日本を出てハワイに着いたら、ハワイも新型インフルエンザがトップ・ニュースでした。でも、驚いたのは両側の対応の違い：関西で数人がそのインフルエンザになって、大阪市の学校の全部が１週間休みと；ホノルルのある学校で数人がインフルエンザになったのに、その学校は休みにならない。生徒の一割以上がインフルエンザになるまで、学校は休みにしないと。
まあ、どちらが正しいかとは言えませんが、両方ともが極端すぎではないかと思います。尚且つ、両方はもっと奥深い影響を発生している。例えば、観光の面では、日本国内旅行で、インフルエンザで大げさで騒いでいる関西からキャンセルして、インフルエンザがまだ出ていない信州へ変更する動きがあるそうです。（逆に考えれば、今は京都がすいているから旅行するのにチャンスかもしれない！）
ハワイは逆にインフルエンザに対してもっとしっかりしない為に、日本からの旅行者が大分減ったそうです。私達は弟の結婚式があるから、インフルエンザの恐れがある中できました。アロハ！
Leaving Japan and arriving in Hawaii for my brother's wedding, we were surprised to see that Swine Influenza was topping the news in both places. Actually, what was most surprising was the difference in how both sides were handling the outbreak. Back in Japan, a handful of students came down with the new flu, and the entire school districts of Osaka and nearby areas canceled classes for a week. Here in Honolulu, one school had several students come down with the new flu, but the school is still running. Apparently they wouldn't consider shutting down unless at least 10% of the students had the flu.
Now, I'm not going to judge which response is better. They both seem too extreme to me. And they have far-reaching consequences, especially travel-related. Due to Osaka's over-blown reaction, many tourists are canceling trips there, so much so that now is actually probably the best time to see Kyoto withouth crowds! Hawaii, on the other hand, has seen a drop in Japanese tourists which probably could be alleviated if the flu outbreak were being handled more seriously.
Well, flu or no flu, we are here to enjoy my brother's wedding. Aloha!
