Category: WSJ 2019

A quick update from me. I enjoyed the Jamboree very much and have made many new international friends – when I return to the UK I will write up each day from my notes. On Friday we left the site and headed to our university accommodation in Maryland. On route we stopped and I exhaled a joy of cry as I spotted Goldfish in America so automatically had to grab myself a bag! We ate real food and I do not think I’ve ever seen so many UK Scouts voluntarily eat salad (it was definitely a change from rice and chicken!).

We then played cards until a bunch of people from another unit (83) stole our Florida flamingo (more to be explained on a different post) so we ran around trying to recapture it. We then headed to be after a well deserved yet weirdly warm shower.

We woke up the next day and ate breakfast (there was bacon!) before walking to the train station. We caught the train into Washington DC where we first headed towards the White House. From there we could explore at our own accord so headed towards Lincon memorial.

We also looked at the Vietnam memorial and walked along the pool of reflection before stopping at the World War memorial. To photograph the Washington monument my group became Spidermen. From here we headed towards the Natural history museum.

Here I found the bear prints which when I was around 3 I had my photo taken their – hence I retook the photo. We looked at the displays: ran away from the elephant from night at the museum, recreated an antelope attacking a lion being attacked by a cheetah and more. I learnt that pigs are related to hippo’s before we ate lunch.

After lunch we headed to the air and space museum where we got personalised dog tags and saw some of Neil Armstrong’s kit which he took to the moon. We also space walked and touched a piece of the moon. We then headed back to meet our unit before heading back to our university accommodation. After a quick stop at target (where I brought 3 packs of goldfish and a mango – a story for another time) we then got dinner.

That evening we headed to the UK party where we had our photos taken in all of the host countries photo booths. We got a free ground sheet and also took part in a few other activities. We went to target again to buy some popcorn and tissues but only had $5 so when it came to 4 cents over (we forgot about taxes) the lady just allowed us to pay (and forgot about the missing 4 cents).

We headed back to the accomodation where I showered before heading to watch a movie (it didn’t happen) and then ended up writing up the past few days by hand with my unit (who were watching fast and furious). I then headed to bed.

The next day I woke up and headed to breakfast (for sausages which weren’t patties!). We then went back to our accommodation where we had a mini pub quiz (a group of flamingos is called a flamboyant) and then headed to catch our yellow school bus. We arrived at the baseball where I set off the metal detector as I forgot to take my bottle off of my shorts so it buzzed. Some of us had to lie about our age in order to get a free hat but luckily I did not need to and break Another Scout law! Once we got in and had our supporter hats, we grabbed food and headed to a seat (which was along the row of my designated seats). We watched baseball and as a contingent got a shout-out for being international supporters of Anthony Santender.

Our unit had to leave early (as did many others) to catch our bus. I have now found out that I am going for dinner at Denny’s tonight.

We drove over Brooklyn bridge in the dark heading towards our university accommodation. As we drove over we could see the New York skyline lit up with lights and it was beautiful. Once we arrived at our accommodation we stood off of our air-conditioned coach into the humid (32 degree) heat. We quickly got told some information before heading up to floor 15 to sleep.

I took a few photos of the skyline before sorting out my bags and heading to bed. I awoke a 6:20 (local time) with less than 4 hours ‘sleep’. I kept waking up during the night either too hot or due to noise. Once we woke we managed to lock ourselves out of our room as we went to admire the view in the day light. Luckily, someone came to our rescue with a master’s key!

Once we had sorted ourselves we headed towards a delicious breakfast of a dry bagel (with the option of Philadelphia cheese), orange juice, water and an apple. We ate quickly before heading to Brooklyn bridge to have a group photo. As we left the bridge, a group of Americans gave us a warm welcome before we continued on route to the 9/11 memorials.

(I would just like to interrupt with a temperature update. The temperature was around 36 degree’s centigrade but felt like 45.)

We saw Ground Zero which was beautiful and hard-hitting. From there we headed towards Central Park board Subway. We worked out how to use the Subway and managed to arrive at Central Park. We walked passed the Trump hotels and spotted lots of UK units. Our leaders brought us ice lollys to eat before we headed around Central Park and spotted the Essex unit which we cannot with on our previous Gilwell/London training camp.

We walked towards Times Square but first ate lunch at Applebee’s. I ordered a Cheeseburger before the person next to me asked the difference between a hamburger and a cheeseburger. Our waitor gave us jugs of Pepsi and water and was very helpful for the vegetarian on the table. However later on the vegan burger looked surprisingly meaty. We soaked up the cool air-conditioning before heading to Times Square. Here we had a quick photo opportunity and my patrol ‘collectively’ decided to go into Sephora (where we tested all the first fragrances to hide our sweaty smell) we also went to Levi’s and American Polo. I got given a fan as an advertisement for a Broadway show.

We then headed towards the Empire State but stopped off at a tourist shop. As we left the shop we realised that we were running late so had to quickly go to the nearest deli to buy a packed dinner. I had a roast turkey roll, popcorn, a cookie and a cold drink. One of my leaders ordered a cheese sandwich so he was thoroughly disappointed as he received a grilled cheese sandwich instead.

Finally we headed back to the Subway where my card decided that it had ran out of credit so the kind man in the ticket machine let us through a different gate. We made the Subway and then managed to get to the ferry port on time – and luckily we were not the last patrol back.

We caught our ferry and met the Essex unit again. Our ferry ride was refreshing with a cool breeze. Once we got off at New Jersey we hunted for our holdalls (which we had previously loaded into a van) before then heading onto another air-conditioned coach (with WiFi). We then travelled to the University of James Madison. On the way we had a quick stop at a services which contained 3 vending machines, some toilets and a water fountain – it was very busy with around 4 units having stopped there.

On the coach we ate our dinner as well as some mango. We also had some Relationship talks from the leaders and every time we drove past a McDonald’s we’d cheer. Eventually we reached our accommodation. I showered quickly in the cold water and then fell asleep.

One thing I am currently missing from the UK is knives and forks in restaurants.

All times are BST

20:10 (Sat) The plane took off

22:00 Food arrived – Spicy Chicken, Mousse, Bread roll, Fruit (which I traded for crackers and cheese) and Water

22:20 A cup of tea arrives (which late on spills a little on my lap – I’m all good)

22:30 Tray taken away and I’m off to sleep

1:45 (Sun) Sunset so plane lights turn on

1:55 More food (roast chicken caeser salad sandwich and chocolate bar – we can all guess that I went for the chocolate)

2:00 Another cup of tea to give me a caffeine boost

2:30 Eating a bread and butter roll from dinner as sandwich was not nice

2:40 Uniform on and Pen with me

2:45 20 minutes until landing (Final announcement) as well as seatbelt sign

3:09 We have landed (22:09 local time)

3:32 Waiting to get off plane with a 32 degree Celsius temperature outside

4:20 All through security (my fingerprints would scan and be kept o record till they sorted it out)and have found my bag

4:40 Waiting for coach to arrive

4:45 On coach – it’s so hot and humid outside but so cool on the coach with air con

4:50 I’m now on my way to my accommodation see you tomorrow (at 23:50 local time)

17:35 So I have arrived at the airport and am currently waiting to check in and then go through security. Currently I’m quite happy and excited for our journey.

18:00 Got checked in and my bag weighed around 20kg.

18:25 Went through security and got pulled over. They were interested in my left pocket and right foot. They also took a sample. But I’m clear through.

18:30 We are going to have a meal but first have to decide where!

18:45 Free time before meeting at gate

19:05 Catch train to gate

19:22 Checked in with gate

19:38 Sat in seat all boarded

See you in New York