German Speakers at a Danish Jamboree
Enjoying lunch in the Havet Canteen, I encountered six German speakers who are volunteers here at Jamboree Denmark. Five from the Deutsche Pfadfinder*innenschaft Sankt Georg (DPSG) in Germany, and one from Austria’s Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs (PPÖ).
Franzi, from DV Paderborn, and Johannes from DV Würzburg are volunteering at the Tree Top World activity in Roskilde. “The days are long,” they say, “we leave the site here at 7:00, and return at 23:00.”.
Julia, also from DV Würzburg, and Maike, from DV Münster volunteer in the canteens (Julia in Byen (City) and Maike in Havet (Sea) subcamps). Benedikt, also from DV Würzburg, and Lara, from Lower Austria, are Jambassadors.
The six know each other, having “met at other international camps.” They “checked what camps were taking place this year,” and chose SL2026, so they came here.
Comparing what they’re used to in Austria and Germany, the age range of participants stood out. “At our camps we are put in subcamps based on age ranges,” some say, “and then activities are arranged by subcamp.”. “Our are actually organised by town, like here,” says another, “with one day arranged for age-specific activities”. “Our first Bundeslager “BuLa” (National Camp) for all ages will be in 2029!”, says Benedikt.
With two working in the canteen, and the meeting happening at lunch, the subject of food arose. “We’re not used to breadrolls or buns every morning,” said one, “in Germany, we usually only have sliced bread – because it’s cheaper!”.
“The tents here are so colourful!”, they say, “In Germany we use only Black or White tents”. Another source of colour is the difference in uniforms. “In Germany, every association hosts its own BuLa, so everyone wears the same shirt,” one says, “but here we see so many different shirts, even on Germans.”.
For all the scale of SL2026 is impressive. “It’s ginormous!”, say Benedikt. “It would be nice to have more bikes”. “We’re used to everyone getting a scarf, and each subcamp having a different shade”, said another. With so much room they were also disappointed that there wasn’t more room to change in the showers. “At our camps we would have communal changing areas for the showers.” They understood that showers could not be free, because of limited resources.
The six thought there would be more English spoken here, at an international Jamboree, but they have been impressed by the young people’s language proficiency. “Some kids asked me the time, in Danish,” one says, ” but somehow, I understood, and I answered in English”. “They looked confused at first, but got it.”
