53rd St Barnabas Scout Group
23rd World Scout Jamboree WSJ Japan August 2015.
28th July 2015. At 4pm everyone arrived at the limassol district building, ready to embark on a trip of lifetime. After saying all our goodbyes, we headed to Larnaca airport, where at 5 am we checked in and after half an hour we boarded the plane and left for Dubai. After 4 hours of flying, we arrived in hot Dubai, where we left again for Osaka. The plane ride was long (9 hours). If it hadn’t been for the numerous movies, they had for us to choose from, I would have been bored to death. So after flying for 9 hours, we arrived only to wait for another 2 hours in immigration lines. Finally, after all that had been sorted, we left for our 6-hour bus journey to Yamaguchi. On the way we stopped at a Japanese restaurant where we had dinner and discovered some fairly odd toilets, after that experience we left. Once we arrived at the Jamboree Site, we all came out of the bus half excited half exhausted, with our bags we walked up to the dome and stayed there from 4- 6 am and then we went to our camping area in the western hub (Miyanoura) where we set up everything and relaxed then explored for the rest of the day until dinner. we all went to get a good night rest. Anastasia .E
29th July. We woke up at 6am realizing we were in Japan. We had scrambled eggs and cornflakes for breakfast and packed our bags for a day of exploration. Since the jamboree program hadn’t started yet, we had plenty of free time to go out and see what the camp had to offer. We spread over the campsite to explore the area. First thing we came across a jungle gym. We spent the next couple of hours running up and down its many tunnels and paths. By the time we were done the heat was starting to kick in so we retreated back to our campsite. At the campsite we played water games and got wet in order to cool down. Once we dried off which only took about a minute. We got into our uniforms and prepared for the opening ceremony. We made our way through the opening entrance waving our flags proudly in the air, screaming our lungs out. We gathered at the arena where we were able to see exactly how many people were at the jamboree. The ceremony started with performances by Japanese pop idols. Next, we were introduced to all the countries at the jamboree. The ceremony then closed with an inspiring speech from the organizers of the jamboree. We then walked back to the campsite and finished off the day with noodles and vegetables. Nicholas. R.
30th July. Today was the first day the jamboree officially opened. Since we started the day with free time, we headed off to explore. Me and some of the other scouts spent the morning at the World Scout Centre. At the World Scout Centre each country sets up their own little shelter area to represent their country and culture. For example, in Iceland we enjoyed a game of riking wrestling. In this game two people stand side by side holding a stick with one hand. The point was to try to get the opponent off balance. At Malaysia tent we were taught a traditional board game, which awoke our competitive side. At two o’clock we gathered up at the Culture tent , ready for our first official activity. The tent was packed with opportunities to experience different cultures. Japan taught us step by step how to write calligraphy and there was so much more to find, like wood craft. We finished off the day with a hot meal and a goodnights sleep. Elin.
31st July. Today we woke up bright and early at 6am so we could all freshen up. For breakfast we had yogurt. Each person made themselves a packed lunch. There was a selection of juice, sandwich, either with jam or beef or crisp. After that we walked to the bus station and started our journey. We went to a school where we did calligraphy, coloring, drank green tea, made origami and ate Japanese candy. The children of the school played instruments, made out of bamboo, for us and taught us a dance. When that was done, we went on a lunch break and headed off to a milk factory. In the milk factory we learnt about the history of milk and cows, looked around the factory and made our own cheese spread. Then we came back to the jamboree, where we explored for a while and made new friends. For dinner my group went to eat with the South Africans and shared our scouting stories and spoke about what our culture and country is like. Melissa
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1st August. Today we woke up bright and early in order to get in line to pick up the food to cook breakfast, as we were on duty. We picked up the food and brought it back to the campsite to prepare it. We had sandwiches and juice. At about 7am we were changed and ready to hop on to the bus to go to our peace activity in Hiroshima. On the bus we got to know other scouts from America. After a 2-hour bus ride we finally arrived at the Hiroshima Peace Park. We first saw the tomb where there where the names of those who were affected by the a-bomb and have died, from 1945 up until this very day. Further down the Park we saw the monument of Hiroshima that represented the story of the little girl who died during the war due to leukemia from the radiation from the bomb. It was surrounded by cases full of cranes for her. The park was amazingly green but very hot. We also got to ring the bell of the Park. We then had 30 minutes break and continued the trip. We went to the museum where I was blown away from the power and impact the bomb had on the people of Hiroshima. In the museum there were thousands of personal items from the people that were affected and due to the heat of the bomb they were badly damaged or melted. After the museum we went into a room full of scouts to listen to the messages from the survivors. Then scouts had a chance to express their thought and feelings about peace based on what they had seen today. We then made fans and did origami and then it was time to go. Two hours later we arrived at the campsite where it was time to prepare dinner. We had pork and sausages in BBQ sauce. Once it was ready, we had the British over from across the road. They really enjoyed our meal and then we offered them some Cyprus delight, which they loved. They left at about 8:00 pm where we cleaned up all the cooking pans and utensils. We showered and got to bed for another night’s sleep. Demetriana
2nd August. We started the day at 4:00am because we had to go get the food for breakfast, which was fresh fruit. The morning activity was an Orthodox Church Service since it was Sunday. It was an unusual church service for us as parts were in English, some in Greek and other parts in Russian. After the church service we walked back and we started getting ready for the food festival (carnival day). Cyprus of course offered loukoumia and tzoutzouku and taught people how to dance. Everyone got a chance to try foods from all over the world for example pancakes from Canada, cold tea from south Africa, traditional desserts from Estonia and sushi from Japan. Since we tried food from all around the world lunch was not needed. After the food festival finished, we had free time and we all went off to explore and do some requirement for the friendship award or other awards. Then we all came back and had dinner which was pasta with cabornara or tomato sauce. After that we had more free time and we all played card games and enjoyed the company of other scouts. Some of our scouts had showers and started getting ready to go to the arena for a big concert. The first song of the show was the jamboree song - A Spirit of Unity - and then there were other pop songs. Near the end of the concert Pikachu came and sang the theme song of the next pokemon movie and the crowd went crazy. When the concert was over, we walked back to our sub-camp and went to bed. Vassiliki
3rd August. We woke up at 5:30 like always, had our showers and had breakfast. After breakfast we made our way to the beach. We walked to a small shelter ready to start the water activities. The first challenge was a bike obstacle course, which was harder than it looked, especially on sand. After the bike course we moved on to beach football. When we had finished that we were allowed to go into the sea for 30 minutes. While people did the rest of the activities some of us went for life guard training in the indoor pool. We learnt how to save someone in danger. After the training we headed back to the beach to continue with the activities. When that was over, we went back to the campsite to have showers and prepared for dinner with the Canadians. We made more friends and got ready to dance on stage. It was a great success. After a long day we all felt so tired so we went straight to sleep. Stephanie. V
4th August. We woke up at 6:00 for breakfast while others had woken up earlier to have morning showers. Then we all got ready to go to the Global Development Village (GDV). When we were sure that we had our books, hats and water we set off. Once we got there, we separated into our patrols and started doing the activities. For example, making houses and putting them on a slope and watching the effect rain has on them by creating land sides. We also learnt about food chains and how a village can sink if not built properly due to earthquakes, and how to keep food safe away from bears and how not to damage nature. Once we had done some of the thousands of activities, my group team laid down under a shelter and ended up falling asleep. We were only woken up by Tracey when we had to go. By that time nearly everyone had left. After our nap we made our way back to the campsite , where we ate lunch. We then had free time for the rest of the day. We had lots of fun at faith and beliefs , we made bracelets, little people and learnt of the different religions. Later on, we went to the scout center where we did a few activities for the northic badge. We then went back to camp, ate dinner and finished off the day with card games. Exhausted we all went to bed. Christina K
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5th August. Since our patrol was on duty, we had to wake up at 4 am to stand in line for food collecting. When we started preparing for breakfast, a scout from the Canadian contingent coincidently passed by our camp and gave us maple syrup. Eleni then had a brilliant idea to make French toast! After breakfast we had free time until 12:00am. This gave us the opportunity to finish off any activities or challenges we had to do. After lunch we headed to the science module where we did various activities and learnt how to make fuel cells and made cars work with water. We sand blasted stainless-steel mugs and went to a small physics course where we were told about light. At 4:30 we returned to camp and started preparing for dinner and cleaned up the campsite. After we washed up and showered, we went to bed. Ian.
5th - 6th August. Nagasaki. I was up bright and early on the 5th at around 5:00 am and the food had already been collected, so I just quickly made my breakfast and was off to the welcome center and then on the bus to Nagasaki, at 7:30. At 11:30 we arrived and had lunch, it was a buffet with a/c!! After lunch we started. We had the opening ceremony of the international youth peace forum. There was traditional dancing as well as time for Japanese Culture, where I did Samari sword fighting. We later had a talk by a Japanese astronaut, who showed us pictures from space. Then the 150 participants representing their countries headed off for dinner at a very nice hotel that was extremely fancy. After dinner we went to a different hotel to sleep. The next morning, we had a talk from one of the few people who survived the a bomb, Mr Yoshiro Yamawaki. After the closing ceremony we set off back to camp. Christo S.
5th - 6th August. Hiroshima. I was taken to the welcome center at 1:30pm where each representative of each country had to meet. We were all given a bus number and then we all set off to Hiroshima, which was 2 hours away. Since we were all representing our country at the Hiroshima Peace Ceremony, we thought that we would all be staying in a nice hotel. Instead, we were taken to a hut high up in the mountains where the toilets where holes in the ground and everyone had to shower together. The advantage though, was that up there it was much cooler than it was down at camp. We all had to be on the bus at 5:30 am the next day and were taken to Hiroshima. When we got to the Hiroshima Peace Park, we handed out flowers and programs to people attending the memorial. I felt so proud to be representative of my own country. For the ceremony, we all sat down in reserved seats and at 8:15am we had 1 min silence for all the lost souls. The Ceremony was attended by UN officials, the Prime minister of Japan and the mayor of Hiroshima. At 8:45 am, we were all escorted to the Sudoku sasaki monument which was named after the girl herself who became famous for folding paper cranes. There, all the representatives and other scouts from Japan all got into a massive circle and held hands, symbolizing the motto of the jamboree - Wa, which means the spirit of unity. Then, the 4 bundles of paper cranes were handed over to 4 out of the 162 representatives, one of them being me, so that we could deliver them to the monument. That moment was a very honorable for me and so many photographers were taking pictures of me and I felt famous. We were then taken to a hall where we had lunch and watched a famous Japanese dance/ theatre act called kagura, it was a bit different from other traditional dances but it was a good experience. At the end we all departed for the campsite where we all said goodbye to the friends that we made. Natalie.
6th August. Tracey’s group woke up at 5 am to collect our morning breakfast and lunch. We cooked sausages for hot dogs. As we had free time this morning, I went down to the scout shop to buy my items on my shopping list. I headed towards faith and belief where I made and learnt many things about other peoples religion. We then walked down to the supermarket where scouts all around the world were swopping badges and I was wheeling and dealing. In the afternoon we left on by bus to go do our nature module. We all split up into two groups and we got a choice between climbing up a mountain to a Shrine while the other group ventured round the field and played games and other activities. When we had all finished, we got back on the bus and we arrived back at camp at 4:30. I ran to the scout center with Ian and Christianna and to the Indian tent where they were doing hennas on our hands. Our group cooked dinner, which was sushi rice. At 8:00pm we got ready to head down to the Italian pizza tent. After we had all finished some of us went back to camp and a few scouts stayed and went to the disco next door. We all got ready and went to bed. Samantha.
THE 53RD AT THE WSJ JAPAN 2015
THE 53RD AT THE WSJ JAPAN 2015
PATROL LEADERS AT THE WSJ JAPAN 2015
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7th August. So it was the last official day of the jamboree and we didn’t want to waste any time so, we woke up bright and early and had breakfast. For the rest of the morning, we had free time and everyone went running around the campsite doing last minute things, like collecting pins, badges and requirements to finish our friendship award. After lunch we played the wide game where we had to go around making new friends and collecting little papers for our last task for the friendship award. Before we knew it, it was dark and we were sitting in the arena jamming out to live music and watching the closing ceremony, which ended with a big firework show which was beautiful. Then it was dinner time, shower time and time for our last-minute goodbyes to all our new friends, before we had to go to bed to get some rest for our early wake up call. Eleni.
8th August. We woke up bright and early ready to start breaking up camp in order to leave, half upset to leave all our friends behind but also half glad because we were going to a nice hotel with a/c. After we had packed up camp and gave all the equipment back, we dragged our bags all the way to the bus, in order to start our journey to Hiroshima. Not all our stuff fit under the bus so we had to pile them all in the back of the bus by everyone’s feet. When we had finally got to the hotel after our 2-hour drive, we all managed to find so much energy due to the site of the hotel. We dropped our bags off and went to go find somewhere to eat as we were too early to check in. We all went round to this huge outdoor shopping mall, where we went and ate at Mc Donalds, as it was the closest to us, and then had free time for two hours. We then went back to the hotel and checked into our rooms. We were given until 7 pm to have showers and relax and look round the hotel. It felt so good to not have to line up for a shower and just to feel so comfortable and relaxed. At 7pm we met downstairs to go on another hunt to find a restaurant we could eat at. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any restaurants big enough to fit all of us so we decided to split into our patrols. Our group went to a restaurant where you order your food and drinks on a machine and then sat at your table and got it delivered by a waitress. The food was different but good. We then headed back to the hotel as we were all so tired from our long day and fell straight to sleep. Christianna. V
9th August. It was the first day in Hiroshima. We got to have a lie in till 7:30 to eat breakfast and get ready by 8:30. At 8:30 we were met by our guide Micki and started walking to the tram stop. We began our one-hour journey on the tram, standing up to give our seats to other passengers and trying to find a free spot to sit the whole way. We arrived at the ferry station, stretched our legs and then got on the ferry. The sea was blue and we saw a ray swimming past. After the quick ride, we got to the island, it was beautiful full of trees. The guide told us about the shrines and the deer’s which were close by. The deer’s mingled a lot with the tourist, so some of us took selfies with them. On the island, we got to buy many souvenirs and visited the shrine one of which had an extremely long corridor. After enjoying the nature, culture and people, we took a ferry back at around 4:00 pm and a then a tram back to the hotel. We then had time to get ready and go to dinner. We split up in our patrols again and enjoyed the night out. We slept like babies that night. Arthur.
10th August. Today we had arranged for our guide, Micki, to take us on a tour of interesting places in Hiroshima. We woke up and had breakfast and all met in the foyer at 9 am. We walked to the entrance of the Hiroshima Gardens, where we met Micki. These Gardens were beautiful, they consisted of a large lake filled with koyai carp and terrapins. Amazing bridges, one of which was left standing after the A- bomb had dropped. The garden also had a tea garden and a herb garden as well as a special tree that had also survived the bomb. The scouts had time to explore the bamboo forest and other areas of interest in the garden, we also bought food to feed the fish, which were huge! After the garden we walked to another park where there was a huge Tora (gate). This marked the entrance to the Samari Castle. This castle is now a museum and Micki accompanied us around the museum explaining all the exhibits. It was a fascinating place. The scouts even had the opportunity to try on traditional costumes and samari armour. The view from the top of the castle was amazing. Miki then walked us back to the A-dome in the peace park. The group split some of them went for another look around the Hiroshima peace museum. Some wanted to go shopping, whilst others went to find the animai area. We all met back at the hotel at 5pm to rest. 7:30 pm each patrol went out to find different restaurants for dinner. We all then met up at 9pm at the arcade where we had fun playing arcade games, winning prizes and competing against each other in races. 10:30pm, we returned back to the hotel. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, but today was a great way to spend our last day in Hiroshima. Tracey. (Raksha)
