During the midterm tests at the end of May, I was lucky enough to accompany the junior high school second grade GS class on a trip to Kyoto.

I arranged to meet the group in the morning in front of Kiyomizu temple. I arrived a little earlier than planned and enjoyed a quiet walk through Maruyama Park and the narrow streets of Kyoto leading to the temple.

As I waited for the group to arrive, the number of tourists and students from other schools arriving at the temple began to increase exponentially. Since the lifting of Coronavirus restrictions, foreign tourists have been flooding back to Japan. Of course, this is good for the economy, but it also brings its disadvantages, such as crowded streets, traffic jams, and fully booked hotels and restaurants.

When the Shoin students finally arrived, we went into Kiyomizu temple and enjoyed walking around and studying the history and architecture of the site. It was a warm day and the temple was surrounded with lush, green trees.

We had lunch in a nearby restaurant afterwards, then enjoyed doing some pottery. We each made a bowl which the staff later put into the oven to dry. I was surprised to learn it takes around one month for the pottery to completely dry. The staff promised to send the finished bowls to us here at Shoin when they’re ready.

In the evening, the students spent two hours preparing and delivering a speech in English about their experience at Kiyomizu temple, and what they learned about the place. They did very well and Mr. Yagi and myself enjoyed listening to the very informative and entertaining presentations.

On the final day of the camp, we visited Seika university in Kyoto, and had a lesson about robotics. We used tablets to write programs which controlled the movement of small robots on a desk – very impressive technology. Later, we were given a tour of the campus and then had a wonderful lunch in the university canteen which was delicious and super cheap!

Overall, it was a very eventful and enjoyable camp. The weather remained dry, we saw various wonderful sites, and the students learned a lot about Kyoto which they were able to present in their English speeches. Thank you to Mr. Yagi for organizing and leading the camp!

Glossary.

Accompany – 同行する

Earlier than planned – 予定より早く

Exponentially – 急激に・飛躍的に

Lifting of restrictions – 制限を解除する

Flooding to – 殺到する

Fully booked – 満室・満席

Surrounded with – ～に囲まれて

Lush – 繁茂した・豊富な

Impressive technology – 印象的な・素晴らしい 技術

Canteen – 食堂