The World Scout Jamboree by Catherine Talbot.
This summer I went to the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden and can safely say it was the best experience of my life. From the very beginning to the very end, I felt apart of a huge family of guides and scouts from all over the world. I was so proud to be representing Staffordshire guides.
I started my journey in Copenhagen, where we meet all the UK contingents for a huge party. We spent the day touring the city, visited a theme park called Tivoli and then went to a live concert where a Kings of Leon tribute act, and Alphabeat performed live. It was amazing, and you really got a sense of how many people were going to be apart of the Jamboree.
When we arrived at the Jamboree site itself, it was so much better than i expected. The site was massive! There was a town centre with marquees from every country where you could do activities and taste food from different places. On the first night everyone gathered together for the Opening Ceremony. All 40,000 of us. It was the best feeling ever.
During the week i met alot of people, tasted alot of food and sang alot of songs. It didnt matter where anyone came from, we were all friends and we all had guiding/scouting in common. I made friends with people I would have never have met without this experience, and for that i am truly grateful. We took part in activities that aimed at changing ourselves, and changing the world; working together to achieve something great. Some were physical challenges, such as assault courses or team building, where as others were more mentally challenging. One of my favourite activities was Dream. An activity that took place at night, we were sent through a journey of life through the forest, where we experienced what it was like to be young and old. Aswell as this we did an overnight camp, off site which allowed us to experience proper Swedish camping. My patrol went to a scout camp, it was set near the most beautiful lake, where we went swimming and then sang and played games near the campfire. It was really good to experience how different cultures do things.
To finish our trip we went to Finland. Where we stayed in a scout hut, complete with swimming pool and sauna! Our hosts were really nice and they showed us what Finland scouts would do in their meetings. We went to a water park, learnt new games and did a monopoly around the city. The weather stayed good, which was the complete opposite to the rain we got in Sweden!
Saying goodbye to the group I stayed with was really hard, I made such a strong relationship with them and we generally saw eachother as family. I strongly encourage people to take opportunities like this, it changes you forever and the memories will never go. I hope to inspire more young people to travel like I did, and want to thank everyone who helped me fundraise for this amazing adventure!
And Anna West's story...
Over the summer, I was lucky enough to be selected to go to the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden! Before the Jamboree we spent a few days in Copenhagen, where we had a tour round the famous landmarks, went to Tivoli Gardens, went on a speedboat and had a huge party with over 4000 other scouts from the UK! We then drove by coach to the Jamboree which was held in Kristianstaad, Rinkaby. Over the 11 or so days we were there, we had an absolutely FANTASTIC time! Although the weather did vary from torrential rain to really hot, I had so much fun! Highlights included; culture day, axe-throwing, having an evening meal with Venezuelans, seeing the King of Sweden, gaining badges, camping for 24 hours at a local Swedish Camp, playing golf in the UK tent and many, many more!
I met people from all over the world, many of whom I will keep in touch with, experienced new cultures and learnt new skills. After the Jamboree we flew to Freising, Munich, where we each stayed with a German family for 5 days. This was a great experience; even though I don’t speak any German! Whilst we were there we did lots of things, including a tour round Munich, a visit to Olympia Park and the oldest brewery in the world and eating lots of sausages and pretzels! This whole trip was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I loved every minute of it...bring on the next World Scout Jamboree to be held in 2015, in Japan!