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| Scouts from around the world who visited Korea for the World Scout Jamboree prepare to depart for their home countries from Incheon International Airport, Aug. 12. Yonhap |
Scouts thank Koreans for helping them so much
By Jon Dunbar
Now that the 25th World Scout Jamboree has wrapped up, most of the 45,000 or so Scouts and International Service Team (IST) adult volunteers who came to Korea are either heading home or about to. And it's safe to say the event was overall a colossal embarrassment that will stain Korea's global reputation. But that doesn't mean the Scouts from over 150 countries worldwide aren't going home without any good memories. Through it all, they persevered, made good friends, learned a lot ― and all the while continued "memeing."
"It's very enjoyable to see everyone from every corner of the world come together and complain as one, and they are usually very relatable because everyone is going through the same stuff as you are, be it heat, rain, food or the events," said a Redditor with the username Mr_Skosula who said he was part of Sweden's IST.
Confidential sources who expressed their concerns to The Korea Times last week about conditions at the Jamboree site, located on reclaimed land in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, said their visit wasn't a total nightmare from start to finish ― but always with a caveat.
"My main takeaway from the Jamboree was that whatever happened, the kindness of Scouts is never extinguished," said a Scout from a Nordic country. "If there's one thing that is certain, it is that we will all have good stories both sad and funny after this event. Regardless, it was fun (at least after the fact) experiencing this and I hope to be able to come here again sometime and explore more of the country and history because it truly is gorgeous with an extremely rich history."
A few even expressed regret about leaving the Jamboree site, although by the time Typhoon Khanun hit, flooding the campsite, it was apparent the right choice had been made.
"Everyone has had fun overall," said a British Scout who was among the first to leave the campsite with the U.K. delegation on Aug. 5. "When we were told we were going back to Seoul we were all disappointed, which goes to show that we wanted to stay and we were enjoying the challenge and adventure."
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| The reclaimed land that had been the venue for the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, is waterlogged, Aug. 11, the day after Typhoon Khanun passed through the region. Yonhap |
"I won't remember the Jamboree as a complete catastrophe because of the many good things. The biggest positive thing is the people we met. We had nice conversations with so many different people," said a German Scout. "In the end, the Jamboree will be overall a good memory for me with some bad spots."
Even when discussing the things they liked about the Jamboree, the interviewees ― who all spoke on condition of anonymity ― couldn't resist adding some parting shots.
"The whole Jamboree can be likened to Stockholm Syndrome as many were sad to leave ― I suspect not because of good times at the Jamboree though there certainly were," the Nordic Scout said. "But because they ― me included ― paid so much, often with support from family and through countless fundraisers. I am extremely thankful that my family can bear the losses and there is a possibility of going again sometime but I don't think that is true for a good portion of the Scouts especially those who come from difficult backgrounds. And that is without mentioning how we were told this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we would make memories for life, of happiness, not sadness and disappointment."
The Scout added, "But don't get me wrong ― everyone I met was great and extremely friendly despite the circumstances but what could have been a great time was ruined by who knows how many mistakes, much more than should have been allowed to happen."
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| Scouts from Ecuador and Fiji say farewell at the end of the 25th World Scout Jamboree as they depart from the Imsil Youth Traning Center in Imsil, North Jeolla Province, Aug. 12. Yonhap |
Many participants agreed that the best thing about the Jamboree was the people they met.
"One of the best things was interacting with new people even though we probably won't ever see each other again in our lives," said the British Scout. "Seeing our differences was cool and fun but seeing all our similarities was even more fun. It was such a different and unique experience seeing so many different people with so many different and unique backgrounds from far and distant lands I've never been to, and just interacting with them and being able to trade, communicate with gestures and simple words or sounds. It was so eye-opening seeing how similar people are, even if they live different lives in different places."
The goodwill among people extended not just among the participants, but also from the Korean public.
"I will remember the Korean people I have met at the place or at the offsite programs ― they were so kind and always tried to do everything perfect for us," said the German Scout. "We all are really thankful that the population of Korea is helping us so much. They do everything for us to have a great time in Korea. I personally talked to a few Koreans and they told me that they were really sorry for the bad circumstances at the Jamboree place and that they were afraid that we now have a bad picture of Korea."
An IST from a Nordic country agreed that the people they met at the camp were nice, and had one other ― only one ― nice thing to say about the event.
"The people were nice and always supportive towards each other, and whenever my country had troubles others would give help if needed," the IST said. "The memes were funny especially how positive most of them were. That's pretty much all the positives I had."
The IST was referring to @wsj2023_memes on Instagram, an account created last year that now has over 20,000 followers. It became a platform for participants to air their grievances and laugh at their suffering together.
"Absolutely, the memes have been keeping the spirit up in people," said the Nordic IST. "Although I think truly that is the nature of memes. It's to make fun of something tragic (in some cases) and try to find some sort of happiness. It has honestly been keeping the morale better than it would've been without them."
The memes poked fun at everything, including the campsite flooding early on, the extreme heat, health and safety issues, and even comparisons to Fyre Festival. There were also many memes about the oddly named Pocari Sweat, a Japanese sports drink. "Who is Pocari?" one user-contributed meme asks. "And why does he sweat so much?"
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| The energy drink Pocari Sweat became the butt of many memes from Scouts around the world during the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Korea earlier this month. / Courtesy of Donga-Otsuka |
Some memes make fun of the media sensationalizing the problems the participants experienced, although the interviewed participants felt this was not the case, or at least that it was not too excessive. "I think that some problems were exaggerated but mostly the media was right with what they wrote," added the German Scout.
Media outlets have shared some of the positive experiences many Scouts ― speaking on the record ― have had, refuting the claims about the abysmal conditions. However, it appears a lot of these accounts come from participants handpicked by event organizers; one such participant even contacted The Guardian wishing to retract earlier statements, saying they felt pressure to say positive things in the presence of an escort.
"I'm afraid that people will think you can't criticize the Jamboree without criticizing the participants, which can't be farther from the truth," said the Nordic Scout.
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| Scouts attending the closing ceremony of the 25th World Scout Jamboree line up to enter Seoul World Cup Stadium, Aug. 11. Joint Press Corps. |
Unfortunately, the event organizers, including some government figures, have also joined in to downplay the problems faced by the Jamboree participants.
The Nordic Scout recalled a comment from Organizing Committee Secretary General Choi Chang-haeng, blaming many of the collapses in the first few days on the Scouts' excitement during a K-pop performance at the opening ceremony on Aug. 2. The Independent quoted him at a press conference saying the Scouts were "exhausted after actively releasing their energy."
"Trust me when I say that no one ― at least that I saw ― was dancing and certainly not enough to cause exhaustion as most ― at least in my unit ― were too tired to do so, as the opening ceremony was over around midnight with tents still left to build after the ceremony was over. I personally went to sleep at 2 a.m."
The organizing committee also released a statement saying that they expect the adversity "will offer the participants a chance to feel a sense of accomplishment as they have overcome difficulties together."
"It's a lot of rubbish if the organizing committee is saying that," a Latin American IST said. "They knew they were going to deliver an underwhelming event because of their mismanagement of things and are now trying to twist it to be positive."
