Japan is officially amazing!

6 months ago I arrived back in the UK after an amazing trip to Japan with Scouting! I have to say it was honestly one of the best experiences of my life. I met so many new people from across the world, many of whom I am still in contact with today. The activities we took part in helped us gain a new perspective on Japan and how we could help change the world, making it a better place and to aim to keep peace after we saw first handedly the effects of the bomb in Hiroshima.

 For home hospitality I stayed with the Hirano Family. They took Kirstie and I to a small town festival and showed us their town Hakusan and the neighbouring seaside town Kanazawa. 

This was a game stall at the festival.

  Decorating chopsticks with gold leaf

We dressed in traditional kimonos

After our short time with the family we departed and met up with the rest of our unit for the actual Jamboree! We were actually the last UK unit to arrive at the Jamboree! 

 Queuing to get in the arena for the Opening Ceremony!

Lucy, Melissa and I at the Italian tent!

 Swimming in the sea as part of the water module

 The arena packed with 40,000 Scouts

My unit at the Hiroshima Memorial

This photo was from a video of the culture ceremony, my Welsh friend sent to me!

After the Jamboree we took the bullet train to Tokyo and spent the remainder of our time exploring the diverse city. 

Gemma, Lucy, Analise, Selina and I on the train!

Meal in the hotel after a long journey!

The last night trip to Shibuya Crossing (video below!)

Sat outside the Skytree Tower!

During my time in Japan I realized just how much Scouting had changed my life. It has made me a more confident and caring person, and inspired me to try my best at everything I do. Not only have I brought back amazing memories and photos, but new experiences and stories to tell about last summer and how Scouting is such an amazing Youth Organisation!

7 days!

In 7 days I will be en route to Heathrow airport ready for the journey of a lifetime! Today I am going shopping for any items that I have forgotten or need more on. Last night I also laid out all my clothes, shoes and toiletries ready for packing!
I can't believe Japan is nearly here!

In 30 days....

Today we reached the 30 day countdown! It feels so close now and I have started to accumulate a pile, of clothes, shoes and toiletries ready for the trip! Tomorrow I go to the final training weekend before the Jamboree and it seems more real than ever before. Sadly, I missed the last training weekend due to a family commitment however am so excited to see everyone tomorrow!

Last week I received my extra kit: 3 different tops and 2 pairs of shorts. The Jamboree staff have also released a plan of the campsites and excitingly we are in the Eastern Hub in the Gory sub camp. We have also found out the travel details: a direct flight to Japan from London Heathrow airport. We are one of the very few lucky units to have a direct flight!

A post will be updated shortly from the weekend and more details on kit!
Kyra x

Bear in the Air- meeting the man himself!

Today I attended the County activity day- Bear in the Air! It was an amazing day and I was privileged enough to escort Bear around the site along with Tom, Thomas and Melissa, my friends from the unit. Together we got to talk to him about Scouting in and around Lincolnshire and our amazing opportunity to attend the Jamboree in Japan. 

When the helicopter landed we went over and met Bear, taking him to the minibus for the short journey to the site. Here, we grasped the opportunity for selfies and pictures before taking him around to meet over 1400 Scouts from districts across the County.

It was very surreal at first sitting next to the Chief Scout himself and leading him around the site taking part in activities here and there. However Bear was so down to earth and we held a very good conversation with him about the most interesting places he has camped before including a lion enclosure! 

After we took Bear back to the chopper we said our final goodbyes and took our final pictures
I feel very proud to have met Bear, a credit to the Scouting movement and an inspiration to many young people across the world.

Training Weekend 9!

At last the April training weekend arrived and four Boston Scouts loaded into the car ready for the Highflyers 9th training weekend! This weekend was particularly special due to the presence of our kit! This included our holdalls and rucksacks as well as our especially designed sweat towels and hats!
The welcoming campfire also brought along a feast with marshmallows (of course!) and doritos with salsa with loads more to snack on whilst we all caught up. It always feels so long since the last month!
Bright and early the next morning we tried to enjoy the confusing combination of products for breakfast. From Japan, we saw two different kinds of miso soup, and from England we saw rashers and rashers of bacon and croissants! (Technically they're French, but lets skip that small detail) However there was a twist- if we didn't eat a bowl of soup, we could have any bacon or croissants.

Spoonfuls of miso soup were swapped from one bowl to another and some even went into a few drinks of tea! However finally we all enjoyed a good breakfast.
The morning activity was to create a sketch or piece of entertainment that could be used at the jamboree. This meant we couldn't speak much English as other Scouts may not understand us.
True to our name, we came up with an aeroplane sketch that we hoped would be perfect for the jamboree. After a quick lunch in the sun, we split up into our patrols for a drop hike! Each patrol was dropped off into Melton Mowbray, given a map and told to get back to camp with a picture of a pork pie. We thought it was going to be easy- however we didn't realised we were going to be blindfolded! If you peeked Ali and Kev took you further, unluckily Harry, from the other patrol, peeked and they got taken another mile out from the site! 

After a lovely hike back to camp, we had a little rest period before the TV challenge began. The TV challenge was four famous television challenge programmes with adapted challenges for the four patrols to compete in. 

The first: to sew a kimono. It had to fit and be modelled by a unit member and any extra appliqué was allowed. The second: to make a specialised Japanese honey cake. Any specialised moulds or decorations were allowed. The third: to decorate a tent with the theme: Japan. And the fourth was to make sushi with the given ingredients, and present professionally. We had two hours as a patrol to complete these challenges.  After a busy two hours sewing, cooking, baking and decorating as well as squeezing in time for a quick piece of Steve and Kev's special bbq chicken. Judging commenced shortly after each round being judged out of 25. Sadly my patrol didn't win but came in joint second. 

After another peaceful night KIT DAY OCCURRED! This was the day we received all of our issued kit for the Jamboree and another post will be uploaded shortly discussing the kit we have gotten in more detail. 

In one of the pockets of our main suitcase, however, were 6 cards each with possibilities of flights, airports and home hospitality destinations. We had to work together to work out which were correct. Finally we found out that excitingly, we have a direct flight from London's Heathrow to Tokyo Narita airport and for Ho-Ho we are staying in the Kanazawa area!

Before we knew it, that was the end of the weekend and once again the Highflyers are one weekend closer to Japan!

Bear in the Air!

In May the county are holding a huge activities day called Bear in the air to celebrate Scouting and a visit from the chief Scout himself bear Grylls . As part of the day our unit were asked to run some activities throughout the day to all of the participants from the Japan in a Box. This includes origami, the chopstick challenge and learning Japanese. Of course this sounded really fun so I put my name down and thought this was the end of the matter. However at my last training weekend (#8) Steve and Ali (my leaders) called me over and asked whether I would lead Bear Grylls around the site and talk to him. This was an opportunity not to be missed so I eagerly agreed! I will be posting the event in detail so keep an eye on this space!

Train Weekend #8!

Sadly i couldn't make the February camp as I was on holiday with my family however the March one was a little different again because this time we would be meeting another 40 Scouts going to the Jamboree with us!

This camp was held at Drum Hill Scout Camp in Derbyshire where we met up with Unit 36. After setting up our tents, we headed into the hut where we played a rapid game of bingo! However this was no ordinary game of bingo- this was people bingo! We had to find someone in the room that could do or fit the description in the box. ( For example in one box it said: 'Someone who has been water skiing' ) This brought us out of our shells and got us mingling learning names and making new friends. After a busy night meeting new people the Highflyers went to bed exhausted and ready for the next two days. 

The next morning everyone gathered for breakfast in the hut then split up into activity groups that contained a mix of Scouts and Guides from both units. We spent the day measuring  tents and setting a plan up of our camp for the Jamboree, discussing what we were going to take in our crate and coming up with designs for our gate and enjoying each others company. 

For tea we were given the instructions to collect fire wood start a fire and cook the recipe provided. However Archie- our patrols talented chef- decided recipes were stupid and decided to invent a new dish for our dinner so instead of a chicken casserole we enjoyed pan fried onions, carrots and chicken legs. After a peaceful night in front of the streamed 6Nations match and the campfire once again we were all ready for bedtime. 

The next morning saw a delicious breakfast kindly cooked for us by the Leaders followed by the finalisation of the gate design and what kind of things we are going to put in our crate. We also had a discussion on where we wanted our reunion and what we wanted to do. In the end the majority of votes went towards a mystery tour where the Leaders put together a trip and don't tell us anything. 

After tidying up camp, and saying our final goodbyes training weekend #8 was over as soon as it had begun.