Sunday March 11, 1990
The junior class trip to the Tokyo area was, without question, the best experience we've yet had in Japan. I never went on my own senior trip when I was a high school student, so this is an adventure that I'm now old enough to appreciate. I get all the pleasures of travelling with 100 giggly girls without any of the headaches of acting as one of the chaperones. My fellow teachers are near panic at the burden.
The Japanese are unparalled in their ability to orchestrate tours. I knew I could trust our tour guides to handle every detail. It's a wonderful feeling for me--to be free of fretfulness. We have two guides from the travel agency travelling with us. It is their problem to ensure that we are in the right place at the right time. I just stand whereever they tell me to and make notes for when I travel alone.
We took the same ferry from Beppu to Kobe that we took on our trip to Kyoto last Christmas. Rather than sleeping on the floor in a room with 60 other people, JQS and I had our own cabin. It has 4 bunks, a table , sofa, sink, and TV. The privacy enabled me to recharge my batteries and be more cheerful in society.
On the 6th floor of the ferry there's a sound booth with a disc jockey. The girls convinced the disc jockey to play their tapes and they did a chroreographed dance. Actually, they stood in one spot and did little hand signals in unison. It wasn't particularly impressive, but their fellow students cheered and clapped. JQS scored popularity points bby joining in. At 22:00, Sato-sensei put a stop to our fun (and they hadn't played my tape, yet).
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
March 11, 2002
Share Your Thoughts
Ferry from Beppu to Kobe.
Akamine-sensei, me, JQS, Murakami-sensei and various students wave goodbye from the deck of the ferry. You can alway spot us foreigners; we're the ones wearing bright colors. The students have to wear their school uniforms.