Through the eyes of two groups: The journey to England
What shapes do you see in the clouds?
Two groups described their experiences along the road from Tsu to Sheffield.
The First Group
We left Mie University and stayed overnight at a hotel in Kansai Airport and then flew to England. The first leg was a 12-hour trip from Kansai Airport to Frankfurt. After resting in Frankfurt for 5 hours, we spent another 2 hours going to Manchester.
Dinner time!
On the airplane, we spent our time doing things like watching movies, talking with friends, and sleeping. In-flight meals were warm and very delicious. Because the sweets were distributed besides the meal, it was a very fulfilling flight. In Frankfurt, we ate sandwiches and sausages and we shopped at duty-free shops. However, we were tired from the long journey and everyone slept on the plane from Frankfurt to Manchester.
Finally, we arrived in Manchester and the next day each of us met our host family. Our hosts are so kind that we are now even more excited about living in the U.K. We will do our best to make it a fulfilling three weeks.
Our next temporary home
The Second Group
On February 22nd, we, 74 students, started our journey to Sheffield, the UK. Firstly, we went to Kansai International Airport from Mie University by bus. It took us 3 hours to get there. We enjoyed the last dinner in Japan at the airport, having dishes such as teppanyaki and tonkatsu. We spent the night at the hotel, which is next to the airport.
On the next day, at 10:40, we flew to Frankfurt for transit to Manchester. It was a 12-hour flight. For such a long flight, we watched a lot of movies and played video games on the plane. At Frankfurt Airport, we had to wait for 6 hours! Some students enjoyed shopping and others were just sleeping.
So close, yet so far
Having a 1-hour flight, we arrived at Manchester Airport at midnight, so we stayed at the hotel again. Then on the morning of the 24th, we went to Sheffield by bus. After 1.5 hours, we could finally meet our hosts. We felt nervous, but at the same time, we were excited to experience living in the UK.