Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2002

Gallipoli experience .

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Elise Adams

My Simpson Prize journey began about this time last year when I was rushing to complete an essay on the topic "The Anzac spirit was born at Gallipoli in 1915. Since then it has been demonstrated not only by Australians in war but also by those whose contribution has been in other fields. " Sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and run by the History Teachers' Association of Australia, this competition taught me so much - not only about the Gallipoli Campaign and the legendary ANZACs, but how the 'spirit' that evolved from this military disaster has become an integral part of our national identity as Australian. To be given the opportunity to visit the battlefields of Allzac Cove in Turkey on Anzac Day as the Queensland winner of this national competition was truly the experience of a lifetime The Brisbane City Council selected Year 11 students Danielle Nizzero and Lucy Hall, along with eighteen students from other Btisbane high schools, to represent Brisbane as Youth Ambassadors at a week-long conference organised by our sister city, Shenzhen, in China. The purpose of Voyage Towards Friendship 2002 was to create a lasting relationship between the youth of all Shenzhen's eight sister cities around the world: Houston IUSA), Brabent Wallan IBelgiumi, NUTemberg toermany), Gwangyang IKoreai, Tscheba IJapanj, Bresca 11talyj, Vienne IFrancej and Brisbane. One hundred and seventy six high school students attended the conference

On ANZAC Day we attended both the Dawn Service and the uniquely Australian Lone Pine Service later in the day. Arriving at two in the morning ready for the 5.30am Dawn Service, we spent three hours shivering in pitch darkness before the military band began half an hour of patriotic tunes such as 'Waltzing Mathda: Along with 16,000 other pilgrims, watching the sun rise over the same beach where the ANZACs landed eighty seven years ago was surreal. That afternoon, Aussie lainkinism replaced the sobriety of the Dawn Service. At the Lone Pine Service, veterans were cheered on their way to the o cia "Mexican wave" on arrival area and the GovernorGeneral received a welcoming Those ten days spent retracing the origins of the ANZAC spint have made the history of the ANZACs transcend the musty pages of a textbook and into the way I perceive myse as young Australian today - not that much younger than our 7594 men who lost their lives on that lonely peninsula so many years ago

Youth Ambassadors to China

VOYage Towards Friendship

Another symbolic gesture was that each delegate swapped presents with a person from one of the other countries. This represented an offering of friendship and peace and was also an invitation to visit our country. Activities included visits to the Shenzhen Art Gallery and Museum, a petrified forest, the Palaeontogy Museum and Fairy Lake Botanical Gardens, attending the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and numerous banquets, and experiencing daily life with home stay families.

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it was a week of new and exciting Just after the Opening experiences

Ceremony where the idea of friendship, peace and love were emphasised, the delegates were taken to Lianshaushan Park to ny kites, representing young people's hopes, ambitions and good wishes.