I visited the Non Militarised Zone on the border with North Korea this morning, on an organised tour. (Note to self: Don’t strike up a conversation with any American lady on a tour bus, in case she wants to spend the rest of the morning telling you her life story). The Zone was fascinating. We…
I left Jeju with a bit of a heavy heart. It’s a beautiful island and everyone has been so kind. Simon and his team really did organise a superb conference. Even at the airport we were carefully looked after and shepherded through formalities… In fact, it was all considerably easier than any early morning flight…
The last day of any Scout World Conference is always spent dealing with the very many resolutions that are created over the course of the week and today was no exception. I sat at the back of the conference hall and listened to our various delegations from around the world set the priorities for World…
That’s what it was called – an evening celebration, put on by the organisers of the World Scout Conference, to help us all enjoy the culture of the island and South Korea generally. What a wonderful evening. I sat at a table with many of the Australian delegation, some of whom are very old friends….
The beginning of the day was fairly nerve racking, but the result of the vote, announced just before lunch, was tremendous. I am to serve on the World Scout Committee for a period of six years. Thanks to everyone who has written over the past few months in support of my candidature – and to…
Aidan and I spent the day campaigning for my election to the World Scout Committee, ably supported by the rest of the UK delegation. This evening I made my 3 minute election speech to the conference. 1,000 delegates heard me say the following: “I can still remember my first hike as a Scout. I was…
I have spent most of the day talking to people about what I would hope to do if elected to the World Scout Committee. This included a hustings session held in an area of the conference centre where the air conditioning was less than efficient. My shirt ended up sticking to me in a rather…
The nations of the world (or at least the Scout representatives of those nations!) are beginning to arrive on Jeju. I went up to the International Conference Centre with the rest of the UK team that had already arrived to register and saw a fair number of old friends. Before that, however, I got up…
I left Shanghai this morning at about 10, meeting Paulo at the airport and spent a really pleasant couple of hours talking to him about a whole range of different issues. The flight to Jeju took a little over an hour and we were met off the plane by a reception committee of local Scouts….
I am currently on my way to the World Scout Conference, being held in Jeju, South Korea and have stopped off in Shanghai for the day. What an amazing city – full of unfamiliar smells and tastes; though the main shopping street, Nanjing Road, feels surprisingly familiar. This could have something to do with the…
