Jamboree Event Report
Finally, after
months of counting down the days, at half past midnight on the 25th
of July 2011 it arrived: The World Scout Jamboree.
Jenny McMurran reports on her World Jamboree experience
Despite the long night of travelling ahead of us, we were all too excited to sleep as the coach pulled away from the crowd of teary-eyed parents at Exeter service station and we began our journey.
After a few of
hours we arrived at Bristol airport. The couple of other sleepy passengers
scattered around the terminal at three in the morning looked vaguely surprised
to see 40 scouts heaving matching blue holdalls across the waiting room,
clearly already regretting packing quite so much!
At 05:40 we took off, and before long arrived
in Amsterdam for a quick change on to another flight to Denmark for the UK
Contingent Party. By the time we got to Copenhagen it was morning and, despite
the lack of sleep, we were just in time for a full day of activities!
We went straight off into the town for the day, where we got to go on an amazing speedboat ride - the whole boat lifted out of the water! In the evening, we visited a theme park in Copenhagen called Tivoli Gardens.
Afterwards, we went to the
hotel, set our alarms for 7am and went to sleep for the first time since the
Jamboree began. Unfortunately though, we’d forgotten about the time difference,
so at 8am we were eating breakfast whilst sprinting down the stairs of the
“Wakeup” hotel so as not to miss our first activity.
We had a
‘Lucky dip’ of activities; I got Zumba and volley ball. I had no idea what to
expect from Zumba (it turned out to be a sort of dance class) but we all had a
good laugh. However, I thought I knew what volley ball would be, until I got
there and it was on a bouncy castle! It was really fun and a great way to get
to know some of the other members of the UK Contingent.
In the
afternoon, a few of us decided to go swimming in the local pool. They’d
stretched a tarpaulin across it which we were meant to try and run across without
falling in.
The Contingent Party was held that evening for
all of the 4,000 Scouts and Guides from the UK. They’d kept which band was
going to be playing a secret; it turned out to be Alphabeat, who actually come
from Denmark.
The next
morning we took a coach across the longest bridge in Europe from Denmark to
Sweden, where we finally got our first glimpse of the Jamboree camp- it was the
fourth largest town in southern Sweden! The site was divided into four villages;
spring, summer,
autumn and winter. In the centre was the Four Seasons Square, containing
the Jamboree shop, bank and post office.
We were met off the coach by some Swedish
scouts, who helped us to carry our bags to our pitch, where we put
up all of our tents and prepared to cook our first meal. As patrol leader I was
designated a jamboree cookbook and shopping card which we used to buy the
ingredients from the shop. To avoid confusion, the card used a points system
rather than any particular currency.
The only
vaguely unhealthy thing to be found in the shop was chocolate spread which inevitably
soon ran out and had to be rationed to one pot per patrol per day. There was a
shop for each village- we were in winter, so there was an ice-rink in the
centre and Christmas songs playing in the shop, the IST even wore Santa hats!
Each unit pioneered
a gateway to their pitch. Ours consisted of two lighthouses with flashing
lights on the top, so it was easy to find our way back to our camp. We chose
lighthouses as there are four in Devon, and we gave them green and white
stripes because of the colours on the Devon flag. There was also a huge tower
in the centre of the Jamboree campsite, from which we could see the whole site-
it was amazing.
Opening Ceremony
In the evening
we had the opening ceremony; it was incredible to see all 40,000 scouts
together at last, and it was especially moving that they managed to get every
one of us to stand in a moments silence for the recent tragedies in Norway.
The camp
was officially opened by the King of Sweden and Bear Grylls who abseiled down
on to the stage. We also set a world record with 40,000 people popping their
mouths at once!
What happened after the opening ceremony?
Once the opening ceremony ended we went straight to ‘Dream’, a night walk through a forest
until 3am, where they had recreated life backwards- from the afterlife to
birth. This was the first of six module activities that we took part in
throughout the week. For each one we gained a bead, so by the end we all had complete
bracelets. One of the other activities was ‘Quest’, which involved physical
activities, such as an assault course, as well as challenges for the mind, for
example a maze containing tasks within it.
The next day I
decided to take part in the Friendship Challenge; I completed the award with two
other scouts from the UK, and two scouts from Ghana. It involved working
together to answer questions and tasks including making a musical instrument
and translating a song into three different languages. It took a couple of
hours as it involved finding answers from around the campsite, so by the end we
were all great friends.
We cooked and ate
our evening meal with some scouts from Israel, they showed us how to make pita
bread on an open fire, and were amazed how much tea we drank! We made lots of
good friends so they often came and visited our camp afterwards. I swapped one
of my Devon T-shirts with them for one from Israel.
In the centre
of the Jamboree site, there was food from lots of different cultures that
everyone could experience. We went to the Swiss food house and had a cheese
fondue and Rosti (potatoes). It happened to be Swiss National day, so loads of
the Swiss contingent came in during the meal, singing and dancing!
We also got the
chance to spend a night wild camping in the Swedish countryside; this part of
the Jamboree was called Camp-in-a-Camp. We were by a forest and a lake with
some German, Indonesian and Swedish scouts. I learnt loads of excellent Swedish
games and we had a campfire where we all shared songs from our own countries.
When we
visited the faiths and beliefs area, we were given the opportunity to learn
more about the religion of Islam by either fasting or wearing a Hijab for a day.
I took the Hijab challenge which was really interesting, and I got interviewed
about my experience:
http://issuu.com/teignbridge_scouts/docs/aaa_drumbeat_issue_42_drumbeat.
The 4th August
was Culture Day; each unit made their camp represent their country through
food, art, dance and music. We had English tea and cucumber sandwiches. We also
made our pitch into a Devon beach with a sandpit and paddling pool. We got to
go and visit the other countries camps too, so I had a crêpe from France; meat
soup from Iceland; and sweets from Sweden. In the evening we had a parade to
the main stage with each country trying to sing their local songs louder than
everyone else!
Closing Ceremony
At the closing ceremony
there was an amazing fireworks display and everyone was singing the Jamboree
song. The band Europe played ‘The Final Countdown’ which was amazing, despite
the rain, as someone held up a massive tarpaulin and we all sheltered
underneath it. However, we’d already
taken down our tents to leave early the next morning, so when we got back to
camp all our sleeping bags were soaked from the rain!
Home Hospitality
We then had Home Hospitality
in the Netherlands. This meant staying with Dutch families for a few days, Louise
and I stayed with Claire Von Liempt who had also been at the Jamboree. Her
whole family had been there, as they all play in a Dutch Scout Band.
In the morning,
Claire’s mum, Manon, had prepared an amazing traditional Dutch Breakfast for
us; we had bread and buns with chocolate and aniseed sprinkles on them! We then
caught a train to Amsterdam where we visited the incredible Anne Frank house
and the most famous market in Amsterdam.
After a couple
of days, we went to stay in a local campsite with some scouts from Nottingham
and Yorkshire. We visited a theme park, Efeting, and we ate out at a local
pancake restaurant in the evening.
Coming home
after such an unforgettable experience, I think we all felt a touch of the ‘End
of Jamboree Blues.’ It truly is a once in a lifetime experience and I urge
anyone to jump at the chance to go to a World Scout Jamboree.
Jenny McMurran
Devon Jamboree Contingent Member
Note: Photographs support this report but they are not yet available
