School Trips
Japan Trip - 2006
Group
link to more photos
Japan! The Land of the Rising Sun! We went for an eleven hour plane trip with twenty-seven other students and four teachers from St John's and Morrinsville College. On our two week tour around Japan we were immersed in all aspects of Japanese life and culture. It was a real shock to us, everything was completely different, the transport, the cars, the TV, and the people, all so different!!
After our lengthy plane trip we finally touched down at Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan. It was raining. Our first impression was that everything looked just like Auckland, with a few more Japanese people, and a lot more smokers. It was very hot... and wet... and muggy. We then caught a bus into Tokyo. The buildings were huge, and there were trains and roads everywhere!! They twisted in and around all the skyscrapers! The whole infrastructure was like a bowl of spaghetti, especially confusing for us kiwi kids. We are used to few roads, no more than a few lanes and roads actually on the ground. In Tokyo you would be travelling along on a road a few stories high, and then twenty seconds later you were going underground. Compared to Tokyo, Hamilton is like a village, considering that about three times the population of NEW ZEALAND lives in that one city!
After a long drive in extremely dense traffic we finally emerged at the Youth Hostel where we were staying for the night. The next day we were off to Tokyo Disneyland! We caught three different trains to get there! All the trains were packed and the stations were just as bad. People were rushing in every direction. It was actually quite frightening. Every train that went past was crammed full with people, you had to squeeze in if you wanted to get on, although everyone was very polite. It didn't matter if you missed a train though, because another one would come along in three minutes. The trains continually went, one after the other. The train stations had a very tight timetable as well. If the screen said the train would be there at 10:29am, it would be there at exactly 10:29am.
We spent the whole day at Disneyland. There were so many rides, shops, things to do, and so much ice cream! Everyone had a great time, and we got a photo with Goofy!!
It seems as though you can never have enough rice, or for that matter, miso soup! Served up with every single breakfast, lunch and tea was a bowl of rice for everyone, and at some places, miso soup (a traditional Japanese soup served with different ingredients each time). Everyone was a little nervous when it came to our first Japanese meal. It was perfectly understandable however, as we were in a completely different country and no one was sure what we were in for. There was little reason to be worried though. Our first rendezvous turned out to be an "interesting" experience for everyone. On one hand, we had the Japanese cuisine, and on the other, we had western food. It came as quite a shock for some people. While the food we were served was all in the Japanese style, we had all seen most of it before and were quite used to eating it.
While we are on the topic of food, we have to mention the fast foods in Japan. Just like the rest of the world, Japan has been taken over by MacDonald's! We also spotted a lot of KFC's dotted around the place too. The one difference between New Zealand and Japanese fast foods, they taste much better in Japan. While we all easily noticed the western fast foods, it was a little bit harder to spot the Japanese ones! Some of us were lucky enough to spot them, the favourite of all being "Moss Burger!" Not everyone got to try this "only in Japan" fast food, so we won't go into the details about how mouth-watering their meals are!
By the end of the trip, almost everyone had mastered the infamous chopsticks and most people had eaten their fair share of sushi and raw fish, but overall, the food was excellent!
Our group travelled from Tokyo to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kagoshima, Ibusuki, Miyazaki, Osaka and then back to New Zealand. We used many forms of transport including bus, train, Shinkansen (bullet train), tram, taxi, ferry, boat, plane and the main form of transport, our legs. They were very worn out by the end of the trip. We visited many places and participated in many activities. Some of them were shrines, temples, castles, museums, parks, karaoke (hilarious!!), hot sand sauna, origami creating, Universal Studios, school and staying with a host family. In between all the excitement of travelling and theme parks, everybody was involved in a very religious and cultural encounter. We visited some of the most famous shrines, temples and castles in Japan and for everyone it was an experience they will never forget.
One of the most memorable occasions on the trip was our visit to Hemeji Castle in Kyoto. This castle was built over 700 years ago and, while it gets regular touch ups, it still stands as a landmark of Japan. This castle once housed the Emperor and his family, and now is one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Japan. On the particular day that we visited Himeji Castle, it was excruciatingly hot! None of us thought we were going to make it to the top, but we did! Once there, we all were amazed at the magnificent view, as we could see right over the whole of Kyoto!
Our next very important visit was to Hiroshima, to see the International Peace Park and museum. We passed the epicentre of the explosion and saw the one building that was left standing after the destruction caused by the nuclear bomb. One of the Morrinsville College students had a Grandfather who came to Hiroshima to help with the recovery after the tragedy; unfortunately, he lost his life due to cancer which was supposedly caused from the radiation. He laid a wreath at the peace memorial in memory of his Grandfather. While this part of the trip was quite sad, it brought everybody closer together.
Near the end of the trip we stayed with a host family for three days and went to school. Our families looked after us very well, and school was a very different experience. A normal weekday for a Japanese student would mean getting up at 3am to study, going to school for pre-class lessons at 7am, stay at school until 4pm, do club activities (e.g. baseball, judo, kendo, archery, band...) until 6pm, sometimes even later, and then go home. The Japanese students were very interested in us kiwis, constantly wanting photos with us and the girls were very giggly. They have an extremely long and busy day! We have it easy in New Zealand, compared with them.
After staying with our host family we went to Universal Studios. It was a massive theme park, similar to Disneyland. Again, we had loads of fun!! The only downside was the heat! The whole time we were in Japan it was very hot and very muggy. Our jerseys stayed folded at the bottom of our bags the entire trip. It was a real shock landing back in New Zealand. It was freezing!
Everyone had an awesome time in Japan!! It was an experience we will never forget. It was a major eye-opener for us, seeing such a vastly different culture from our own! If you get a chance to go on a trip like this we strongly recommend you take up the opportunity! Thank you so much Ms George for organising our unforgettable trip, and to Mr Robinson for accompanying/supervising us!!
By Gavin Ralph and James Greene
