What an amazing experience & what a great bunch of people to share it all with – it all passed so quickly – it’s all a blur at present. It’s a good job I kept some sort of daily diary of our events!

2 years of hard work, training, fundraising & socialising, building up the jamboree team has paid off big time – they said it would be an experience of a life time & boy were they right!

I kinda miss the questions that were aimed at me 24/7 – what time are we doing this? What’s the weather like where we are going?What colour are the pilots socks on the plane?…it’s gone very, very quiet & strangely enough I’m missing it – this is not a prompt however to start ringing me up!

Hopefully Sweden 2011 will inspire people to undertake further international experiences – to repeat my words at the airport just before we made our way back to our families – GO TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THE JAMBOREE – spread the word & talk of your jambo experiences far & wide.

Thanks to all for your company & my thanks especially to my fellow leaders. We were a GREAT team & together we helped pull off the experience of a life time for 36 young & 4 not quite so young people   :0)
Paul

A huge thanks to everyone that has been involved in making the jamboree happen, as well as to the 39 others that I shared this awesome experience with. Remember everyone- you’ll never experience a WSJ as a participant again but if you want it to be this is just the first of many international scouting adventures (just make sure you invite me!)

Sarah xxxx

For 2 years we’ve worked our socks off to fund raise the money we needed, thrown in some social events and got to know each other along the way. It’s been an amazing journey.

I listened at the leader weekends when they told us it was a once in a life time experience, that you may feel a bit blue when you get home and that it is all perfectly normal.

Getting home last night was great but even 5 minutes through the door felt a bit strange. And then I realised I was missing 39 other people. Today has been stranger still – I’ve been able to organise my day how I want to, no-one has asked me any stupid questions and I’m not going to have to cook for 40 people tonight…..

In the peace and quiet that I have, I’m beginning to appreciate the fantastic experience that I’ve had. I’m already thinking about the things I can do differently and the changes I want to make (that blasted song!!!)

Thank you to each and every one of you for being part of it. I feel honoured that I’ve had the chance to get to know you all and I’ve learnt that you guys are an amazing bunch, who can brighten up even the wettest day on Jamboree.

A person who Scouts, will never be lonely!

Would I do it all again? What do you think?

Katy

Having enjoyed a delicious Chinese takeaway last night, I wasn’t particularly hungry so passed on breakfast (plus, we didn’t have any Polish bread or jam with wasp in to whet my appetite) to move onto the more daunting task of emptying the cargo bag.

Although I had managed to rip some small holes in the cargo bag (not going to start on how rubbish they are), the first thing to hit me was the smell…..there’s nothing to beat the smell of damp kit and dirty clothes – parents across the County are nodding in agreement……

So, my spare room is Jamboree disaster area, the kitchen is awash with clothes to go in the washing machine, lunch boxes and drinks bottles that need washing and I have already managed to bore my other half with “this one time, on Jamboree”…..it’s good to be home?

The weather is proving a mixed bag, with lots of showers, but the ex-army frame tents are a bit of a novelty (even if I am now the proud owner of a soaking wet sleeping bag) and we are just waiting for lunch, which is a three course affair in Poland

This morning the scouts watched the polish flag ceremony and the lost property forfeits followed-Tom Briggs had to run around the campsite like a monkey because he dropped a pin badge! After that they did a treasure hunt around the local town. This afternoon we are taking part in a ‘camp wedding’ party, which I think involves making some bright clothes and then having a party, but there’s a fair bit of a language barrier so anything could happen!

Parents get the washing powder in; you’ll have your work cut out when we get back!

Sarah
Xxxxxxx

So today we started packing down our camp – with the gateway and flag down I am going to struggle to navigate back to our site…….

There’s a strange buzz in the air – sadness in saying goodbye to all  the friends we’ve met on site and excitement as we look forward to HoHo in Poland.  There is also the refrains of the incredibly annoying Jambo song which has been in my head since yesterday and refuses to leave……

It’s been an incredible experience so far and one I plan to bore the heck out of people talking about on a very regular basis – parents, you may want to invest in a pair of those glasses with the eyes that are constantly open…….you can have a nap behind them whilst you hear yet another story……

Must dash…..thanks to Tom B I have a Columbian jacket I need to squash into my already stuffed cargo bag……

Katy

Last night was the conclusion to the Culture Festival, and as Becky has already detailed that I shall not be covering it. However, this morning we completed the People activity zone/base/kotch. Waiting 6 hours for a bus is pretty bad, and the People base was also up there in the S.T.O.J Moments I have had so far (S.. Times Of Jamboree). We just walked around doin gnot very much, in the rain, putting green bags on our heads and looking at walls painted with made up places. We didn’t even do the second part, it was so awful. We decided unanimously that a better use of our time was to pioneer a four deck version of the card game Slam (or Spit in more deprived areas of the world), and broke the cafe till after neither of us out of Ed Chalklen, Bryony Bowman and myself could scrap together a measly 90 Kr for two Diam cakes and two drinks, which pushed me into new levels of awkwardness.

All is going well, the unit communal funds are currently being artfully spent on ice creams for the unit, and I have swapped for a Boy Scouts of America shirt (truly epic). Also, it’s Pim’s o’clock. (moderator:not an alcoholic reference.)

Ed Maclean

okay so last night was umm…odd. there was an event on for the camp in camp hosts which meant that the entire jamboree went down to the main stage for a massive show. Beforehand there was a a mahhusssive carnival type atmosphere where all the towns were paraded down to the main stage in four huge columns of noise and commotion. there were drummers, helicopters and men on stilts- military precision getting 40,000 campers into the main arena without drowning the camp in camp hosts
once seated we were talked through the layout like an air hostess would the plane- they’ve never done that before, obvs just showing off for the camp in camp peeps!
were were briefly entertained by some more cheesy music and bmx bikers on either side of the stage. (one fell off in the main bmx show which was quite funny- yeah i’m cruel ) AND THEN THE SHOW BEGANNNN!!
the first surprise of the night, two Swedish hosts (obviously got dresssed in the dark) who were very excitable and personable. they talked us through a virtual tour of sweden and the process by how they chose camp in camp sites. appareantly this involved a comedic type performance of doktor monica and doktor marcus ( yeah i can spell doctor but thats me attempting to write in the Swedish accent) and ‘the guinea pig’. again this was quite weird, there were several segments to this with the typical predictable humor of any cheesy show but still funny all the same.
then came the ultimate shock… we were told by our swedish hosts that we would be hearing a band from sweden that had a different sound was worldwide and very famous, now if you heard that you had one of two options when you think swedish bands: ABBA or Basshunter. Us as clever and cultured scouts knew ABBA would not be making an appearance, so Basshunter was the obvious choice. There we were hoping for this incredible worldwide famous act and what did they annouce…Timbuktu ( i have been recently corrected via facebook by a swedish friend on the spelling) any of you ever heard of him before?! yeah neither had we. Yes he is just as they said, a new sound although obviously not internationally famous. He was good party all the same though and we had a great time trying to guess what he was on about. the swedes clearly loved him atleast. Then came the second band of the night, another swedish band and another internationally famous, new sound blah blah blah… yeah we hadn’t heard of these either. they were a more Swedish rock band i think. who knows but again we managed to rock our typically English moves i.e dad dancing with a mix of sex appeal hahaha. *Jacob and Atlanta*
included in all this cheese and gaiety the jamboree song was performed, dont quote me on this but i think people are starting to like it a bit. i stress the ‘bit’ alot. its a tad wet but very catchy and i for one love belting it out at ridiculous times and whacking out some of the cheesy dance moves i have heard that there are some people within camp who look to download the song as soon as they’re home and learn the dance moves. Thats dedication for you!
after this we had some free time, so what do you do on the jamboree at half nine… hmmm grab yourself a Duchess of Cambridge mask and troll around scaring the other countries half to death! (very funny whilst they’re standing in the toilet queue and you’ve just told them to point, aim, shoot and flush! shoulda seen their faces) i dont think the Irish enjoyed it much though…
I’ll let someone else tell you about today as i think this is getting long now and i’ve been told by Ben he thinks blogs should be short :/ bye guys and i’ll talk to you when i can, i dont know when that is cause its packing up tomorrow and then we’re off to poland. the end of the jamboree is nearing and none wants to go.. xx

Hard to believe it’s only a couple of days until we head to Poland. The swap shop is well and truly under way; we have swedish, mexican and hong kong kit to name but a few.

Parents enjoy your last week of freedom!
Sarah xxxxxx