JJ Friends : Ceda from Sweden

Hi everyone, my name is Ceda, and I’m a 16-year-old Swedish girl from the decently big city called Uppsala. Uppsala is one of the oldest, biggest and most prestigious university cities in Sweden so there are lots of international students and people from all corners of the country that come here to study. About me and my relationship with the scouts: I would say I’m a pretty social, energetic, and extroverted person. I love bringing joy to the people around me, and I think being in the scouts has brought me closer to myself in that sense through friends and family. I've actually been a part of the scouts since I was about 7 years old or so, and it was through the scouts that I got the amazing blessing and opportunity to travel to Korea for the 25th World Scout Jamboree. During the Jamboree, I got to experience the wonderfully kind Koreans and their culture, food, and of course, I got the chance to meet people from all across the globe. (I even got to experience one of Korea's many hospitals). But before I talk more about Korea, I want to introduce you a bit to my hometown, Uppsala. Here are some pictures from my beautiful city (some of these are not taken by me, sadly the weather has been pretty dull lately:<) - - Taken by Kateryna Baiduzha, https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Uppsala_domkyrka,_flygbild.jpgshowing (the cathedral, our castle and more:D) - This picture was actually taken by me just a couple of days ago during a really famous tradition that's especially big in Uppsala called Valborg or Walpurgis in English, where we celebrate the arrival of spring and also everyone who is and has graduated from high school:D Here's a picture of how Sweden looks on the map, and it also shows some typical Swedish things like FIKA, Dalahästen, and Vikings^-^ - Here’s our capital city Stockholm:> And here's just a random picture of me and my scout friends spray-painting a scout logo thing for our cabin lollXD If you want some more information about Sweden and its nature in general, you can ask me, or you can go to a website like visitsweden.com:DD Now let me start talking about my experiences in Korea<3333 First off, I need to mention that I barely used my phone at all during the trip. I used it maybe once or twice and rarely took photos because I wanted to experience everything without any distractions, and I knew my friends would take a ton of pictures, so most of these weren't taken by me, but I was present. We did a lot within our own contingent and in my unit both during the Jamboree and in Korea in general, but I can't really mention just one event that was especially special to me because everything I got to experience and learn now has a special spot in my heart<3 Firstly, I want to mention some stuff we did within our unit and then show you some pictures. We had something planned every single day in the contingent, and it was amazing, but it made me kinda sad because I wasn't able to experience some of the things I really wanted to do, for example, try teobokki. I NEVER TRIED TTEOKBOKKI, but it was fine because I got to experience some things that I never even thought of experiencing. In my unit, we got to learn a ton about the history between the North and South of Korea and the Korean War. It was very insightful, and every time I stepped into one of the museums, I got pretty emotional and teary-eyed because of the brutality in it all, especially against the kids. Just imagine living a life with nothing during the Korean War. Everything was completely destroyed, but now you can see the big change that the country has made with the bridges, buildings, and international impact it has had on the world. But before I show you guys any pictures, I need to mention that I barely used my phone at all during the trip. I used it maybe once or twice and rarely took photos because I wanted to experience everything without any distractions, and I knew my friends would take a ton of pictures, so most of these weren't taken by me, but I was present. But anyways, here are some pictures of us at the DMZ, some museums, and more. All this impacted me a great deal, and just learning about the history of Korea in general made me super interested in all kinds of history, politics, and wars. I want to mention some other things we did in our unit as well, for example, the fact that we got the opportunity to view and try out some Korean culture and history like hanboks at Busan Cinema Park. We also had a bunch of food experiences together, for example, trying Korean barbecue, and I had a bit of time to try some Hotteok. It was probably some of the best food that I've had in my entire life. Our unit also went to a couple of karaoke places, but I was sadly only able to go to one of those. I don't remember why, but I think I was at the hospital at that time. We also went to Busan where the whole contingent met at the beach to do some activities and eat and such, but there was a university festival there at that time as well. PSY was performing as well; it was one of the greatest memories from Busan, but I don’t have pictures from that:(((( (I'm also gonna add a few other pictures here from Seoul and other places as well) We were doing orienteering in the Gamcheon Culture Village. It was beautiful, and we met a wonderful old man who owned a little noodle shop where we decided to stop and eat^-^! This was at an exhibition at Lotte Mall. Lotte mall was huge, and there was so much to do there. They had some really tasty tea that we got for free for going to that exhibition:)) This was just a really funny nameXD This was our camp during jamboree it was hot but incredibly beautiful<3 This was after we had eaten some Korean pizza. It was very unique in comparison to the Swedish version and the American version of Italian pizza, but it was good:DD - And here’s me and a couple of friends in front of the Statue of Gangnam style in Gangnam contemplating if we should dance in front of all the people there or not lolll. - Here’s me and my group taking a photo in a Photo Booth place because we weren’t able to fit all of us in one cubicle, lmaooo. - And here we were exploring one of the palaces (in Seoul) I think, but it was amazing and really peaceful yet beautiful (if you recognize it, can you please tell me the name because I really don’t remember, and I would love to know)^-^ Sure, here's the adjusted text: Now, as I mentioned earlier in the blog, I had to go to the hospital. I had been dealing with recurring cyst like things in my throat before going to Korea, but I didn't expect it to come back during the trip. However, I developed a bad fever on the 11-hour plane ride to Korea. When we arrived in Seoul, I checked my throat and found the cyst things in my throat again. Our contingent's doctor advised me to wait until we reached Busan. In Busan, we went straight to the emergency center. Compared to Swedish emergency centers, the wait was shorter, and the care was much better tbh. I was admitted to a bed and given a drip within four hours. Despite a bit of a language barrier I could understand most of what they were saying and I understood some Korean so it was fine. In the end I only needed antibiotics, which also cleared up my skin. Here's a picture of me in the hospital. I look so dead here loll💀💀 End: My trip to Korea, as you can see, was very eventful and basically changed my life and all the thoughts I have about my future. The theme of the jamboree, "Draw your dream," was something I didn’t really understand at the time, and it was only when I actually got home that I realized what they meant. The way Korea made me draw my dream and how I want my future to look like is something I think about almost every day, and it is something I’m striving to reach at the moment. Here are some of my dreams about the future: I want to study music and arts in high school I want to move to Korea or study at the university of national arts or maybe both if I get the opportunity:] I want to have fun with my future career! If that doesn’t work out then I’m gonna try to go into the skincare business. I want to move to Korea(it’s a more fun sweden) I want to be happy(I love Sweden but the weather is something I can’t live in it’s to dark and I get depressed) I hope you liked my blog about my experiences in Korea. If you have any questions, please ask me; I’m gonna try to answer as much as possible. ^-^ What’s your dream for the future?