The Moot

So you might be sat here, thinking to yourself "sure Jon, I see that you are going to go and travel around and meet Scouts and learn about how Scouting in America works, but what's this Moot thing you keep mentioning?"

Well, dear reader, I am glad that you asked that question, because it's something I've been meaning to explain for a while! The Moot is basically a jamboree for 18-25 year-olds; or, as they are known in Scouting, Rovers.

Ok, so for those of you who don't know what a jamboree is, let's back up another step. A jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts from all over the world, at which scouts meet other scouts from all over the world, share their cultures, get involved with a whole host of activities, and generally have a good time for two weeks. The first one was held in 1920, in the UK, and since then they have been held all over the world; in 2011 the jamboree was in Sweden, and in 2003 it was in Thailand! It's also been to Greece, Australia, Norway, and a bunch of other cool places.




It's only a matter of time

Jamborees are generally only held once every four years, and by now I think we can all agree that they are pretty cool things (they will eventually be on the MOON, for goodness' sake!) "But why," I hear you ask, "do you need a separate one for the 18-25's? Can't they all go on the big jumbowatsit or whatever you call it?" Well, as World Scout Jamborees are only open to 14-17 year-olds as participants, the over 18's in Scouting only ever go to the events as leaders and so spend a fair amount of time looking after their charges. But if you ask any 18-25 year old if they would like to have a go on the bouncy castle, or at the climbing wall, you are likely to get this response:

 

That look that says "nothing will ever be this awesome again"

So that's the main reason, I guess; even though Scouting is a youth movement, and the adults in the movement should primarily be working to help those kids have as good a time as possible (as I've written about in my pesonal blog), there is a time when we need to be allowed to let our hair down, forget about the kids, and have a go at the activities ourselves! And that is a big part of what the Moot is all about, as up to 5,000 of us come together to meet, laugh and take part in activities

Fully half of the Moot is spent just doing activities on the main campsite, in a place called Awacamej Mino (which means "best of the best" in the local native dialect). Those activities range from simple thing like Volleyball, to kayaking, to hiking, to crafts, and all things in between. We do those activities in our international patrols; groups of 6-8 people, all from different countries, who will be introduced to each other online before the Moot and will have to cook, sleep, eat, work and play together for the entirety of the Moot! I'll no doubt tell you more about who they are when I find out who they are!

The other half of the Moot is spent in one of three cities; Montreal, Quebec or Toronto. Before the Moot, everyone has to choose a 'path'. The precise meaning of these paths seems to have been left deliberately vague, but I already know that of the "ecoresponsible", "life", "culture" and "adventure" paths, there is only one that I want to do - adventure!

Sorry little fella, but eco-responsibility will just have to wait for now!

The paths involve some manner of community outreach project, again left vague for now but no doubt soon to be expanded upon, and again - you'll know all about it here! You can also check out the actual Moot site at www.mootcanada2013.ca/en/, and of course they are on Facebook too.

So that's what I'm finishing the trip on! Keep reading the blog, follow me on Twitter (there's a button on the right hand side of the blog now!) and you can always befriend me on Facebook too!