On the weekend commencing 23rd November around 90 Scouts and I took
part in a camp to see if we could be the chosen ones, selected to go to Japan
in 2015 for 3 weeks; a once in a life time opportunity to attend the World Scout Jamboree.
After the setup of camp and the collection of numbers and
passports, the first challenge began: to eat lunch, jacket potatoes and a host
of fillings with chop sticks. I will admit I can use chop sticks but not very
well so this proved rather difficult.
Not defeated it was onto the next challenge, make a peace crane?
The peace crane is a symbol of good fortune and longevity in Japan. This time I
was a duo, Melissa was now my team mate to create this distinctly tricky piece
of origami, 9 pages of instructions with detailed pictures and captions was our
test. This test did not go well!
The next challenges became increasingly harder. Next up was Take
your Pick, Melissa and I met up again but this time sporting blindfolds.
We tasted a number of different foods and had to guess between Japanese or
English. To our surprise we found that Japanese food is very tasty, Melissa
said, “It was lovely, I never knew Japanese food could taste so good!”
For dinner we were separated into more groups and this was for
our campfire skits and dinner. Each group were given £30 and go to Sainsbury’s
to buy the ingredients for our dinner. For our meal, we decided pasta
bolognaise would be a good meal to have as it was quick, easy and only had a
few ingredients. The group split up, Jack’s team trekked to Sainsbury’s while
my team and I stayed at camp boiling water on trangia’s and stoves for our
pasta. After our delicious meal it was time for the camp fire. Songs, sketches
and jokes later the camp was quiet. However, it didn’t last long.
Everyone woke up to the smell of bacon and sausages which were
kindly cooked for us. After that we had Scouts own, a time for reflection. We
saw a video showing the details of what we could be in for and all the pictures
of the last jamboree that took place in Sweden in 2011.
Before we went home we completed the last few activities. In mad
hatters, we learnt what to do at a Japanese tea party. Taking off shoes and
bowing to the host are two rules that everyone must follow when going to a
Japanese tea party, it’s a tradition. We also learnt a lot about Japanese
culture and the lives people live there.
Lunch was soup and leftovers and a walk down a hill ended the
excellent camp. Melissa and I said one good bye and swapped contact
details. If I get selected to be a part of this excellent camp I will
take the opportunity with both hands and fundraise as much as possible with the
help of the others selected. Even if I don’t get selected, it was a great
experience in itself and will never be disappointed.
