Chillin' in Sweden

Today is day 7 of the Jamboree, and it was our free day. Last night we had Dream, which was somewhat different than we expected. The fog filled tent and "Senses" activity were cool, and we enjoyed the Swedish night while taking a journey from "death to birth".

The day after Dream you get a free day, which we have exploited to its fullest extent. We have been shopping at the Jamboree Shop, enjoying the various activities around Four Seasons Square and the view from the flagpole tower. We also got to sleep in (!!!!!), and after and excellent lunch, went to the beach!

A short bus ride took us to the Jamboree beach, which was very crowded. Nevertheless, the Baltic Sea was warm, sandy, and barely salty. You could actually open your eyes underwater and they didn't sting the slightest (nor did the water taste bad). We enjoyed the sunny beach, and played in the sand and in the refreshing water.


Upon arriving back at camp, we discovered that we had a acquired a pool at our campsite! We now have our very own beach to enjoy, and waterguns galore to play with.

Tomorrow is Cultural Festival Day, for which our troop has partnered with Canada House to cook pancakes with maple syrup for the camp, and to have hockey games. It will be awesome.

...Afterall, what isn't awesome about the World Scout Jamboree?

People

Day 6 here at the World Scout Jamboree. Things are going well so far.

Today's event was People. It was all about exploring how yourself and others feel. We played a game called Rafa Rafa where we got to experience how cultures feel when others intrude and don't know their customs. Trying to figure out what is insulting to others can be quite frustrating and difficult.

As past entries may hint to, the biggest part of the Jamboree is meeting new people. We have become good friends with the Irish group we met at Camp in Camp, and the constant badge trading has lead to many new frienships. We have even had lots of opportunities to use our french, when speaking with people from Belgium and France!

It has been amazing here, and tonight we have Dream, which is supposed to be the best activity. We'll just have to wait and see...

Camp in Camp

Several of the Canadian groups enjoyed 'Camp in Camp' yesterday. This unique experience brings the units from the World Jamboree to local Scout camps as guests of Scandinavian Scout groups. For 24 hours you have a smaller camp experience and get to know the local culture and people better.

Southern Skies Patrol was the guest of a Norwegian group and enjoyed the lakeside location. It was nice to get away from the bustle of the jamoboree and sit by a campfire sharing scouting experiences. The sunny weather was also enjoyable allowing us to sleep under the stars.

A Gift From Above

Today we received the greatest gift we could have asked for, sun! Just about dinner time, the sky cleared and the sun shone. As its brays penetrated the clouds and reached the ground, a cheer erupted from the camp and spirits were immediately lifted. Things are being dried out, and some things even washed and dried. The feel here in Sweden is much better now. There appears to be more clouds moving in, but the sunny break was much appreciated.

Once again I am at a loss for words to describe the amazing experience we are having. Today's activity was "Earth", where we participated in four activities; Water, Soil, Wind and Oxygen. They were all more or less simple do-it-yourself-at-home experiments to watch how our earth works, and it poured rain, but the experience of doing it with Scouts from all around the world made it worth it.

The norm here at WSJ'11 is for various people to pop their heads into your tent throughout the day to say hi and trade items. Some of us have been going trade crazy, collecting for example neckers from 13 different countries, or collecting countless foreign contingent badges. The experience of interacting with all these different cultures and languages in amazing, and although it is sometimes difficult, is always rewarding in the end.

Tomorow is our Camp in Camp experience, so we are busy preparing our gear and food, and doing no-rain dances. There is so much to explore and learn here, and so little time! It is now our 4th day of 12 here in Sweden (Day 3 of the Jamboree), so we are all trying to soak up as much as possible (I'm not refering to rain).

I am just getting things sorted out to upload videos, so hopefully there will be some up soon. Its time to go and rejoin the fun!

Sunshine & Puddles

Hej (Swedish for hello),

Well the biggest roar was hear across the camp this evening. It was not due to any special guests nor banana splits being served. It was due to the sun coming out. After three days of rain the sun finally came out this evening to every one's delight. The entire Jamboree site is alive!

Despite the rain, all have been having a great time. Smiles are everywhere! The youth are in constant motion and always having fun. Youth from many nations are breaking the language and cultural barriers, playing games, singing or sharing spontaneous hugs. It is an amazing experience to watch as a leader and parent. If only the UN could see the smiles and good will many of our global problems could disappear. I am proud to be part of the experience.

Wish to peek in on our action? Webcam #3 is pointed right at one of the groups in the Canadian Contingent: http://webcam.worldscoutjamboree.se/#webcam3 Look for the yellow tents!

Quest Event

Ok so yesterday we had an event called Quest. It was a Norse event where you had to do things that the Vikings would have to do. These included: Hammer throwing, Obstacle course, a maze, Rescue the Norse God, Blindfolded Horseshoes throwing, Giant marble maze and many others. When the event was over there was music and lots of dancing. We walked back to our site and started supper with the other patrols from around the world.

Day 3

Today was the third day at the Scout Jamboree in Sweden. We have been doing many interesting things so far here. Everything from the activities we do at camp to just walking around and seeing all the diffrent people around are amazing and fun.

The activites we have done were exciting and fun. Yesterday's were based off of the past and they called it Quest. It was a bunch of activites that were all about the Norse mythology and the past of countries. And today's were all based around the earth and how it works.

But the best part of the whole Jamboree is meeting new people from different countries. Last night we had three patrols from different countries come to our site and have a traditional Canadian meal; it was french toast and maple syrup. It was very good and everyone there seemed to enjoy it and they got a taste of Canada out of it. It was great to see that everyone was having fun with us and trying new things that they have never done before.

I'm looking forward to doing the same on the coming days of the Jamboree!!!!!