Long time no see

That was a very busy year. 9/11 2006 I started studying again. Thanks to my boss I had a lot of work, even too much, during my first year. I've started the second year two weeks ago. And due to loads of overtime I gained during the first half of this year I don't have to work again until February 2008. Oh, by the way, I'm studying to be a social worker. It's interesting, but also annoying. We have some Profs who have the same effect on me like a sleeping pill. It's really hard to be consequent and wake up in the morning early to go to university to sit there and listen to a sleeping pill without falling asleep. Nevertheless I'm a very sincere student and attend every lecture.

OK, besides studies and work there were a lot of other things going on in my life. Hmmm, let me think. Oh, yes. Last New Year's Eve we wanted to go on a hike in the mountains and sleep in a self-made Igloo. Unfortunately it was too warm so there was not enough snow for our trip. Well, maybe this year...

In summer 07 I went to England. Where else could I be in this historical moment than in the Jamboree? Silvan and I decided to walk to the Jamboree. 25 Scouts from Switzerland went on an Explorer Belt right before the Jamboree. We travelled to England by train, to be more precisely, to Poole, from where we went to Brownsea Island for one night. The island is really beautiful, very quiet and full of scouting's history. After a short night on the campsite the adventure started. Silvan and I went to Lymington by train, took the ferry to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight and started walking. On the first half day we made it to Freshwater, which was 17km away. On the next day we went west to the Needles, the most western point on the island. Then back to Freshwater, this time from the other side of the hills, and then east to a camping close to Brightstone. 26km. When we started to build up our tent it started raining heavily. Great... But no problem for us. Next day we made it to Blackgang, where I made a false step and somehow hurted my foot. I did not yet realize it, so we kept on walking to Blackgang, Chale, Niton, Ventnor, Shanklin and finally close to Sandown we found a camping. The last two kilometres where horribly painful for my. When I took off my shoe, my foot got swollen at once. And that was it. Next day we relaxed, hoping my foot would be good the day after. But nothing changed so we decided to see a doctor. A nice couple working on the camping took us to Ryde. You can drive by car until the end of the pier where the ferry takes off. And there is a huge car park out there. Strange. We went to Portsmouth by SeaBus, which was really fast. And then by bus to the Saint Mary's hospital. British health system is for free and is wroth about the same. Sorry, I don't want to offend anyone but that was the impression I got. The doctor pushed my calves, asked me if it was painful, offered me some morphine, I denied, I got some more common painkillers, crutches and was told not to walk around. No x-ray, no diagnosis, and no good advices I didn't already know myself. And that was it. No more Explorer Belt. :-( We were pissed off and disappointed but that is life.

So we enjoyed the city for two and a half days and then we went to the Jamboree campsite.

If you want to read my Jamboree story you will have to come back later because now I should e a serious student and do my homework ;-)

Thinking Day

Dear sisters and brothers,

In closing his last message to us all, B-P wrote: "...stick to your
promise always, even after you have ceased to be a boy..." and obviously
nowadays a girl also.

It is the promise that makes our Movement so different from every other
youth movement and organisation in society, it is loyalty to that
commitment that makes us Scouts, rather that simply people dedicating or
having dedicated some time of our life to Scouting.

Today we commemorate the joint birthday of B-P and his wife Olave, in a
very special historical moment, as this date is also the 150th
anniversary of B-P's birth and falls in the Centenary of Scouting.

In these hundred years, hundreds of millions of girls and boys, women
and men have made the commitment to do their best to leave the world a
little better than they found it, and in many places and in different
moments in time, Scouts have really made the difference!

In the present times of increasing disparities, world wide tensions and
growing conflicts, where due to irresponsible life-styles humanity is
seriously putting our planet's environmental stability at risk, and so
grows the dramatic need for more, good Scouts.

Let the centenary year also be the occasion for a special commitment.
Renewing our Promise today, we should not only look at the past with
gratitude to B-P, and to all those who opened for us "the road to
success", giving us the opportunity to live the unique, exciting and
involving experience that is Scouting. We should also look with optimism
and courage toward the future, with the fleur de lys and our promise
firmly guiding us in the direction of creating a better world.

Yours in Scouting,

Eduardo Missoni
Secretary General