Emily Grant – Venture
16th Kildare Kilcock Scout Group
June 30th – Aug 16th 2023
Saemangeum, SouthKorea
Imbolc Troop
My time at the 25th World Scout Jamboree was unforgettable. From being evacuated at 5am to meeting tons of incredible people from around the world! Although some people think the Jamboree was a disaster, I think it was amazing.
Yes – the toilets did have crickets and sand in them, but it was worth it.
Our journey began on a blustery day up in Larch Hill Scout Centre, when our troop met for the first time, it was August 30th 2022, our very first preparation camp. During these camps and troop days out, we learnt all about South Korea. Their insane monsoon season, temperatures over 35°, 100% + humidity, clothes that were and weren’t suitable, common Korean greetings, such as “Annyeonghaseyo” (Hello), and “Gamsahabnida” (Thank you), we cooked different Korean meals and learnt lots of card games to keep us preoccupied on our long flights.
We met at the airport for 7am, we flew to Frankfurt, and we had a 3 hour delay before finally boarding our flight to Incheon, Korea! The moment we stepped off the plane the heat was unbearable the air felt so heavy, the sound of cicadas was deafening. We had to wait around the airport for a while, where we met some lovely Australians, dying to start swapping with us. Finally, we got onto the bus; it took us to Suwon University, where we stayed for 3 days.
During this time, we visited Seoul city, many fortresses, traditional food markets and the more touristy kind too. Doing anything indoors was such a treat as there was air-conditioning, but it also made it harder to adapt to the heat. We met a lot of other scouts in the streets, the locals were so happy to see us. They would give us food and
Cycling along forest path somewhere in South Korea!
even money. We had a lot of people asking for our photos, and people would randomly shout “Jamboree” at us. We truly felt very welcomed.
We arrived on the Jamboree site in Saemangeum a day later than anticipated our site was a little flooded from a previous monsoon. Because of this our tents we pitched on plastic pallets. The spiders, oh, the spiders loved the pallets. Walking through the site was so cool. Scouts from 100s of countries, all the flags, and seeing how insane the Korean and German tents were. After setting up we went to the opening ceremony, opening concert more like. They had K-Pop dancers and singers, a drone show and fireworks. They introduced every country that was there, and of course the Irish was the loudest.
Throughout the week temperatures never dropped below 27° at night, during the day was even worse. At one stage it was 46°. Standing in the sun for longer than 2 minutes was insufferable. As Irish people once its 20° we’re dying. We were drinking at least 2 litres of water / Pocari sweat an hour, constantly applying sunscreen, and wearing hats. A lot of us wore these lightweight sleeves which actually cooled you down. After 3 or 4 days we didn’t feel the heat AS much. In Korea the government sends warnings for various incidents. Every hour we would be texted to stay inside and avoid strenuous activities…… Jamboree > Safety
All on site activities were cancelled from the heat, I didn’t really mind that, it meant more time to trade and make friends. Off-site activities went ahead, as a lot of them had indoors areas where we could sit in the cool air-conditioning for a little while. Jamboree had set up ice blocks along the streets so we could sit on them – strange idea, BUT, it worked. We went to Gochang Eupseung, Hanok Village and Buan Theme park before we were evacuated. In the evenings, we could visit other sites; we had dinner with and hosted in return Colombian, Brazilian and Kiwi Scouts. Each night there was music, dancing, meeting new people, the site came alive as the heat subsided.
Typhoon Khanun was forecasted to travel up the China Sea, however it changed course, and was to come straight across the Jamboree site. We woke up at 4:30am and started taking down and bracing the site, by arranging the chairs and pallets in such a way to reduce damage expected from flooding. It was a little scary – it clearly was supposed to be a lot worse than a little bit of rain. But I think fear really exaggerated it – because it really was just A LOT of rain and wind. We stayed in Wusuk University with some Polish Scouts; the storm was pretty cool to watch from inside! It was nice to have sand and spider free beds, clean toilets, and hot showers (though I missed the crickets)
All in all – I LOVED the Jamboree, and I cannot wait for Poland!! I really recommend applying to the Irish Contingent, you’ll make lifelong friends, collect tons of cool Necker’s, though I doubt there will be a Typhoon to add to the excitement of it all, the adventure will still be worth it.
South Korean T-Rex Scouts on a mission to kidnap the Irish.
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