Cover Photo: Steph Fawdry
Text: Debra van der Lem
Edit: Mike Dent
It doesn’t really matter what time a day you arrive at the Plaza, from morning till 22:00 you can find all sorts of activities over there.
You can start with your morning coffee at the Cypriot Foodhouse, have breakfast at the German Foodhouse, stick around for some bib tag which starts at 10:00 and have lunch at the Dutch Foodhouse. After having met new people you decide to play Carnival games, Human Chess and Kubb together in the afternoon and share some food at the Swiss Foodhouse during dinner time. While the sun starts to sink and you take in the breathtaking view, you wonder where you are going to spend the rest of your night.
Charlie, Sam and Archie have been to the Kent International Jamboree, but they didn’t have anything like the Plaza. They also didn’t have any expectations, but once they found their way to the Plaza they decided to try all the food from all the Foodhouses. They aren’t really interested in the other activities the Plaza offers and all they can think about is the food they are going to have next. They liked the hotdogs at the Swiss Foodhouse and they loved the poffertjes, oliebollen and kibbeling at the Dutch Foodhouse. They tried the food at the German Foodhouse, but they had expected bigger portions upfront.
Ima, Kimmy and Noéline are from Switzerland and are enjoying some ice cream. They have been to a big national camp of 35.000 Guides and Scouts when they were participants. They had several cafés, but they didn’t really have expectations about entertainment. They merely thought they would entertain themselves. When they read about the Foodhouses however, they expected them to be open until a later time. It was a bit disappointing at first, but they are still happy with all that is happening. The Swiss garlic bread and hotdogs seem to be their favourite savoury food and the poffertjes their favourite sweet one. They love going to the German Foodhouse at night and enjoy the music they play.
Christiana from Malta is at the swapping event at the German Foodhouse. Christiana was at the USA Jamboree and expected something from Plaza, but wasn’t really sure what to expect. Back then, there were Foodhouses too, but Christiana and the others seem to have forgotten what was served. They do remember, however, that it was good. Here, they tried the breakfast at the Dutch Foodhouse, tasted the garlic bread and had several dishes at the German Foodhouse. They played games, but never went onto the field for the activities. They are looking forward to music at the Dutch Foodhouse tonight.
At a table in the German Foodhouse is a varying group of Rovers creating their own badges. Some of them were in Korea last year, for some this is their first international camp. Nobody had experienced Foodhouses before and having them around is good fun. They think the German Foodhouse is big and very impressive. They are very happy about the food they have tried so far. They love to have the Plaza around, but there are also many other things to do. Yesterday they went to see Beauty and the Beast at the main stage. They are thinking of visiting Black Magic again later on and hope it won’t be too busy.
Mimu from Romania and Ivan from the Netherlands are at one of the activity areas at the Plaza. They decided not to sit down, but share experiences. Ivan practised a lot of tricks with a diabolo during an after-school programme when he was younger and now he is teaching Mimu how to use it. Mimu and a group of friends perform in fire shows in Romania and she learned a lot through the Internet, but not so much about the diabolo. After practising the diabolo Mimu will teach Ivan a trick or two with other materials around. Mimu experiences the Plaza as a festival on its own, but better, as there are Guides and Scouts all around. Ivan particularly loves having breakfast at the Plaza; his tent is closeby and he prefers eggs over sandwiches. They both want to experience bits of all the parties if possible.
