We will remember them

Field of poppies
Originally uploaded by filibrojo.

Last night's ANZAC event at The Cult went really well. We had over 300 guests attend, which was a wonderful turnout. I do have to remember that Aussie beer is WAAAAY stronger than American beer though. Enough said on that I think.

And of course you would not be at all surprised to learn that the President of Chicago Rotary introduced me to the President of Australia's Rotary Club and even Turkey's Rotary Club last night. I sat with the guys and their wives for some time and had a lovely chat. Nothing serious of course - mostly about the Aussie President's long list of single nephews that he wants me to meet. The fact that the Aussie Pres (and his nephews) live in Australia is a logistical fact that we have all ignored for the sake of a happy ending. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, right? But you can trust me to go to a WW1 commemoration and come away with dates, right?

As for the Turkish Pres, well he did not have any nephews, but he was delighted to learn that I'd visited his country back in 2005 and loved it. He was very interested to hear that I enjoyed Istanbul way more than Ankara, and he nodded sagely when I reminisced about Kusdasi being a crazy party town. He even asked me if we went to Bar Street (so called because it is back-to-back bars all along one street - not a creative name, but a fitting one). And when I said I had, he smiiled even more. His wife sat alongside him just smiling and nodding. The only thing she said all night was, "I like these Australians, good people".

And on a wintry and cold ANZAC Day in Chicago, that's precisely the impression I had too.