26-04-09
Reflections on ANZAC day (April 25, 2009).
Yesterday was ANZAC day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corp), so very similar to Veteran’s day in the U.S. I was able to find a schedule of events the night before, so I knew what I wanted to do. I did NOT go to the 5:30 am service at the war memorial (i.e. the monument), but I knew I wanted to see the parade and the ceremony and stuff afterward. We left a little bit after 10:30 and made it to the esplanade in time to see all the troops coming in from the parade. We just followed the sound of bagpipes. When we were walking up there, watching the troops come in, one of the diggers (what they call soldiers) was carrying an American flag, and I can’t even describe how I felt when I saw that. It was really special. Then we hung around for the ceremony, where the Mayor gave a speech, some kid gave a speech, and then they blessed the wreaths and raised the flag to full mast. Then they recited this ode:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them. Lest we forget.
When the speaker got to the lines “We will remember them.” Everyone repeated it. Then he said, “Lest we forget,” and the entire crowd repeated that as well. It was very powerful. They ended by playing a recording of the Australian National Anthem. It started out softly, but then everyone joined in singing it, and it was very moving. The whole thing was pretty indescribable; I can’t really give a description of what I felt, because there are no words. Afterwards, we went up to some people to ask where to get an Australian flag, because we wanted one. I scoped out a few people, and then asked these two ladies if we knew where to get the flags, and they gave us theirs. It was really special. One of the husbands told me to take good care of his flag, and I promised I would. I was talking to the lady that gave me her flag, and she said, “We don’t mind Yanks, here.” So I was called a Yank, but not in a derogatory way. Then Laura and I went to the town hall to look at the commemorative material (where we ran into the couples again). They had stuff even from WWI, and it was really neat. Then there was free coffee/water and muffins outside, so we got hooked up with some of that. Then Laura and I went back to the esplanade to hear the country music concert. It was nice. My favorite was when one of the guys sang ‘Ring of Fire’, and then when all the artists got up there together and sang ‘Waltzing Matilda’. After the concert was over, Laura and I hit up the free coffee again and used the toilets in the Town Hall, before heading up to the monument. It was beautiful. Then we headed back via the footy game (which we didn’t go to). We stopped by the market, and I got 6 plums for $1 and 5 kiwis for $2. Then we came home, and it was 1:45 pm. We’d been out for a solid four hours—the whole time carrying around our flags. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching a lot of ‘Without a Trace’ and writing a super long letter to Leah (8 pages front and back). We went to bed at 2 am. This morning we had brunch, and now we’re off to Perth. But I think I’m part Australian at heart, because yesterday was incredible, and hearing everyone sing the national anthem was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
ANZAC Day
In most ceremonies of remembrance there is a reading of an appropriate poem.
One traditional recitation on ANZAC Day is the Ode, the fourth stanza of the poem For the fallen by Laurence Binyon (1869–1943). Binyon was the assistant keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum, and the author of several volumes of verse. For the fallen was first published in the Times (London) in 1914 and later in many anthologies of war verse. It was selected in 1919 to accompany the unveiling of the London Cenotaph and, like so many memorial traditions, passed into common use across the Commonwealth. Its use on ANZAC Day might have originated with the Queensland ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee, which placed it on the cover of a collection of sermons and addresses for ANZAC Day published in 1921. It was also used at the laying of the Inauguration Stone at the Memorial in 1929.
The most well-known lines are:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/recitation.asp
TO BE CONTINUED
One traditional recitation on ANZAC Day is the Ode, the fourth stanza of the poem For the fallen by Laurence Binyon (1869–1943). Binyon was the assistant keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum, and the author of several volumes of verse. For the fallen was first published in the Times (London) in 1914 and later in many anthologies of war verse. It was selected in 1919 to accompany the unveiling of the London Cenotaph and, like so many memorial traditions, passed into common use across the Commonwealth. Its use on ANZAC Day might have originated with the Queensland ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee, which placed it on the cover of a collection of sermons and addresses for ANZAC Day published in 1921. It was also used at the laying of the Inauguration Stone at the Memorial in 1929.
The most well-known lines are:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/recitation.asp
TO BE CONTINUED
Monday, April 13, 2009
New Pictures!
P.S. Check out new pics on Picasa of Broome and Easter and a couple other things. And leave comments.
Please.
Sheesh people, communicate!!
Please.
Sheesh people, communicate!!
Update: Post-Broome, Pre-Down South trip
We leave tomorrow for our trip Down South, so here's your update before we get back.
12/4/09 Easter Sunday
Happy Easter! To catch up a bit, Saturday we left for Broome, and that whole trip was INCREDIBLE! It’s recorded in my journal and I don’t feel that I could type it all here… so I won’t. Friday came, and I woke up on my own at 9:30, read my book in bed for a bit, ate some brekky, and got my history paper back from Shane. I got a 90%, which is a high HD (High Distinction--the highest letter(s) you can get; to put it in perspective, 78% is an A at UP), and I was super happy about it! Actually, everyone I know about in the house got an HD, so that’s pretty awesome. I watched two episodes of Lie to Me, so I’m all caught up again. I also wrote both my reflection of the Kimberley, and a rough copy of my news story, so that was very productive. Also, everything was closed for good Friday, so it was nice to just have a complete day of rest. Community lunch and dinner were provided, so that was awesome, and I got the recipe for chocolate pie from Grandma. Also, I got the EWC app from Stacey and filled it out and sent it in for a small group leader. So, actually, Friday was pretty productive I guess. Saturday was lovely; I woke up and read my book in bed. Later on, Matt called me on skype and asked if I wanted to catch up since he’s coming into Freo, so I say sure. He came over and hung out for a bit, and then he, Denysse, and I went to the E shed markets, and those were pretty cool. Definitely going back sometime. When Sue and I got home, I realized that I forgot to get my key back from Matt, so I called him on Brooke’s phone, and he said he’d drop it by after Church. So… while we were all downstairs for Nic’s birthday dessert, the yell comes, “Katie, your bf is here,” and Matt was at the doorway since he already brought my key back. Later that night I decided to bake both chocolate pies… so I did. Then we baked the gluten free chocolate cake as well, so that Laura and I could go to Mass at 11. Now to today: EASTER! I woke up this morning very excited, since it was Easter. I got up and got all pretty with my Easter dress and everything (which I am still wearing) and put in my brand new (real!) pearl earrings for the first time. Everyone told me that my Easter basket was super easy to find, but I had about 5 minutes before we were leaving for church, and my clue was “People still use these.” But, I just looked around a bit, and saw it blatantly sitting in the open space beneath the payphone, so that was cool. I’m so happy Nicole hid easter baskets; it makes it feel more like home. Then Laura and I went to Mass, and it was incredible! St. Patrick’s Basilica is gorgeous, both inside and out. Matt told me it has the biggest organ in WA, so that’s pretty cool. I think I may go there for Mass again. The organist was hilarious, ‘cause he was so intense, and he kept swatting at his music. Also, the priest announced an anniversary (40 years today) and gave them a special blessing… then he kissed the wife on the lips right after the husband did. But actually the (normal) priest got chest pains this morning, so he’s in the hospital while the higher up guy celebrated Easter Mass instead. Hope everything’s okay. After Mass, we came back and I facebook chatted with David for the next hour and a half or so. We had a really good conversation. I told him about the girl talk with Grace and Emily last night, and how I said I always figured I’d just marry David, and he said, “Well we’re already married.” After that chat it was about time for Easter dinner, so I went downstairs, and met James. He’s from Botswana, but has now achieved permanent residency in Australia. He’s really cool, and I learned a lot about Africa. The deviled eggs were amazing! Although, dinner didn’t actually start til 4, but it was so so good, and I was so full! We had chicken, lamb, potatoes and green bean casserole and salad. For dessert we had the pies, the cake, and carrot cake. The pie didn’t set to well; I think I should have boiled it longer, but it was still good. I got a lot of compliments. And lots of people went back for seconds! It was so yummy though, because I felt like I was eating Grandma’s pie, which was cool since I just talked to everybody at Grandma and Grandpa’s earlier today, including Ryan. After dinner, I just came up for half an hour, and then Laura, Denysse, and I were picked up by her host family at six and taken to his house. (The Bakers). He has a pizza oven in the shape of a dragon in his back yard, and it’s so cool! Even the nostrils light up! The pizza was amazing, and it was just an all around good time; kinda reminded me of family events with the Beaubien family. I liked Tim, who’s 13 years old (on October 31st) and in year 7. He’s a pretty cool kid, and he’s with the friends visiting from Melbourne for Easter. He seems pretty down to earth. He also hid all the easter eggs (just chocolate eggs) and then we went looking for them after dark. Then Hannah invited us to sit with all the ‘youth’ at the pizza oven. It was really cool to just hang out and talk with people our age. The scottish couple was pretty cool. The girl, Amanda, was pretty hilarious. Then Gabby and her boyfriend (Simon) were cool. She’s 20 and he’s 25, but she seems so much older! He kind of has a mullet thing going on, but it looks good on him. Then Hannah is just gorgeous and sweet and nice, and very toned. Her boyfriend is cute too… he kinda looks like Ben Affleck… only brunette. But we hung out there for a bit; I had a few sips of Bailey’s and left around 9:30. Now we’re back and I’m gonna watch House, but I just wanted to get caught up real quick. Over all, it’s been a really unproductive but lovely day (uncharacteristically warm) and a really good Easter.
12/4/09 Easter Sunday
Happy Easter! To catch up a bit, Saturday we left for Broome, and that whole trip was INCREDIBLE! It’s recorded in my journal and I don’t feel that I could type it all here… so I won’t. Friday came, and I woke up on my own at 9:30, read my book in bed for a bit, ate some brekky, and got my history paper back from Shane. I got a 90%, which is a high HD (High Distinction--the highest letter(s) you can get; to put it in perspective, 78% is an A at UP), and I was super happy about it! Actually, everyone I know about in the house got an HD, so that’s pretty awesome. I watched two episodes of Lie to Me, so I’m all caught up again. I also wrote both my reflection of the Kimberley, and a rough copy of my news story, so that was very productive. Also, everything was closed for good Friday, so it was nice to just have a complete day of rest. Community lunch and dinner were provided, so that was awesome, and I got the recipe for chocolate pie from Grandma. Also, I got the EWC app from Stacey and filled it out and sent it in for a small group leader. So, actually, Friday was pretty productive I guess. Saturday was lovely; I woke up and read my book in bed. Later on, Matt called me on skype and asked if I wanted to catch up since he’s coming into Freo, so I say sure. He came over and hung out for a bit, and then he, Denysse, and I went to the E shed markets, and those were pretty cool. Definitely going back sometime. When Sue and I got home, I realized that I forgot to get my key back from Matt, so I called him on Brooke’s phone, and he said he’d drop it by after Church. So… while we were all downstairs for Nic’s birthday dessert, the yell comes, “Katie, your bf is here,” and Matt was at the doorway since he already brought my key back. Later that night I decided to bake both chocolate pies… so I did. Then we baked the gluten free chocolate cake as well, so that Laura and I could go to Mass at 11. Now to today: EASTER! I woke up this morning very excited, since it was Easter. I got up and got all pretty with my Easter dress and everything (which I am still wearing) and put in my brand new (real!) pearl earrings for the first time. Everyone told me that my Easter basket was super easy to find, but I had about 5 minutes before we were leaving for church, and my clue was “People still use these.” But, I just looked around a bit, and saw it blatantly sitting in the open space beneath the payphone, so that was cool. I’m so happy Nicole hid easter baskets; it makes it feel more like home. Then Laura and I went to Mass, and it was incredible! St. Patrick’s Basilica is gorgeous, both inside and out. Matt told me it has the biggest organ in WA, so that’s pretty cool. I think I may go there for Mass again. The organist was hilarious, ‘cause he was so intense, and he kept swatting at his music. Also, the priest announced an anniversary (40 years today) and gave them a special blessing… then he kissed the wife on the lips right after the husband did. But actually the (normal) priest got chest pains this morning, so he’s in the hospital while the higher up guy celebrated Easter Mass instead. Hope everything’s okay. After Mass, we came back and I facebook chatted with David for the next hour and a half or so. We had a really good conversation. I told him about the girl talk with Grace and Emily last night, and how I said I always figured I’d just marry David, and he said, “Well we’re already married.” After that chat it was about time for Easter dinner, so I went downstairs, and met James. He’s from Botswana, but has now achieved permanent residency in Australia. He’s really cool, and I learned a lot about Africa. The deviled eggs were amazing! Although, dinner didn’t actually start til 4, but it was so so good, and I was so full! We had chicken, lamb, potatoes and green bean casserole and salad. For dessert we had the pies, the cake, and carrot cake. The pie didn’t set to well; I think I should have boiled it longer, but it was still good. I got a lot of compliments. And lots of people went back for seconds! It was so yummy though, because I felt like I was eating Grandma’s pie, which was cool since I just talked to everybody at Grandma and Grandpa’s earlier today, including Ryan. After dinner, I just came up for half an hour, and then Laura, Denysse, and I were picked up by her host family at six and taken to his house. (The Bakers). He has a pizza oven in the shape of a dragon in his back yard, and it’s so cool! Even the nostrils light up! The pizza was amazing, and it was just an all around good time; kinda reminded me of family events with the Beaubien family. I liked Tim, who’s 13 years old (on October 31st) and in year 7. He’s a pretty cool kid, and he’s with the friends visiting from Melbourne for Easter. He seems pretty down to earth. He also hid all the easter eggs (just chocolate eggs) and then we went looking for them after dark. Then Hannah invited us to sit with all the ‘youth’ at the pizza oven. It was really cool to just hang out and talk with people our age. The scottish couple was pretty cool. The girl, Amanda, was pretty hilarious. Then Gabby and her boyfriend (Simon) were cool. She’s 20 and he’s 25, but she seems so much older! He kind of has a mullet thing going on, but it looks good on him. Then Hannah is just gorgeous and sweet and nice, and very toned. Her boyfriend is cute too… he kinda looks like Ben Affleck… only brunette. But we hung out there for a bit; I had a few sips of Bailey’s and left around 9:30. Now we’re back and I’m gonna watch House, but I just wanted to get caught up real quick. Over all, it’s been a really unproductive but lovely day (uncharacteristically warm) and a really good Easter.
Update--Pre-Broome
3-4-09
Oh goodness, so much to catch up on from the past five days… and yet, need to sleep ‘cause am getting up at 4:30 am since we leave from Broome tomorrow. So here’re the highlights. Monday: I got Ds on both of my philosophy journals, so that made me pretty happy (D is for distinction, so it’s GOOD). I came back from PH and started working on my project w/ Jami, and up pops this little skype bubble from Bass that says, ‘hello beautiful’. And it totally made my day. Nicole sent an email about the March Madness brackets, and I am STILL winning (by 20 points). Apparently I’m the only one who had all my picks alive for the final four, so we’ll see… There was other cool stuff, but here’s the best part: 2 boys, 1:30. Sounds like a title… or somethin’. So… Matt messages me around 7 pm and says he’ll come over Tuesday at 1:30 so we can work on our project (since we have begun meeting every Tuesday, in addition to Thursday class and the break). I don’t have any plans, so I tell him that’s fine. I realize Kendall doesn’t get out ‘til 2:30, but I’m like whatever, go ahead and come early. Later on, around 10 pm, I see Chris is on facebook (‘cause he had just written on my wall) and so I get on real quick to talk to him. So… I’m talking to Chris AND Matt is talking to me at the same time. Chris wants to talk at 10:30 pm his time Tuesday, so he asks, “Do you have class at 1:30?” **This is the exact same time Matt is supposed to come over**. So I respond “No, I’m actually free, but my friend Matt is supposed to come over at that time. I’ll just tell him to come an hour later.” And Chris was like “Sweet.” So I tell Matt to come an hour later, and he decides to come at 1:30 anyway and sit on my bed with noise-cancelling headphones. I tell him fine, whatever, come, but you are NOT going to be in my room during this conversation. So… the next day rolls around, class was cancelled (we got there at 8:30 and then found out, but it worked out ‘cause I got a lot of stuff done). I’m in mid-addressing my postcards, when a knock comes on my doorframe at 1:25. I look up, and there’s Matt! Thankfully, Brooke was here, so she could help entertain him somewhat. Meanwhile, 1:30 rolls around, and Chris and I start to talk, but we keep getting cut off ‘cause of the terrible connection in Villa. Matt is mocking me saying that Chris is ‘hanging up on me’. So… Chris and I are trying to have a conversation, Brooke and Matt are still in the room, the door’s wide open. Skype stops working, so we resort to facebook messaging and Chris decides to talk at 10 pm my time (which is 7 am his time). I tell him thanks for getting up so early, and he said that it’s ‘definitely worth it’. The next day was April Fools. The highlight of the day was the epic prank Cleos pulled on P&O. When all the St. John’s/St. Benz kids were in their evening seminar, some of the girls went over and stole all their chairs (plus pool balls and remotes and a couple shirts) and put them up on our balcony. I recorded almost all of it. But then… they didn’t come get it, so campus services made us return all the furniture today. But we kept the remotes and pool balls, although, last I heard, we may’ve had to return those too… I’m not sure. But hey, I mean we had their chairs for 2 days. But we’re locking our windows, our rooms, and our food lockers when we leave, so all should be well. Thursday was cool as well, very productive on the CO142 scale, with our new title of Flavour Child. Also, we got a D- on our presentation, so that was pretty sweet, although it’s only worth 10%. That evening, I got an email from Tony (of my ‘adopted’ family from Church; Tony and Elizabeth Curtis) inviting me to dinner sometime this weekend, and to bring a friend. So I brought Brooke. We got picked up tonight at 6 pm, and it was a total trip to ride in the front seat of the car, because there’s no steering wheel, and you have no control. Turns are really weird! We got there; they have a LOVELY house, rather, a villa. I was really glad Brooke was there. I passed up white wine in favor of lemonade (which is carbonated, but really good). For dinner, we had fish (which I decided tastes really good with lemon), the yummiest cooked potatoes, and salad. Then for dessert we had ice cream, berries, and a thin biscuit. Pretty sure it was the best meal I’ve had in Australia thus far. Homemade AND healthy! So that was tons of fun. And Tony gave us a tour when he was driving. They are making plans for a lamb roast, and for us to meet their family. Also, they said next time we come they’ll introduce us to some Aussie males, so we’ll see how that goes.
Oh goodness, so much to catch up on from the past five days… and yet, need to sleep ‘cause am getting up at 4:30 am since we leave from Broome tomorrow. So here’re the highlights. Monday: I got Ds on both of my philosophy journals, so that made me pretty happy (D is for distinction, so it’s GOOD). I came back from PH and started working on my project w/ Jami, and up pops this little skype bubble from Bass that says, ‘hello beautiful’. And it totally made my day. Nicole sent an email about the March Madness brackets, and I am STILL winning (by 20 points). Apparently I’m the only one who had all my picks alive for the final four, so we’ll see… There was other cool stuff, but here’s the best part: 2 boys, 1:30. Sounds like a title… or somethin’. So… Matt messages me around 7 pm and says he’ll come over Tuesday at 1:30 so we can work on our project (since we have begun meeting every Tuesday, in addition to Thursday class and the break). I don’t have any plans, so I tell him that’s fine. I realize Kendall doesn’t get out ‘til 2:30, but I’m like whatever, go ahead and come early. Later on, around 10 pm, I see Chris is on facebook (‘cause he had just written on my wall) and so I get on real quick to talk to him. So… I’m talking to Chris AND Matt is talking to me at the same time. Chris wants to talk at 10:30 pm his time Tuesday, so he asks, “Do you have class at 1:30?” **This is the exact same time Matt is supposed to come over**. So I respond “No, I’m actually free, but my friend Matt is supposed to come over at that time. I’ll just tell him to come an hour later.” And Chris was like “Sweet.” So I tell Matt to come an hour later, and he decides to come at 1:30 anyway and sit on my bed with noise-cancelling headphones. I tell him fine, whatever, come, but you are NOT going to be in my room during this conversation. So… the next day rolls around, class was cancelled (we got there at 8:30 and then found out, but it worked out ‘cause I got a lot of stuff done). I’m in mid-addressing my postcards, when a knock comes on my doorframe at 1:25. I look up, and there’s Matt! Thankfully, Brooke was here, so she could help entertain him somewhat. Meanwhile, 1:30 rolls around, and Chris and I start to talk, but we keep getting cut off ‘cause of the terrible connection in Villa. Matt is mocking me saying that Chris is ‘hanging up on me’. So… Chris and I are trying to have a conversation, Brooke and Matt are still in the room, the door’s wide open. Skype stops working, so we resort to facebook messaging and Chris decides to talk at 10 pm my time (which is 7 am his time). I tell him thanks for getting up so early, and he said that it’s ‘definitely worth it’. The next day was April Fools. The highlight of the day was the epic prank Cleos pulled on P&O. When all the St. John’s/St. Benz kids were in their evening seminar, some of the girls went over and stole all their chairs (plus pool balls and remotes and a couple shirts) and put them up on our balcony. I recorded almost all of it. But then… they didn’t come get it, so campus services made us return all the furniture today. But we kept the remotes and pool balls, although, last I heard, we may’ve had to return those too… I’m not sure. But hey, I mean we had their chairs for 2 days. But we’re locking our windows, our rooms, and our food lockers when we leave, so all should be well. Thursday was cool as well, very productive on the CO142 scale, with our new title of Flavour Child. Also, we got a D- on our presentation, so that was pretty sweet, although it’s only worth 10%. That evening, I got an email from Tony (of my ‘adopted’ family from Church; Tony and Elizabeth Curtis) inviting me to dinner sometime this weekend, and to bring a friend. So I brought Brooke. We got picked up tonight at 6 pm, and it was a total trip to ride in the front seat of the car, because there’s no steering wheel, and you have no control. Turns are really weird! We got there; they have a LOVELY house, rather, a villa. I was really glad Brooke was there. I passed up white wine in favor of lemonade (which is carbonated, but really good). For dinner, we had fish (which I decided tastes really good with lemon), the yummiest cooked potatoes, and salad. Then for dessert we had ice cream, berries, and a thin biscuit. Pretty sure it was the best meal I’ve had in Australia thus far. Homemade AND healthy! So that was tons of fun. And Tony gave us a tour when he was driving. They are making plans for a lamb roast, and for us to meet their family. Also, they said next time we come they’ll introduce us to some Aussie males, so we’ll see how that goes.
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