arrived on a Monday, and after recovering from the jet lag, Elia and his mom showed me the city of Christchurch on Tuesday, which is about a 20-25 minute from the Garratt house in the Christchurch suburbs. It was certainly a smaller city than Nashville (especially after earthquakes had destroyed many of the tall buildings back in 2011/2012), but the city was extremely clean and modern. After that, we went to Hanmer Springs, a hot springs and waterpark an hour and a half from Christchurch, just in the foothills of the mountains. The rest of the week was fairly relaxing, and on Friday, Elia took me to the beach and to a small party to meet many of his friends that I hung out with for the rest of my time there. 

After this first week, school began. I was in all the same classes as Elia, some of which were similar to classes here at MBA (like English, Math, and Economics), but some of the classes were far more interesting, such as Drama and Physical Education, which were my two favorites classes. The general class structure and school rhythm felt very similar to MBA, and settling into the schedule was quite easy, and the students and teachers were all very welcoming.

During the second weekend there, the Garratts took me snowboarding at Mt. Cheesman, an hour and forty-five minute drive from the Garratts house. Having never snowboarded before, I spent most of the time on the beginner slope, but that Saturday was one of the best days of the trip. After another quiet week of school, Elia and his girlfriend were able to get me a ticket to a “formal,” basically their version of prom, except the dance lasts for four hours. It was a fun night, including a fun afterparty and a long night of meeting people and shaking at least two-dozen hands. 

The last week of school was a bit busier, as many of the classes were taking tests, or externals, as they call them. On Wednesday, Elia took me to an escape game, much like the ones we have here in Nashville, with some of his friends. Then, that Friday night, our last night in New Zealand, Elia was able to convince one of his friends to host a small going-away party for all three of us Americans, which quickly turned into a large party, a two-a.m. trip to “Maccas” (their nickname for McDonald’s), and the perfect send-off for an incredible month. The morning before we left, the Garratts drove me to Governor’s Bay, on the other side of the hill-range just south of town, and provided me with some great views before I left. I am extremely grateful for the contribution of the Warner family allowing me to go on this trip, as well as for the hard-work and hospitality of the Garratt family.

Elia, his girlfriend, her friends, and myself before the formal

On top of the Port Hills just south of the city

Me with Elia and the friends I made in front of Jacobs House

Zach: Once we all arrived at the Christchurch airport, we immediately went off with our host families. For the first day, we arrived in the city early in the morning and had the day ahead of us in Christchurch. During the first few days that I was there, we went all around Christchurch, seeing the beaches and the central city. The Adams family lived around 30 minutes from the central city near smaller, rural communities, so we explored around those areas as well. Because my host student, Liam, had a field hockey tournament in Auckland during this first week, I went with his brother and his dad to their vacation home in the northern end of the South Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Driving up to the Marlborough Sounds along the coastline of the South Island amazed me because looking out the window, I could see beaches to my right and snow-capped mountains to my left. The diversity of the landscapes in such a small country was really surprising to me. In our time at the Marlborough Sounds, we spent a lot of our time fishing and then cooking the fish that we caught. Another special aspect of that trip was seeing a group of dolphins just traveling in their natural habitat. 

After returning from the Marlborough Sounds, we spent a few more days in Christchurch, until we left in order to go skiing. That trip was the first time that I have ever skied, and it was a great experience. Again, the diversity of the landscape of New Zealand amazed me. We only had to drive an hour from my host family’s house in a farming area to go to the slopes. After the skiing trip, our first week of school began. For the second weekend I was there, my host family traveled to Wellington in order to watch an All Blacks game, the national rugby team for New Zealand. The All Blacks were playing South Africa in the match, and it was the first time that I have ever seen Rugby game in person. The game was very exciting; rugby is extremely physical and fast-paced and despite my not really understanding the rules, I really got into it. Unfortunately, South Africa managed to score in the last minute in order to tie the game. Also since Wellington is the capital, we saw the parliament building and other government buildings while we were there. Seeing another New Zealand city was a great experience, and I enjoyed just walking around downtown Wellington. After we returned from Wellington, I had another week at school. For the third weekend, I went with my family to Hanmer Springs to go Jet Boating, an activity that I had never heard of before I came to New Zealand. Also during that weekend, we went to a Christ’s College rugby game in which they were playing one of their rival schools. The atmosphere at the rugby game was really intense, and it reminded me of sporting events at MBA. For the final weekend, we spent it hanging out with friends that we made during our time at the school, and we left on that Saturday. Thanks to my host family for giving me such a great experience while I was there.

Zach with his new friends and housemates

Zach and Liam at an All-Blacks rugby game

The view from the Adams family vacation home

Will: When our host families picked us up from the airport, each of us started the trip with a week to ourselves on holiday with our host family. My host family was the Gibbs. I already knew Jim from when he came to Nashville in April, and it was great to meet the rest of his family. Jim lived in Pegasus, New Zealand which was about a 40 minute drive up the coast from Christchurch. Due to the distance from town I found myself amidst the New Zealand countryside. Within less than 30 minutes Jim and I could bike to the beach in the morning and within a 30 minute drive in the afternoon we could reach the base of mountains. The scenery was unlike anything else I had ever seen. 

During the first holiday week we hiked Mount Gray near Pegasus, visited the hot springs in Hamner, toured downtown Christchurch, and water skied at Lake Brunner. Hiking through the chilly mountains allowed us to see all across the island from the Eastern Coast’s beaches, lush farmland, and the wetlands on the West Coast all while being within the center of snow capped mountain ranges. Since Jim, Elia, and Liam had already been to America and all six of us got to know each other well we met up to go to the Hamner natural hot springs. The hot springs were a nice relief from the chilly weather, and we got to visit various New Zealand pubs before and after getting in the water. In downtown Christchurch Jim and I met up with a few of his friends to go around town. We saw the historic Christchurch Cathedral, Hagley Park, and all the new renovations to the city. In 2011 Christchurch suffered from a serious earthquake so the city is still working to recover. While there was a lot of construction in the city, the completed projects previewed the creation of a beautiful city in the near future. This part of the city makes me want to return to Christchurch in the future to see how it will change. The best part of the city in its current state is definitely how easy it is to walk around. It's not too big and crowded but its big enough to have stuff to see. The final part of my week of holiday concluded with a trip to Lake Brunner at the Gibbs lake house. The view from their house was breathtaking and at night the stars were easily visible and lit up the night sky. At the lake we did various hiking trails and water skied with wetsuits to withstand the cold water. When the week of holiday came to an end, I still got to enjoy Christchurch and the surrounding area on the weekend. Nearly every free day once school started, was spent in town hanging out with friends, supporting Christ’s College sports, or enjoying the countryside. 

The view over Lake Brunner

The three of us and our hosts upon arrival

The beautiful NZ mountain range

School

Zach, Wesley, and I spent three weeks attending Christ’s College. The boys all wear black dress shoes, black dress pants, a white button down, along with their college blazer and tie. Wesley, Zach, and I did not get to wear the uniform and instead adhered to the MBA dress code. At school, we followed a similar schedule and curriculum to MBA. We started each day at around 8:00 and spent the first hour of the day with something different each day. On Mondays and Fridays we had chapel, on Tuesdays we had assembly, and on Wednesday and Thursday we had house or tutor meetings. All three of us found assembly to be the exact same as at MBA, but chapel was a very interesting part of our experience that proved to be a welcoming way to start and end each week. 

The most striking portion of Christ’s College mornings was their house system. While the houses resemble advisories, they were much larger and much more involved. Each of us spent all our free time which included morning tea, break, and lunch in our houses. Nearly every person I befriended was a member of my house. I was in Rolleston, Wesley was in Jacobs, and Zach was in Harper. During the school day, classes were 50 minutes and resembled MBA classes. However, Christ’s College students had the choice to take many specialty classes such as accounting, mechanical engineering, woodworking, and metalworking. Also, the grading and homework system at College was far different from MBA. Most of the grading is external and standardized across New Zealand. Students accumulate external credits through NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) classes in order to graduate and then build a resume for either university or trade school. Because of this system, all the classes were lectures and note-taking based. Zach, Wesley, and I still found the classes very interesting and entertaining. College students also do not have nightly homework. Instead, they are given large projects, papers, and workbooks to complete over the course of a term or over a holiday in order to prepare for tests. 

Athletics were also an important portion of College life. Every student must take part in athletics during the summer season and the winter season. At Christ's College, Wesley worked out with crew team, Zach ran with the running club, and I played soccer. From what we could tell, the competition on the top teams was comparable to our varsity teams back home, and a match between the two teams would be very competitive. Zach, Wesley, and I found our time as students at Christ’s College very rewarding.

The school at night

The school's dining hall

Thank you to the Warner Family for making this entire experience possible. We all had an amazing time seeing such a beautiful country and meeting new people. Also, thank you to the Garrett, Gibbs, and Adams families for ensuring that we all had great experiences in New Zealand. Thank you to Mrs. Scholer and the MBA community for allowing us to participate in this exchange. Finally, thank you to everyone at Christ’s College who helped us throughout our time at the school.