I was meaning to stay on the ship all day as I wrote in the previous entry, but I felt that something was missing without setting foot on Malaysian soil, so I went out of the ship to take a walk around the cruise ship terminal. I had heard that there was nowhere to look around the terminal, but it would be a kind of exaggeration, I thought. I'd like to chat with local people.
When the passengers go out of the ship, you have only to show your cruise card to the security personnel. When I went out of the ship, I asked a question which I had harbored since I got on board to a staff member. That was why most signboards were written not only in English, but in Japanese. The answer was that the Diamond Princess was to be used in cruises which start and end in Japan from April for 6 months. For that reason, several dozen Japanese crew were on board for training. Hearing that, I uttered words of joy. He asked me, "Are you Japanese?" in Japanese. He was also Japanese. He assumed that a Korean was accusing him of not having the Korean language in the ship. My way of talking in English might have sounded like an accusation. I felt sorry to have him feel that way. I have to be careful when talking to others.
マラッカ海峡クルージング記： 朝鮮人に間違われた件 (^_^;)
一日船で過ごすつもりではあったが、マレーシアの大地に一度も足を踏み入れないのも寂しいのでターミナル周辺を散歩することにした。何も無いとは言っても休憩できる喫茶店くらいはあるだろう。地元の人と話もしてみたい。
船から下りるときはたいした手続きはなく、クルーズカードを呈示して船を離れることを伝えるだけ。出入りをチェックするクルーに乗船したときからずっと思っていた疑問を尋ねてみた。なぜ日本語の案内が多いのかということ。船内の案内は船内新聞を除いて英語と日本語の表記なのだ。理由は何と４月からこの船は日本を中心に航海する予定で、そのための訓練として日本人クルーも乗っているとのこと。それを聞いて凄く嬉しいと答えると、「もしかして日本人？」と日本語で尋ねられた。そのクルーも日本人だった。(^_^;) 朝鮮人が日本語表記しか無いことについて文句を言っていると勘違いしたらしい。言い方に気をつけなければ、、、と反省。
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