It’s been a week since the closing ceremony, a week since I last saw Mark from Ireland, Robin and Jasmijn from the Netherlands and my best friend Miriam from Austria. It’s been a week since me and the people from my unit freaked out over the performance from Pentatonix and the fire works which illuminated the sky for 15 minutes. It’s been a week. But it already feels like a life time had passed. 

School started on Monday, so tired, Jet-lagged me was thrown out into regular life almost immediately, with no real time to breathe. And somewhere I’m glad. There was no time to think about all the friends I’ve made that I won’t see for a while. There was no time to recap the amazing moments I lived through, nor to feel sad about the Jamboree ending. 

But yesterday, while I was trying to sleep, images flashed through my mind. Of the opening ceremony, where I met Zoe from Cyprus. Of the two days where I was unable to walk. Of the culture day and the unity show. Of my performance at the base camp bash in F. Of the field trip to Charleston with a bunch of other Global Ambassadors. Of the Closing Ceremony. Images so clear and bright, Pictures I hope I will never let go. 

There is one moment that flashed through my mind whilst writing this. Me and my friends were visiting the Jamboree museum and one of the guides came up to us. He told us the story about the first Jamboree after World War Two. The first Jamboree after the world had been separated for years. 

And he told us these exact words: 

„They learnt to trust the people they had been taught to hate” 

It made me cry. Because it’s true. There is so much hate and crime and war in this world. But for that one moment, they were all together. WE were all together. In that moment I realised that I was part of something bigger than just a gathering of teenagers. We were writing history, once again proving that the biggest illusion in this world is the illusion of separation and division.

The Jamboree may have come to an end, but the memories all of us have created in those two weeks will forever live on within us. What’s more, the stories we’ve created will be told until long after we’re gone. 

And I think that is a beautiful thought.