It appears that Kyoto has become a commercial dumping ground of tourists for the last few years, and I felt that it has lost its charm.
I guess it is a classic story of a town promoting itself for tourism. It
first welcomes people coming to visit their town. Then, the number of visitors starts to increase and it begins to overwhelm local people. It soon exceeds the
level of hospitality and goodwill that the town and its people can offer.
There were big queues of people at
bus stops at the Kyoto Station, and guys, who were working for the local
bus company, didn't have any capacity left to treat customers with
smile. We also got unkindly informed by a couple of locals on buses that Kyoto doesn't welcome foreigners.
At shops, I witnessed shop assistants shaking their heads in frustration when they were dealing with their customers.
On streets, I saw signs saying things like, "please don't leave rubbish here" written in various languages which suggests there are problems with people chucking rubbish around.
We went to see temples and gardens, and they were not a good place to enjoy peace and tranquility because big tour groups were coming one after another, and the places were like a shopping centre during Christmas Sale madness.
At shops, I witnessed shop assistants shaking their heads in frustration when they were dealing with their customers.
On streets, I saw signs saying things like, "please don't leave rubbish here" written in various languages which suggests there are problems with people chucking rubbish around.
We went to see temples and gardens, and they were not a good place to enjoy peace and tranquility because big tour groups were coming one after another, and the places were like a shopping centre during Christmas Sale madness.
To finish it up, our travel agent in Australia had put us in a smelly crappy hotel, and it was the worst hotel of the tour (I suggest people to avoid Kyoto Tower Hotels).
I guess most of people go to Kyoto to enjoy traditional aspects of Japan, but for that, I really think there are better places than over crowded Kyoto.
京都は、 今回はハズレでした。
どこに行っても人が多くてがっかりしました。桜の季節というのもあるのでしょうが、同じ時期に行った以前の時と比べると、かなりの観光客の数です。
京都のバスターミナルで働いているおじさんたちには、旅行者を笑顔で迎える余裕もありませんでしたし、お店の人が、言葉の通じない外国の人を相手に嫌な顔で首を傾げたり、舌打ちをしているのを見ましたが、気分の良い物ではありませんでした。
１５歳かそこらの、オーストラリア人の女の子の生徒に言い寄って来るバカな地元の人間を追い払ったのが３回。逆に、地元の方から「外国人には、京都に来て欲しく無い」と言われたのが３回。
金沢の人たちは、とても親切でしたが、それに比べると、京都の人間のハートは小さいなあと思わされる事が、２泊の滞在中に度々ありました。
釣り場でも同じ事が言えますが、こんなにも人が増えてしまうとマイナスの部分も多くなるようです。
Hiroshima
We had a nice weather on the day we went to Hiroshima, and it was a good day out. According to our students, Hiroshima sits on their top three spots of our school trip.
As our previous trips, we spent a couple of hours at the peace museum where our students were learning about horror of nuclear bombs, and we had a bit of discussion on what we can do to make a world peaceful place after that.
We left the museum around 1:00PM, and we traveled West to the Island of Miyajima. We saw a couple of black breams at the ferry jetty and they were really big. Kids were also happy to see deers on the island.
When we were leaving the island, I noticed that the tide had turned to a rising tide. The shrine gate was going under the water, and it was the best timing to take a photo of the shrine with the sun set behind it. It was probably my best shot of the trip.
日本に修学旅行に行く際には、毎回広島を訪問しますが、なぜかいつも天気の良い日に当たります。前回訪れた時に、バスの中で出会ったおじいちゃんとおばあちゃんは、「天気が良いのは、 あなたたちを広島が迎えてくれているからだよ。来てくれてありがとうね」と言っていたのを覚えています。
原発資料館では、生徒たちは、真剣に展示を見ていました。見学するのに一時間あげたのですが、「もっと時間が欲しい」と怒られました。
その後で、宮島に行きましたが、生徒たちは、神社よりも鹿に興味があったようです。
「ロープウェイは、高いから嫌だ」と生徒たちに言ったのですが、「乗らせろ」とうるさく言うので、全員で合計３万円も出して山の上まで行って来ました。
帰る頃には、潮が上げ潮になっていて、太陽がちょうど鳥居に重なるタイミングで写真を撮れたのでラッキーと言えばラッキーです。その時撮ったのが下にある写真です。
Tokyo
We finished off our trip by traveling to Tokyo.
The Shibuya's intersection in front of the train station was an eye-opener for many of our students. They were shocked to see so many people crossing the road at one time without hitting each other.
We then went to Shibuya 109 for girls to do some shopping. Some girls fell in love with the shopping craze atmosphere of the place while others came to their conclusion that the Japanese word, "kawaii" is so superficial with no substance in it.
The best thing in Tokyo for me personally was that I was able to see my niece and bother's family in the Mickey Land. However, Disneyland itself was the least exciting place of the entire trip. I understand young kids like that sort of places, but I find it wired to see a bunch young adults walking around with stupid mouse hats on their head and singing and dancing while they were watching a parade.
We then went to Shibuya 109 for girls to do some shopping. Some girls fell in love with the shopping craze atmosphere of the place while others came to their conclusion that the Japanese word, "kawaii" is so superficial with no substance in it.
The best thing in Tokyo for me personally was that I was able to see my niece and bother's family in the Mickey Land. However, Disneyland itself was the least exciting place of the entire trip. I understand young kids like that sort of places, but I find it wired to see a bunch young adults walking around with stupid mouse hats on their head and singing and dancing while they were watching a parade.
On the last day of the trip, we went to the Science Museum to see Honda's ASIMO and other high tech stuff, but it appeared that many of us were too tired, and our thought was already with families and friends back in Australia.
It has been a month since we came back from the trip, and our students say they had a great trip which is nice to hear. The next trip is in two years time, and I am already looking forward to that especially there will be a few students in our group who are keen photographers. I love to be able to do some photo shoots with them in Japan and I am very much interested to see my home country from their view finders.
今回の旅の最後は、東京。
途中で富士山が良く見れるようにと、わざわざ静岡で在来線に乗り換えて三島まで行ったのですが、その富士山が見えて来ると、生徒たちは、ケイタイで２、３枚写真を撮るだけ。その後は、ケイタイのゲームやFacebookに夢中で富士山はあっという間に通過。ティーンエイジャーのテンションはこんな物です。
東京の最初の晩に渋谷まで行ってきましたが、駅前の交差点で生徒は唖然。あまりの人が一斉にぶつかる事なく横断歩道を渡っているのに驚いていました。 渋谷１０９で買い物をするのに２時間程をあげたのですが、集合時間に集まった時には、買い物袋を両手一杯に持って笑顔の生徒もいれば、魂を抜かれたような顔の生徒もいました。
ディズニーランドは、個人的には相変わらずテンションの上がる場所では無かったのですが、日本にいる家族と半日過ごせたのは良かったです。
最終日は、お台場の博物館にホンダのアシモを見に行きましたが、生徒たちの多くは、既に体力と気力の限界で、心ここにあらずな感じでした。
日本から帰って来て一ヶ月になりますが、生徒たちは、疲れたけど良い旅だったと言っています。次の修学旅行は、２年後となりますが、新しいメンバーの中には、写真が好きな生徒が数人います。次回は色々な場所で面白い撮影が出来そうなので楽しみです。
今回の旅の最後は、東京。
途中で富士山が良く見れるようにと、わざわざ静岡で在来線に乗り換えて三島まで行ったのですが、その富士山が見えて来ると、生徒たちは、ケイタイで２、３枚写真を撮るだけ。その後は、ケイタイのゲームやFacebookに夢中で富士山はあっという間に通過。ティーンエイジャーのテンションはこんな物です。
東京の最初の晩に渋谷まで行ってきましたが、駅前の交差点で生徒は唖然。あまりの人が一斉にぶつかる事なく横断歩道を渡っているのに驚いていました。 渋谷１０９で買い物をするのに２時間程をあげたのですが、集合時間に集まった時には、買い物袋を両手一杯に持って笑顔の生徒もいれば、魂を抜かれたような顔の生徒もいました。
ディズニーランドは、個人的には相変わらずテンションの上がる場所では無かったのですが、日本にいる家族と半日過ごせたのは良かったです。
最終日は、お台場の博物館にホンダのアシモを見に行きましたが、生徒たちの多くは、既に体力と気力の限界で、心ここにあらずな感じでした。
日本から帰って来て一ヶ月になりますが、生徒たちは、疲れたけど良い旅だったと言っています。次の修学旅行は、２年後となりますが、新しいメンバーの中には、写真が好きな生徒が数人います。次回は色々な場所で面白い撮影が出来そうなので楽しみです。
