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yeovil50 · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Posts: 13

Today at my college they had the annual ceremony to commerate the death of Ataturk.

I have to admit I was thinking, "Christ standing outside in the cold for an hour listening to endless speeches". Definately not something i neither wanted or needed mainly because it was the only 2 hours I had free from lessons today!

However, I was genuinely moved by the affection shown to a man who died so long ago. The affection was neither false or man managed. The 8th grade students who are a group who have no knowledge of the word to respect let alone how to show it, were even totally absorbed in the solence of the occasion.

It made me think that in England we have a Queen that is alive and rules (in principal) over my country. However, does anyone really care that much. Would any students be able to tell you " when is the Queen's birthday" ?. I think not!

Turkey is accused sometimes of being very nationalistic. Well if it is nationalistic, then what I witnessed today was nationalism at its best.

FGT · Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 762 Location: Turkey

Re [quote Would any students be able to tell you " when is the Queen's birthday" ?[/quote]

I'd be very surprised if any of the said students could tell you when ataturk's birthday was. As far as I was aware it remains a mystery.

bigbadsuzie · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:30 am Post subject: Don't forget the 11th

Yeovil,we seem to be in the same country,but we have different perspectives on how the youth of this country honour their national hero .In a well known private university in Izmir the picture could not be more different ,the young adults show little regard for the occassion ,indeed during most of the ceremony they seemed preoccupied with their phones or immediate neighbour,some of them even decided not to watch or participate in any way and sat in their classes or sloped off for a smoke .
In stark contrast ,the parade/church service I attended yesterday had a more serious tone especially when the names of local servicemen were read out ,later when I watched the parade on t.v from the cenotaph I had to admit that when it comes to dignity ,pomp and circumstance we Brits know how to put on a show and although its seems to be fashionable to knock the establishment and the monarchy I for one felt proud to be British .
So ,on that happy note ,what makes you proud to be British/American/Canadian/Australian,etc,etc ?

howmucharefags · Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 299 Location: Eskisehir

Glasgow Rangers Football Club and Buckfast tonic wine

God Save the Queen

yeovil50 · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Posts: 13

Hi Suzie,

Well I guess alot of it depends on what your own eyes witness. I am sure that the events that I wtnessed were not the same all over the country. However, I still feel that in general Turkish youth have a wider appreciation for their past.

I do agree with you 100% though when it comes to pomp and ceremony, we Brits are up there with the best. What a shame they do not make it an olympic sport, maybe we could be guranteed a medal!

On the question of what makes you proud to be British?. Well for me it is the British sense of humour. I am always nonplussed when people say to me " English people are cold". When I go home one thing I always notice is that people are laughing or smiling in the street with friends. Here when you watch people in the street it seems like everyday is November 10th!

Golightly · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 12:14 am Post subject: Re: Don't forget the 11th