April the 25th saw me, along with many others throughout New Zealand, Australia and the rest of the world, attend an annual Anzac Day service.  Because of the school holidays, I was able to go to our small local community service, held in the Heriot community centre.  Attending this service was like a full circle for me, as it has been many years since I last went to the Heriot Anzac Day commemorations.  In fact, the last time I went to the service was when I did a reading as a Cub Scout in primary school.  Interestingly, the guest speaker was a local lady who had spent part of last year travelling around many sites on the Western Front which we will be visiting in July.  It was great to hear about her journey, and certainly has increased my excitement for our tour. I also enjoyed seeing the contributions of the two WWII veterans from our community and the today’s group of young Cub Scouts, showing the great diversity of significance that Anzac Day has on the different generations of our nation.

In regard to my inquiry, this month I was able to really refine my vision of where I am going with my entire project and what I want to get out of it.  I have many ideas of how I will pull it together and am very excited to let it all pan out in due course.  During the holidays, I contacted a few people around my community who I thought might be able to help me.  With some I was unlucky, but I have managed to meet some people who are very helpful and have great sources of knowledge and information.  Curators from local museums are very willing to share their intelligence and resources with me, which I am most grateful for.  I have also been lucky enough to receive a couple of letters from people who read the article about me in the Otago Daily Times.  It was very special to receive this contact from people who are interested in my position as a Young Ambassador and want to share their own stories of connections to WWI that they have.

Pendant les vacances, j’ai capitalisé sur mon temps libre en développant mon connaissance de la première guerre mondiale.  J’ai regardé deux films francais: ‘Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles’ et ‘Joyeux Noël’ .  Je conseillerais les deux à tout le monde, parce qu’ils sont réconfortants et plaisants, mais interessant et informatif aussi.  J’ai lu un livre que une écrivain de Dunedin (la mère de ma copine!) a écrit : ‘When Our Jack Went To War’.  L’histoire était très émouvante!  C’était très utile pour mon projet.

(During the holidays, I capitalised on my free time by developing my knowledge on WWI.  I watched two French films: ‘A Very Long Engagement’ and ‘Joyeux Noël’.  I would recommend them to anyone, as they are both very uplifting and enjoyable but also interesting and informative.  I read a book written by a Dunedin author (the mother of my friend!): ‘When Our Jack Went To War’.  The story was very moving!  It was very useful for my inquiry.)