“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.”

ANZAC Day Dawn Service
For ANZAC Day this year I attended a local dawn service at the Anzac Oval in Winton, which despite the weather, had yet another large turnout with people of all ages. After the service I joined many others for a morning tea put on by the local RSA. This was an awesome opportunity to hear stories and talk to members of the local community about my trip.

WW1 Connection
Like a number of the other Young Ambassadors, I too have a family connection to the Great War. My great-great-grandfather, Walter Cave served with the 9th Battalion during World War One and was killed in action in France on the 3/05/1917, when he was 28 years old. I had the honour of wearing his war medals for the Anzac Day dawn service.

In terms of my project..

What do I want to find out about?
One of the main reasons I decided to base my Young Ambassador’s Project around life for teenagers then and now, was because it’s something that I can relate to and that allows me to make comparisons and contrasts to my own life. With this in mind, it made me ask myself what specific aspects of teenage life was I interested in finding out about, so from this I have chosen to focus on the following aspects.

General Life: What is/was a normal day like as a teenager in France/NZ?

Age at school: At approximately what age do/did most people leave school? Do/did most people who were 16 - 17 years old still go school?

School Uniform: Do/did they have to wear a uniform to school?

Subjects: What subjects do/did they learn at school and are/were they all compulsory?

Topics: In History and English classes, what topics are/were studied?

Timetable: How many classes do/did they have each day? Do/did they have different classes every day? 

Childhood Games: What childhood games did they grow up with?

Clothes: What is/was the fashion in France/NZ?

Food: Are there any specific foods that the majority of French/NZ people eat/ate?

Music: What type of music do/did teenagers listen to?

Hobbies: What do/did they like to do when they have/had free time before and after school?

Activities: Do/did they do any activities outside of school? For example sports or music.

Forms of Communication: How do/did they communicate with people? What are/were the main forms of communication? Do/did they use letters, phones or any electronic devices to communicate with friends and family?

Siblings: Do/did they have any siblings? Is/was the average family size big or small?

Transport: What means of transport are/were most commonly used? How do/did majority of people travel to school?

Prepared to die for country: Are they or were they prepared to die for their country? Why or why not?

Une réponse de Salomé:
Dans le cadre de mon questionnaire, j’ai demandé ma correspondante Salomé à décrire une journée typique d’un adolescent en France et elle a répondu « Wake up. Eat. Go to school. Go home. Work. Eat. Sleep », bien qu’elle admette a exagérer un peu (elle est marseillaise donc c'est normal). Salomé a dit aussi qu’en fait elle ne sait pas si c’était très différent pour les jeunes autour du monde et cette réponse m’a fait penser. Je sais que la vie pour les jeunes de nos jours serait bien différente qu’il y a cent ans, mais est-ce que c’est plus facile pour les jeunes d’aujourd’hui? Qu'est-ce vous en pensez? Suivez mon projet à voir quelle conclusion je parviendrai en réponse à cette question.

(As part of my questionnaire, I asked my pen pal Salomé to describe a typical day for a teenager in France and she answered “Wake up. Eat. Go to school. Go home. Work. Eat. Sleep”, although she admits to exaggerating a little. Salomé also said that in fact she didn’t know if this was much different for youth around the world and this response made me think. I know that life for youth these days would be well different than one hundred years ago, but is it easier for youth today? What do you think? Follow my project to see what conclusion I will come to in response to this question).