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Sorry I've not had chance to update my blog whilst at the jamboree site, it's been a busy couple of weeks! We arrived in Yamaguchi on Tuesday 28th July, and after unloading over 1200 UKC Scouts & Guides in under 60 seconds we were on our way to site. The station was buzzing with members of lots of contingents arriving only minutes apart, IST & the local community there to welcome us. We quickly jumped on a coach with our kit to Kira Hama and the 23rd World Scout Jamboree site. There wasn't much time to take it all in though, after registering, we dumped our bags and heading to the Northern hub to help our units get set up & settled in. Finally the whole team was together and later that night we got to share a meal in the IST restaurant & catch up. Fortunately our lovely IST had already put our tents up so all we had to go was make our beds before we could sleep! Or try to St least as most nights it was still in the mid-high 20s in our tents at night!
What did we get up to the rest of the 10 days we were on site I hear you ask? Wednesday was the opening ceremony. For the most part I split my time between duty team - running errands or dealing with contingent incidents; helping on the UKC pavilion; setting up and attending receptions for our hoho hosts, Heads of Contingents & our unit leaders; or visiting units. There was some time to wander the site, try out the Finnish sauna or relax in the much needed shade of a tree near the dome. We ate in both the canteen & other contingents food houses. On Sunday it was culture day, cycling around site it was great to see the young people mixing, talking and sharing food & activities! And of course swapping badges and kit! On Monday we went to Hiroshima to visit the peace park, we also had a great Japanese meal, some of which was cooked on hot stones in front of us. The evening ended on a bar in Yamaguchi with some more obligatory karaoke.
Last night was the closing ceremony and after a day of talking travel, loading crates and luggage trucks, most of us gaining a few additional tan lines, it was great to all be together for one final time in the arena as the sun set. Great speeches were given by a UN youth envoy on behalf of Ban Ki-Moon & the Scout Associations Secretary General. We also enjoyed some more flag performances and a bit of J-Pop, as well as finally hearing the jamboree song! The closing act, a heavy metal band unable to refrain from swearing in front of the tens of thousands of young people was an odd choice but the fireworks brought the night to a spectacular close!
As I write this I am again sat on the Shinkansen, this time in a seat, on my way back to Tokyo ready to receive the other half of the contingent for Mimasu Tokyo later on today!
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