This blog tracks the daily activities of scouts and scouters from Troop 1018 on their Summer 2006 trip to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre located in Switzerland.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
The scouts break in to two groups today. Currently, one group is hiking up to Fründenhütte (a hut 2562 meters high) for an overnight trip to explore the nearby glaciers. The other group (my group) is waiting around camp meeting people from all over the world, our overnight hike begins tomorrow, we will be going to the Ueschinenhütte hike.
Note: I do not have any details on the Fründenhütte trip today, so all information will be based on the other group's experiences. I will add Fründenhütte information on Tuesday when I return from my trip to Ueschinenhütte. This also means that there will not be a blog post tomorrow.
The Cat
Today, being Sunday, the scouts went to morning religious services. Some went to a German Catholic church, while others (including myself) went to a non-denominational chapel service. The place is famously known for being where Lord Baden Powel (the founder of the international scout movement) declared the spot as a meeting spot for all scouts worldwide. It was pretty cool because of the Scout Law engraved in so many different languages. Anyway, towards the end of the service, a cat snuk up on us, jumped on Mr. Maroney's lap, and instantly fell asleep. We asked the nearby campers if they knew who's cat it was, and they just assumed that it was native to the camp. We passed the friendly cat around and told stories about our own pets at home. (I guess this isn't very interesting to you readers now, but it was amazing to us.)
The Volleyball Tournament
A big event at Kandersteg International Scout Centre is the volleyball tournament held each Sunday. Personally, I love volleyball, and I was excited for the event. However; I could only form a three-scout team consisting of Chris, Mark, and mzself. Luckily enough, we met up with a group of older campers from the Netherlands and formed a team of eight. Our team name was Hayabusastam-Virginia. The three other teams we faced were ``M.G. Girls`` of Belgium, ``West London`` of the UK, and ``Carrigaline`` of Ireland. Our team lost a game, won the next game, and lost in the finals. It only gives me the hope that next week we will be able to form an even greater team and take the weekly title for ourselves. The games were great, and I learned a few Dutch words here and there. During the game, Peter and Robert met up with some kids from the UK and found common interest in Japanese animation. I walked in to their conversation just to find a heated argument about the show ``Naturo``.
International Friends
Throughout the day, we met several scouts from all over the world. Among the scouts we met was a group of Irish guys, we had a great time talking to them about television, politics, jokes, and their views on the world. These guys from County Cork were awesome, and we came to the conclusion that we were the funniest people in camp. Later in the day, we met up with some Danish girls and had a more serious conversation about social life differences in Denmark and America. It was really interesting to see what Danish people thought of Americans, and how much influence we have on them and the rest of Europe.
A Giant Game of Chess
After dinner, Mark challenged Peter to a game of chess. The great thing about KISC is their giant outdoors chess board. After a few minutes of playing, a group of about 15 British scouts came around and were arguing over what moves each player should make, it soon became a very intense showdown with teams formed for each side of the battle. In the end, Peter's team won, with Mark's team putting up an amazing fight.
Conclusion
With the exception of a few more odds and ends throughout the day (including mini-boat construction and racing), that's the majority of all that happened today. It wasn't as crazy as yesterday, but the sunburn is a quick reminder of all we did today.
That's all I have for now. Cheers!
~Dan
Note: Thank you for the comments, I tell the scouts what you say in them and it makes them happy! Please keep them coming! (To leave a comment, just click the number next to the title of each post.) There will be no post tomorrow. I will revise past posts on Tuesday.
The scouts break in to two groups today. Currently, one group is hiking up to Fründenhütte (a hut 2562 meters high) for an overnight trip to explore the nearby glaciers. The other group (my group) is waiting around camp meeting people from all over the world, our overnight hike begins tomorrow, we will be going to the Ueschinenhütte hike.
Note: I do not have any details on the Fründenhütte trip today, so all information will be based on the other group's experiences. I will add Fründenhütte information on Tuesday when I return from my trip to Ueschinenhütte. This also means that there will not be a blog post tomorrow.
The Cat
Today, being Sunday, the scouts went to morning religious services. Some went to a German Catholic church, while others (including myself) went to a non-denominational chapel service. The place is famously known for being where Lord Baden Powel (the founder of the international scout movement) declared the spot as a meeting spot for all scouts worldwide. It was pretty cool because of the Scout Law engraved in so many different languages. Anyway, towards the end of the service, a cat snuk up on us, jumped on Mr. Maroney's lap, and instantly fell asleep. We asked the nearby campers if they knew who's cat it was, and they just assumed that it was native to the camp. We passed the friendly cat around and told stories about our own pets at home. (I guess this isn't very interesting to you readers now, but it was amazing to us.)
The Volleyball Tournament
A big event at Kandersteg International Scout Centre is the volleyball tournament held each Sunday. Personally, I love volleyball, and I was excited for the event. However; I could only form a three-scout team consisting of Chris, Mark, and mzself. Luckily enough, we met up with a group of older campers from the Netherlands and formed a team of eight. Our team name was Hayabusastam-Virginia. The three other teams we faced were ``M.G. Girls`` of Belgium, ``West London`` of the UK, and ``Carrigaline`` of Ireland. Our team lost a game, won the next game, and lost in the finals. It only gives me the hope that next week we will be able to form an even greater team and take the weekly title for ourselves. The games were great, and I learned a few Dutch words here and there. During the game, Peter and Robert met up with some kids from the UK and found common interest in Japanese animation. I walked in to their conversation just to find a heated argument about the show ``Naturo``.
International Friends
Throughout the day, we met several scouts from all over the world. Among the scouts we met was a group of Irish guys, we had a great time talking to them about television, politics, jokes, and their views on the world. These guys from County Cork were awesome, and we came to the conclusion that we were the funniest people in camp. Later in the day, we met up with some Danish girls and had a more serious conversation about social life differences in Denmark and America. It was really interesting to see what Danish people thought of Americans, and how much influence we have on them and the rest of Europe.
A Giant Game of Chess
After dinner, Mark challenged Peter to a game of chess. The great thing about KISC is their giant outdoors chess board. After a few minutes of playing, a group of about 15 British scouts came around and were arguing over what moves each player should make, it soon became a very intense showdown with teams formed for each side of the battle. In the end, Peter's team won, with Mark's team putting up an amazing fight.
Conclusion
With the exception of a few more odds and ends throughout the day (including mini-boat construction and racing), that's the majority of all that happened today. It wasn't as crazy as yesterday, but the sunburn is a quick reminder of all we did today.
That's all I have for now. Cheers!
~Dan
Note: Thank you for the comments, I tell the scouts what you say in them and it makes them happy! Please keep them coming! (To leave a comment, just click the number next to the title of each post.) There will be no post tomorrow. I will revise past posts on Tuesday.
About:
- We are BSA Troop 1018
- From Dranesville, Virginia, United States