Meet & Greet – Scout Edition

 

This morning, a friend and fellow Ambassador from my Unit – Lovisa – and I were given the opportunity to participate in a Meet & Greet organized by the Jamboree Staff. Before we got there, we really had no idea what to expect; we had just signed up because “it seemed cool” when we had been informed about it a few days ago. After running our fastest up and across the hill that leads to the Scott Summit Centre, we arrived just in time – only to realize that we were the only ones there. Nevertheless, we were soon accompanied by Global Ambassadors from the US, Switzerland, and last but not least South Africa.

Together, we headed over to the tent were the Meet & Greet was supposed to take place, put our backpacks in a corner, and took a seat, waiting for more information about what was going to happen. It turned out that the guests expected to show up any minute were locals from Charleston, West Virginia, that had received special invitations. I had the pleasure of talking to several people, one of them being a ninety-one year old lawyer still practicing his profession(!). They were all very curious to hear about our experiences at the Jamboree, asked questions about the activities, the day-to-day life, and for our thoughts about the camp site itself. We were given a delicious lunch (admittedly, our packed lunch isn’t always as much of a “meal” as I’m used to, so this was more than welcome) and received a couple of really beautiful badges, used at the National Jamboree of 2017, as a “thank you” for participating.

 

I must say that I’m very thankful for being given the opportunity to participate in this event as it turned out to be a great experience despite my relatively low expectations. Although the main purpose of us Global Ambassadors being there was to inform and answer questions about the Jamboree, I indeed felt like it gave something back to me as well. Personally, I believe that there are few things more valuable and precious than the wisdom and life-experience gained by older generations. However, in today’s society (in Sweden), the interaction between youths and elders is very limited. Therefore, I try to take every opportunity there is to learn a life lesson from people older than myself- especially from those involved in the scouts!

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