We
were finally here. I was so excited! I had expected the campsite to be big but
it was quite unbelievable. It was HUGE! When we arrived there weren’t many unit
campsites built up yet and it still felt massive. The campsite was split into 4
towns: Summer, Winter, Autumn and Spring. Within each town there was numerous
sub-camps which were named after cities, rivers and provinces in Sweden. My
unit were in Svedala sub-camp in Autumn town. Each town had their own big
attraction. For example, Winter actually had their own mini ice skating rink
and Autumn had a mini theme park built entirely from wood and timber, it was
amazing.
Once
we got over the complete shock and excitement, we were shown to our campsite and
started to set up camp. This was very important to us as this was going to be our
home for the next 10 nights- it had to be perfect. We also decided that we
wanted to have the tallest gateway in Autumn- not that I am biased or anything,
but we definitely did.
Our gateway
That
night we had the opening ceremony. All of the forty thousand scouts gathered together
in a big field to celebrate the start of the 22nd World Scout
Jamboree. The ceremony included the official handover from Great Britain to
Sweden. This was done because the 21st WSJ was held in the UK so it
was passed over to Sweden. The handover was very exciting as it involved Bear
Grylls abseiling down from the stage. The ceremony also included a performance
of the Jamboree song- “Changing the World.” Each Jamboree has its very own
song, and ours was very catchy. My favourite part of the night was the
procession of the flags. There was one flag representing each country present
at the Jamboree. It was amazing to see the amount of different places everyone
had travelled from, to be together for such a great event.
Opening ceremony- Procession of the flags
There
was always lots going on. There were planned activities almost every day and we
constantly had something to do. If I’m being totally honest, the activities
where never really that great but it didn’t matter. The best part was making
new friends and learning about different cultures. My favourite days were the
days we had our own free time. We would always spend these days just wandering
about, going to the many different cafes available and just talking to new
people.
There
was so many highlights of the Jamboree for me, I couldn’t pick just one. The
overall experience was just phenomenal. It was always really funny when we
walked about the camp in our kilts as lots of people would always stop us and
ask to take pictures with us. It was kind of like being a celebrity- I won’t
lie, we loved it! One Chinese Scout actually offered to trade me her whole
uniform and various other items for my kilt.
Happy Memories
This picture perfectly sums up the Jamboree experience for me. I was always laughing and having a great time.
Meeting Bear Grylls
Presenting Bear with our Neckie
Oh and did I mention Bear Grylls came to visit us at our campsite? Yes, that actually did happen :)!
One
day in particular that I really enjoyed was a day in which each unit would prepare
a stall with various foods and items which effectively portrayed their own countries’
culture. For this day my unit had lots of Scottish flags draped across our
campsite with all things tartan surrounding the table. Of course we had some Irn-bru
for people to sample because after all, what’s more Scottish than Irn-bru. On
this day, Linzi, Marie-Claire and I were roped into performing some traditional
Highland dancing- very embarrassing. We would take turns manning our Scottish
stall so when we had a break we had the opportunity to wander about and visit
different stalls. It was great to see what each unit had come up with. My
favourite stall was definitely one of the Italian stalls, purely because they
had pizza!
Highland Dancing
The
closing ceremony was another fantastic night. Although it was emotional because
it was our last night at the Jamboree, I had a great and memorable night. The
famous Rock band Europe performed live and the King of Sweden even joined us.
Overall,
the 22nd World Scout Jamboree was a fantastic experience which I will
remember for the rest of my life. It really was a once in a life time
opportunity and I am so thankful to have experienced it.
The World Scout
Jamboree is a once in a lifetime opportunity which takes place every four
years. It is an incredible event which welcomes tens of thousands of Scouts
from all around the world to camp together for 10 days. In 2011, I was lucky
enough to attend the 22nd WSJ in Sweden.
There was over 40,000 Scouts from 146 different countries, which made this
Jamboree the largest in the history of Scouting. The Jamboree truly was a
spectacular, life-changing event which I will remember for the rest of my life.
A
Jamboree is a much sought after event as they only take place every 4 years.
This meant that there was a tough selection process as only a limited number of
people from each district could attend. The selection process took place 2
years before the event to allow plenty of time to fundraise, prepare and get to
know the people within your unit well. My unit was called the Saltire Unit and
was made up of Scouts from all over Scotland including Greenock, Dumfries, Kilmarnock
and Langholm. We had regular meeting nights and camps so the unit had plenty of
opportunities to get to know each other and make friends before the Jamboree. I
always really enjoyed these events as they always got me very excited for our
big adventure. There was a lot of fundraising involved in the lead up but this
was expected for such a large event and was all part of the experience.
A
few days before the Jamboree we were paired up with Scouts from Vanuatu, The
Solomon Islands and Tonga. They flew to Scotland prior to the Jamboree which
gave us all the opportunity to get to know them before flying out to Sweden. It
was an honour to have been able to share the experience with them. They
certainly added to the overall experience for me as they allowed me to
appreciate and learn about their culture and way of life.
All
the UK Scouts received the same equipment for heading to the Jamboree. This
included a large holdall, a bag pack, a fleece and all the tents which we would
use in Sweden were also the same. So it was very easy to identify UK Scouts as we
all looked exactly the same. It was even easier to spot, a Scottish Scout- all
the matching equipment but with a kilt on as well. So looking all lovely and
identical, we were ready to head to the 22nd World Scout Jamboree.
The Saltire Unit
Before
we headed to Sweden, all the UK Contingents went to Denmark for 2 days first.
This was amazing! We were put up in hotels just filled with Scouts and we took
part in some great activities. One of the best parts of Denmark was going to
Tivoli. This is a great big amusement park with plenty of fun and terrifying
rides. I remember dragging my friend Linzi on all the really scary rides- she
did not thank me for that. The last night was a lot of fun as Alphabeat performed
for all the Scouts. It was a great night and got us all even more excited for
heading to Sweden.
Tivoli
The
next morning we were packed and ready to head to Sweden…….
