Last Post – Will

I will never forget my time in Turkey with the Simpson Prize. The Simpson Prize must surely be a unique thing – eight teenagers unknown to each other, thrown into an unfamiliar country, speaking an unfamiliar language. The experience, however, works amazingly well, and would become one of the most amazing times of my life.

Coming back to school, and hitting the ground running in the lead-up to exams has made the two weeks since I last said ‘merhaba’ (discounting when I said it accidentally to a puzzled shopkeeper in Geelong) disappear quickly, however putting my fez back on, eating some of my last Turkish Delight, and looking at my photos has brought back memories filled with laughter, songs, and extremely moving experiences.

It is hard to describe the Simpson Prize in words. When I’m asked, the words ‘amazing, fantastic’ spring to mind, but never quite describes what I felt during the time. Perhaps there is no way that the Simpson Prize can be summed up in words.

I similarly face difficulty in deciding on the highlight of the trip. Possibly our songs, such as singing ‘Staying Alive’ in falsetto at night in Istanbul, or ‘Istanbul (not Constantinople)’ in Changi airport. Maybe our visits to the huge Hagia Sophia and the monstrous Blue Mosque, ‘toasting’ to our trip with Turkish Delight’, or haggling at the Grand Bazzar. ‘Hey you, aussie, you from Canberra?’ ‘No, Melbourne’ ‘Ohh I love Lelbdone, I have family in Lelbdone!’

Of course, I couldn’t forget Gallipoli; the real reason we were there. Anzac was entirely different to my expectations; the beaches shorter, the cliffs bigger, and the cove smaller. Seeing the beaches, where those magnificent men landed 95 years ago, giving their lives so that we could live ours, was an incredibly moving experience, and this pilgrimage is surely one that all Australians should endeavour to complete. Possibly my most moving experience was the presentation of the two soldiers from my local area – Stuart Anderson and Leo Dwyer. They were both just boys, not much older than I, and both never to return home from those cliffs. Being able to find their graves for my local RSL is something that I can give back to my community from the amazing opportunity that I have been given.

Anzac Day also definitely deserves a mention. This special day was one of the biggest days of my life. Rugging up and eating kebaps at 4am marked the start of the day, before finding our ‘VIP’ seats in the commemorative area for the Dawn Service. Draped in Australian flags, and embracing our bogan Australian culture (or as the others pointed out, Victorian culture), we heard the last post as we saw the sun rose over the Sphinx, just as the Anzacs would have done nearly a century earlier. Meeting the Governor General at Lone Pine was also thrill, as well as other teenagers from Australia and New Zealand alike.

But no, the highlight of the trip was not the trip itself, but the amazing people I shared it with. So, to the speech-reading Alex, Yoda-speaking Sarah, mystery-woman Sophie, Disney-singing Maisie, mythology-knowing Alice, ‘Kimber the lion’ Kimberly, and room-mate with the dazzling blue eyes Dale, I thank you for making the experience so much more memorable, and for the amazing friendships we shared.

And of course, not to forget our teacher-chaperones Sharee and Jacqui who did everything to make our lives that much safer and more comfortable, as well as our ‘sister’ Eser, who offered to adopt us into her Turkish household, and our driver Ondur, who taught me how to win at backgammon and cheat at Pishti. And last, but not least, Andrew, Mr. G. What could such a group be without such an amazing leader, making jumping noises in safety videos, groaning with hot face washers, teaching us so much of the Anzac legend, and being such a great father for the trip.

And so, as I finish my final blog post, I feel like am somehow concluding what has been an amazing and memorable experience. But I will not say goodbye, as I promise to one day return to the magnificent place called Turkey, and see the amazing people that I met over there again. So I simply say Tesekkür ederim, thank you, to all the people who gave me such as amazing opportunity. And to the Simpsonites, I look forward to our inevitable reunion.

Last Post – Dale

Well after 12 days of action packed fun, a suitcase full of newly purchased goodies, a whopping fifty hours aboard airplanes, too much Turkish Delight to even pock a stick at, a full stomach and a lifetime worth of memories I find myself back home in good ol Perth! While it is a huge disappointment to be back, away from fabulous Turkey with its amazing culture, cuisine, history and people; it is still nice to be home, back with family and friends I had missed while away.

It was generally accepted by all that the worst part of the Simpson Prize is the return. Not just because we are all leaving a world of new memories and experiences but also that upon our arrival back in Australia we would all separate and travel individually to our isolated homes spread across our huge country where we would be unable to reminiscence all those fabulous events together except through the use of facebook; which just isn’t quite the same.

Last Post – Sharee

Memorable Moments

As a teacher chaperone, the Simpson Prize trip provided an incredibly rich and intense form of professional development.  It was an absolute privilege to travel and learn with such a gifted and curious team of like-minded Australians, and I am so very proud of each and every one of them. 

Last Post – Alix

I never thought that throwing together eight teenagers from around Australia who barely knew each other would work. But strangely enough, it did. More than a historical experience, I found the Simpson Prize trip to Turkey to be an incredible social experience. Of course, there were the other students (including my own cousin), and I felt we all bonded really quickly (whether this is due to our Turkish delight ritual on the first day or just that we get on really well I don’t know). There were also the many other people we met along our travels – Turkish school children, Australian war widows and other young students from Australia and New Zealand. It was truly special to share our experiences with all these people, who, like us, are following in the footsteps of ANZAC soldiers nearly 100 years ago.

Historically, of course, I learnt so much. I greatly expanded my knowledge about the Gallipoli campaign (and wider Turkish history) during the Simpson Prize trip. There’s something truly special about walking in the very same trenches as Australians before us, and it really gives you a greater sense of just how crazy the campaign was – there was literally just meters between some of the Turkish and Australian trenches. Also, walking among the many gravestones really gave me a better understanding of the level of sacrifice involved. We saw graves for young men only a few years older than ourselves, which really did make me think. Would we really consider enlisting for war in just one or two years time? I remember in Shell Green Cemetery seeing a grave for an “A. Biggs”, which really did, for lack of better words, touch me. I’ve since looked at the service records of this A. Biggs – Archibald Biggs, K.I.A. 20/05/1915.

Last Post – Kimberley

The Simpson Prize Tour of 2010 has been an incredibly moving and growing experience, in which I have expanded substantially, my understanding of the Anzac spirit. The Dawn Service at Anzac Cove and the Australian Service at Lone Pine definitely were the highlight, with the silent respect paid to the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice still clearly present several generations on.

Of the Dawn Service, I found the most moving section to be the sound and light presentation of the Gallipoli symphony. The combination of music to the pre-dawn lighting on the water and land, created a scene so reminiscent and similar to that of the 1915 landing, that I realised how little the landscape has changed, over the last 95 years, and how parallel the scene that we saw was, in comparison to the landing. Additionally, the emotional impact was very large, being present with thousands of other Australians and New Zealanders, who were there with the common interest to acknowledge previous generations sacrifices, and to salute them with pride.

Last Post – Alice

 

Departures and remembering

Departures are always difficult.

When it came to leaving Turkey, however, the hours of travel and emotional attachment kicked in when I touched home so that nestled within my ponderings were images of the serene Gallipoli landscape, cornucopia of bazaars, bebeks, rich history and the infectiously brilliant ‘Simpsonite’ Group. Needless to say, I felt like young Edmund Pevensie intoxicated with Turkish Delight and suffering the withdrawal symptoms as a result of it. Aside from contracting some mutated form of laryngitis, another, perhaps more significant after-effect was the yearning to go back. For all of us I think that the trip was a pleasure beyond a shadow of doubt. Picture the eight of us: Kimberly, Alix, Maisie, Sarah, Sophie, Dayle, Will and myself, all self-confessed nerds in Australia, making our way to the Gallipoli peninsular in a snug coach and letting our hair down. We sang songs, made trenchant remarks about the boys’ hair and surveyed the demographic landscape before us, with Sophie soon founding a new scale to measure the hotness of it all. We wanted to grasp every minute of our experiences, whether it be in a bus, climbing a Trojan Horse, bartering with an intransigent Turk or commemorating the sacrifices of the ANZACs. This urge to sum up our emotions, have some sort of tangible definition of what we had so gloriously experienced there, led Alix and Sarah to pen down all the witty lines, hilarious events, and creative Disney-inspired songs that we shared as a group.

Last Post – Maisie

Ten days ago the Simpson Prize group returned from Turkey, yet it feels like so much longer as we are hurled back into a reality of school work, stress and the monotony of our everyday lives.  The trip was, in a word, amazing – living up to the surrounding hype and even surpassing our own high expectations.  I’m not sure which experience can sum up what happened, whether it was the overwhelming first plunge into the unique and beautiful Istanbul, or the awe-inspiring first view of the Sphinx at Gallipoli from Plugge’s Plateau. Or perhaps screaming our lungs out in the legendary (and icy) Aegean sea, or walking the streets of Istanbul at night as a member of Dale’s four people strong ‘harem’ (the Western Australian ‘sultan’ in his fez and leather jacket).

Last Post – Sophie

Lessons Learnt
On one of the many flights we undertook to reach Istanbul, a landing card asked my reason for visiting Turkey. Andrew quickly told us to tick ‘Education’, lest we make the grave mistake of assuming that this was a holiday. He was winking, but I have to concede that the Simpson Prize trip has taught me an awful lot:

The reality of the Anzac Legend; that there isn’t a singular definition you can superimpose upon it. It has a barrage of different meanings and levels of significance relating to each individual Australian, which was exemplified at the Dawn Service, where different reasons brought the yellow-beanied “fanatics” and aged war veterans to Gallipoli.

What happens when you put eight teenagers together on an overseas trip; after twenty-six hours on a plane together, you lose any awkwardness you feel at being in a new country with people you don’t know very well. After all, once you’ve seen someone sleeping with their mouth wide open, you practically know them better than they know themselves. Surely this unique vulnerability we all witnessed provided the foundation for what, in a short amount of time, became close friendships.

Back in Oz

Hooray – we made it back to Oz.  By the time of writing this post, the last of the weary travellers will be arriving home.  Hope everyone is settling back in and having fun distributing gifts, eating Turkish Delight and telling tales.  A final entry will go in soon with last thoughts and feelings from the students and teachers (reminder to you all).  We have to get used to not saying Tesekkur ederim (Turkish thankyou) everytime someone does something for us, eating soup at the start of our meal and haggling shop keepers over prices.  Sometime late next week, check for final wrap up. 

Till then Hoscakal!

Farewell to Turkey

Well, we are almost done.  Today we travelled back to Istanbul, visited Istiklal St for a lap of the shops and to hang out with the groovy young Turks.  Then to our hotel and a final shopping expidition to the Grand Bazaar.  We celebrated the end of the trip with a farewell dinner and a stroll down the main street.  This will be the last post from Turkey, as tomorrow is pack up bags and start the long treck home.  There will be a post from all of us when we are back and settled, but suffice to say it has been an amazing journey for all of us.  Thanks so much to all of you back home who have followed our blog and sent comments.  Its been a great way to share our experiences with you.  Bye from the Simpson gang until later.