ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Culture
MINIMAL SHIFT
Christchurch man Chris Shelton, 27, has officially booked a one-way ticket to the UK for what he’s calling his “Big OE”, despite the fact he’ll be living with, working with, and socialising with the exact same group of Christchurch lads he’s known since high school.
“I just need to get out of my comfort zone and experience something new,” said Shelton, while packing a suitcase full of stubbies, a Crusaders jersey, and two puffer jackets.
The airport-bound builder is set to arrive in Clapham next week, where he’ll be moving into a flat with four other former Burnside High students who also claim to be “broadening their horizons”, even though their daily routine remains identical: wake up, go to work, send memes to each other in the group chat, and hit the pub on Friday to talk about the upcoming All Blacks game.
“Yeah it’s just time for a change of scene, aye,” said Shelton, who will now be standing around in a different backyard, drinking lagers and talking about how cold it is compared to back home.
The 27-year-old says he’s excited to immerse himself in British culture, which so far includes watching New Zealand Super Rugby games at 7am and ordering chicken burgers from a Kiwi-owned café in Fulham that exclusively employs other people from Canterbury.
When asked what he was most looking forward to in the UK, Shelton said he was keen to travel around Europe “at some point”, but was mainly just excited for “the first flat pub sesh when we’re all over there together — gonna be loose”.
More to come.
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