Day 2

Saturday 25^th July 2015

Today we spent most of our time in the air flying to Japan. We stopped off in Seoul, South Korea for around 2 or 3 hours so it was just enough time to have a wander around the huge airport. Before we went off around the airport we took the first, of many to come I’m sure, BeKeHaBu unit photos. After having a wander around we met up with our leaders in the relaxing lounge area, where there was reclining chairs for you to nap in and massage chairs which were very popular with my unit. There was also free Wi-Fi which for some reason seemed very over loaded, I’m sure my unit had nothing to do with that aha. We eventually made our way to the boarding gate to find out our plane was delayed again! Argh! However, it ended up only being delayed by half an hour or so. We were soon in the air again.

After another interesting Korean plane meal and a 2-and-a-half-hour plane flight, we finally landed in the land of the rising sun and many adventures for our unit and all the other scouts who would be there for the World Scout Jamboree.

As we arrived late in the evening by the time we had got to the place we we’re staying, which just so happened to be the National Olympics Memorial Youth Centre, we were all exhausted. Luckily the Youth Centre was only an hour away from the airport. On the bus journey, we got out the BeKeHaBu playlist and sang along to some of the songs we had all chosen together. Tokyo was quite cool when we arrived so we did not expect the following day to be that much dramatically warmer. We would be mistaken… very mistaken.

Before we left the airport, the toilet was something on everyone’s mind. There’s only a certain amount of times you can use the airplane loo. Now we all knew that we would have to be open minded about experiencing new things… but… having to use a squat toilet less than 5 minutes after arriving in Japan took us all by a bit of surprise (Personally I actually preferred them by the end of the trip as they seem more hygienic).

After the hour journey to the Youth Hostel, we stood around for a while whilst our leaders sorted out the room. The temperature was quite warm so we didn’t really mind but we were all very tired and in need of a shower. This brings me onto another Japanese custom we were thrown into straight away. Once we had all found our rooms, my friend Mimi and I decided to have a shower. We were not expecting all the showers in the hostel to be communal… or for swimwear to be prohibited in them. Being pretty close we thought what the heck and got on with it and honestly it’s really not as bad as you think it would be.

After an eventful shower, we all hit the deck and dreamt of the amazing adventures that would await us tomorrow.

Day 1

Today is the day. Yes, the day! The day that I have been waiting for the past year and a bit. Today I leave my family and the UK behind and start an 18-day adventure that will change my life. What’s the name of this adventure I’m going on you ask? The 23^rd World Scout Jamboree!!!

Friday 24^th August 2015

The time has come… 2pm on the dot. I nagged my parents to hurry up and help me put my stuff in the car. Excited is an understatement of what I was feeling then. Exuberant… nope still not high enough. The drive to the scout hut near Heathrow seemed to go on for miles. Each minute feeling like an hour. To pass the time and to get even more into the mood (if that was even possible) I played the BeKeHaBu music playlist, and sang along, knowing that by the end of my journey these songs would haunt me forever. Finally, we pull up in the car park. I jumped out the car and ran to the hut being greeted by 5 maybe 6 people. Why is no-one here yet! I thought. I returned to the car to help my mum and dad take my bags in. None of my four close girlfriends were at the hut yet so I signed in with my leaders and received my Jamboree wristband which had the “If you get lost show this to someone and hope they help you” information printed on. Slowly more and more of unit began to arrive. The first of my tent to arrive was me, then Anna a while later. Anna had not been to many practised camps and most of us wondered if she would appear at all, but I knew that she would not want to pass up this opportunity of a lifetime and I was right. Hannah another girl in my tent, the one whom I was closest too is from Kent, and the Kent lot were meeting us straight at the airport so I was eager to leave asap! The plan to leave at a designated time was quickly demolished when Olivia, the final member of my tent turned out to be stuck in traffic. Just as this news appeared the mini-busses arrived to take us to the airport. I quickly relayed the Olivia situation to the leaders and full panic erupted!!! Just joking I told Olivia to meet us at the airport, however it was quicker for her to meet us at the hut so a bit later she arrived. Literally just as we were about to leave the scout hut. Phew *imagine wiping sweat from forehead*. Off to the airport!

When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by members of the UK contingent and I guy I had previously met on my Scouts Speak Up Course earlier that year. I had a quick chat with him whilst my unit waited for the Kent lot to arrive and he then spoke to a couple of the other members of my unit. Once the Kent lot arrived we quickly made a formation with our luggage trolleys and had our first group photo of the trip taken. Then we were off into the airport. Woo!

We used the self-service check-in machines instead of overloading the queue for the desk. This quickly turned into a never ending sea of questions such as “What is the flight number?”, “How do I get my ticket?” and the dreaded… “Where is my passport?”. Luckily everyone managed to remember their passport and not lose them on the trip I’m glad to say. After agreeing a meeting place and having another of many to come group photos we ensured we had something to eat before the flight.

Our flight to Japan was split into two sections. First a gruelling 11-hour flight to Seoul, South Korea and then a mere 2-and-a-half-hour flight to Narita, Japan. The flight was supposed to depart at 9pm however by 9:30pm we still hadn’t even moved from the terminal. Raaaaaaaaa! Of course I’m probably not the only person annoyed by this as I am sure the other passengers on the plane were less than amused to spend an extra hour with an excited group of teenagers when the flight itself is a cruel 11 hours long. Of course being scouts our unit was well behaved and respected the other passengers by not being… too loud.

Due to the timing of the flight it worked out well that we slept for first half of the flight as we would arrive in Seoul at roughly 4pm the next day. An interesting moment on the plane was when choosing between the Korean or Western option of food on the menu, really there was no option as they had run out of Western meals. But I was willing to throw myself into trying new things as that is what I would be doing for the next 18 days. Admittedly the aeroplane food was very nice: I ended up preferring the Korean meals over the Western anyway. At around 10pm we finally took off and soon we were fast asleep dreaming of the adventure that lies ahead of us.

Oooooooooooh Exciting News!!!

How on earth has it been 3 months since I got back from Japan and I haven't posted anything on my blog you ask! Well that's because I'm working on something special.

Ooooooooooooooooooooh!

Yes oooh! Over the Jamboree I attempted to keep a diary which was difficult to say the least. First my phone died, then my iPod died, then by battery pack died and then I had nowhere to charge anything! So over the past three months amongst doing school work I have typing from memory and by looking at my photos my Jamboree diary in as much detail as possible.

Why you as?

Well because I was inspired to promote the Jamboree and how when all 155 countries were in one place together there was complete peace and unity. I mean that was the theme of the Jamboree Wa "a Spirit of Unity".

One of my favourite photos from the Jamboree

Over the next week or so my blog we be getting redesigned and I will hope to start releasing in order my dairy entries from my Jamboree experience.

I also hope to eventually turn my diary into a book of some kind talking about the Jamboree, Scouts and how I was inspired.

Keep an eye on my Twitter and Facebook for updates and if you check my blog you'll see the gradual redesign of its look.

Interviews, Interviews and Interview!!!

Hello everyone!!! Scouty people, non-scouty people, tall people, short people, brunette people, blonde people, anybody at all!!!

Random Quote of the Post

"At a time when efforts are being made to eradicate discrimination between the sexes in the search for social equality and justice, the differences between the sexes are being rediscovered."

~ Carol Gilligan

Too often am I being asked "Why are you a scout... you're a girl!" Let me say one thing. Girls can be adventurous too! I would say I was a tomboy and still  partly am now. I'm sorry I don't like sitting at home spending hours doing my make-up and hair wanting to look pretty for boys. But I'd much rather be on a camp, getting down and dirty with nature. That's my nature. I love going camping. The idea of lying in tent and the possibility of being anywhere in the world beckons to me. Going climbing, caving, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, sailing, rafting excites me. I'm sorry if you do not think that a girl can do those things but we CAN. And we WILL. 

The reason I'm saying all this is because it has been brought to my attention recently that people still question why girls can be scouts. Scouting has evolved and we must accept that girls being allowed to join is part of the evolution. Feel free to leave your view on scouting and how its evolved in the comments section below.

Now back to the main story...

The Main Story XD

So this week end I attended a Scouts Speak Up course at Youlbury scout camp near Oxford. We were given the chance to learn how to speak to the media and grabbed the first place straight away.

3 people from my unit went (Me, Alex and Ollie) and it was great fun.

We rocked up Saturday morning reading and rearing to go. And as you expected as soon as all the scouts saw each other... AWKWARDNESS. However soon we were all chatting and asking "What unit are you from?" and "Can I see your badge?" 

We then pitched out tents, got our work packs and gathered inside the main building. We then watched a short video and a presentation on the Jamboree.

Then the fun began!

We were split into folder colour groups. (Blues were obviously the best aha). Our mentor was Jon who has previously been staff for the World Scout Jamboree, so he had lots of helpful advice for us.

Team Jon!!!

Our first practice interview was a radio interview and guess who got picked to go first?

If you guess me then... you right.

At first I was quite nervous however once Stuart, another leader, started talking I relaxed and started talking. Now, I'm a talk-a-tive person and I found it hard to talk for the whole interview. However after watching a few other people's one's I quickly got my self a list of helpful hints to improve my interview and answers. The biggest piece of advice of the weekend... SMILE!!! You' be amazed how a smile can really make a interview so much better. 

Try recording you self answering what you favourite outdoor activity is without smiling and then smiling. It's mind blowing.

We then had a delicious lunch and went on to newspaper interviews.

Here we sat back to back with another leader, who works in Public Relations, and had a conversation like we were on the phone. This was completely different to  radio interview but I preferred this method. We had to try and get the necessary information and detail across to her without blabbing on for ages. I believe I did fairly well but I needed to explain my personal experiences in more detail and link it to other activities such as WSJ. It was great fun!

We also did presentations that day to our groups which we had prepared before the camp and got feedback on them.

On Saturday evening we played wide-game Cluedo and made S'mores by the camp fire.

The next day we woke up bright and early for a 8.30 start.

That morning we first did some TV interviews. Embarrassing doesn't even cover it aha. We had significantly improved from the previous day by taking on and using the tips we were given. Watching back the interview really helped to improve our techniques and seeing were we could change what we said to make the interview even better.

After lunch, we did our final presentation in our units. Ollie, Alex and I managed to keep under our 2 minutes time limit and manage to get all the information across  that we wanted to. Sadly this was our last training activity at the camp.

We all came together for a final talk, whilst switching contact details in our booklets. We took our tents down and said goodbye to the new friends we had made. It was sad to think we may not see them again. (Trying to find them amongst 30,000 other scouts at the Jamboree may be a bit hard!)

The weekend was a great eye opener as I never realised how hard interviews were. I want to thank all the leaders who helped us as they were amazing. There tips were very helpful and I hope to pass them on to people in my unit.

I will also soon be attending another Unit Training Weekend in October so keep a look out for that post. Please, please, please! Pass the word around of my blog as it help to promote information the Scouting Association and the World Scout Jamboree. 

For more information check out my Get Involved Page. Thanks!!!

Awkward Silence

    Hi all. So just realised I had completely forgot to tell you when I was having my first official Jamboree meeting!!! I'm sooooo sorry. As you can probably guess, that's exactly what this weeks post is about. Lots of photos and information.

    So, on Saturday the 31st of May I had my first official Jamboree meeting. 9 participants from Buckinghamshire went, 8 from Berkshire and 2 from Hampshire and all four leaders attended (one from each county).
    The morning started rather awkwardly. This consisted of us standing in separate parts of the room not talking... at all.

    So after about 10 minutes of awkward silence we slowly started talking to each other in little groups. I talked to my friend Matthew and a girl called Olivia for about 15 minutes. Then we all sat down and the leaders introduced themselves.
    After the introductions we played the fruit salad game (for anyone who doesn't know this game. You sit in a circle and are labelled 3  different fruits. The person in the middle says a fruit and then the people labelled that fruit switch chairs). We then had to speak to the people we hadn't met before.
    My favourite game was the noise and action game. This is where you sit in a circle, and every person make a noise and a action based on their name. My name is Sian, which rhymes with farm. On a farm you get cows so my noise was a moo and my action was making horn on my head with my fingers. You then had to try and remember other people e.g. you did your noise then someone else's then they did theirs and someone else's.
    Just realised how complicated that sounds but its actually a really simple game aha.

    Next up was lunch, and as were all explorers lunch was up to us. We were split into groups of 5 and given £1 each. However we had to cater for 6 people (sneaky leaders) :-p Our group of 3 of us from Bucks and 2 from Berkshire. We worked well as a group and decided on bacon sarnies, baked beans, brownies and tangfastics. We were off to the local Tesco to buy our food.
    When we got back to the site the guys had the fire lit and ready to be cooked on. We cooked all the food quickly and had no complaints from our leader Mark. Because we had some left over bread, Rob decided to fry it; I have to admit it was delicious! (However not the healthiest thing ever with all the oil we used!).

    After lunch we tried ordering our leaders from youngest to oldest, with out offending anyone. We didn't get it right.

    We split into 3 groups and group 1, the group I was in, did origami first. I was very pleased with my crane that took be nearly 10 minutes! Yeah I'm not the best at origami.



    So after origami we played a non-violent version of sumo where the aim of the game is to push the other person off balance. Here are couple of videos:

    The final Japanese themed game we played is where you had to move maltesers from a chair at one end of the room to the other end using chopsticks. Luckily I already knew how to use chopsticks and the team I was in won a few of the rounds.

    After all the groups had finished the games we all sat down outside and took part in a quiz where we found that some of our knowledge about the Jamboree is very limited. The group I was in came second!!!

    We then went back inside to find out some more info on the Jamboree itself. Like the weather, where were going, how many people and son on.

    Finally, our some of our parents joined us for the final part of the day. The parents were given some information on the Jamboree.

    Another thing we were asked to do was bring a postcard of our local area and a photo of something important to us to use as a prompt during the introduction game. We then stuck the postcards on a window when we got to the Scout Hut. 

    Over all the day was great. I  met tones of fun and friendly people who I had never met before and didn't even know the lived near me. The best part was definitely Robs fried bread because it was delicious and I'd never had it before. The second most fun part was the quiz because we got to work in teams and find out information we didn't know about the Jamboree.
    I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of our group next month.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! I left out the most amazing point of the whole weekend! I got my necker!!! Wooooooo!!!

    So sorry this post has been a day late but it's really long and took me so long to type. Hope you like it and if you haven't already please check out my YouTube Channel where I put my 1000 views video because you guys are awesome!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg-tKiFKKQk

Chopping Tree's & Exam Prep

        Heyy guys I have had a very busy week since I last posted. I've had my leavers day, leavers assembly, leavers hoodie, read through the minutes from my fundraising groups meeting which took place on Monday and had my first exam today which was overly stressful. But it's done just got Biology, Chemistry and PE to go this week. Yay... not...

        So talking about my fundraising group, we got offered to be given money towards Japan if we attended a Church Tidy Up at Holy Trinity Church in Prestwood. Our jobs consisted of chopping down overhanging trees, putting the fallen trees and branches onto the bonfire and moving some pretty heavy stones to become part of a curb in the car park.
        We started with the trees that were overhanging the container that held oil and one of our unit members' leaders had to crack a Christmas joke when it's nearly summer. He started singing "No-oil, no-oil, no-oil, no-oil, born in the king of Israel". I dumbly didn't get it at first and then remembered the carol Noel. Here are some pictures of us chopping and moving the trees and braches.

        So after a small break for a refreshing drink and a biscuit or two we all got back to work moving the rest of the chopped down branches to the bonfire pile. We then moved onto the next task.

        The next task was moving some very heavy stones across the car park to become part of a curb. We used ropes to pick up the stones and place them on rollers we made out of the chopped down holly tree. The rollers worked very well at first until they lost their bark. We managed to get the first one over to the curb using this method but for the second one we used two ropes and picked the stone up with five of us. We moved the second stone much faster and got it in place. Here are some pictures of us moving the stones.

       So after a fun 2 hours of helping the church we all left and went home, I had revision to do for Monday. We all had fun helping and were thankful to the lovely people who provided us with refreshments which were lovely.

       

        So as you guys may have figured out I have now started my GCSE exams so am revising furiously which leaves little time to post. However I will try to post on Mondays like I said.

        Before I finish I like to let you guys know that you can help my fundraising group from wherever you are. All and any help would be appreciated massively. We have set up a EasyFundraising group. This means whenever you want to buy something online you can search the website for example Ebay in the search bar on the easyfundraising website to see if they will make a donation for our charity when you buy something from them. For more information click on the EasyFundraising link above ^

It's simple, easy and really help us. The name of our group/cause is Chiltern North Scouts - Jamboree Fund 2015. Even if you only raise £2 all donations help.

        So I'll try and post again on Monday and check out my new Get Involved page. See you Monday!