Gaikoku (foreign country) is dangerous. More swine flu.

My student came back from Hawaii. She had a great time sightseeing and taking intensive English courses for a week.

But everyone she met upon returning to Japan was worried about her and her teenage daughter catching swine flu. A friend of hers who is an elementary school teacher, and therefore an expert on flu pandemics, said that anyone who goes abroad should stay at home for three days after coming back to Japan, to see if symptoms develop. Doesn't matter where they go. Just "gaikoku" (= foreign lands.) Go abroad, you get sick. Travel in Japan, safe.

My students thinks its silly but since Japanese primary school teachers also serve on the board of the State of Hawaii Health Commission, she stayed at home for three days after she got back to Japan.

Her son has been living in Kansai (Osaka and surrounding area) for 4 months now as a university student. It's got many cases of swine flu. Schools were shut down. No one asks if he is ok, and no one would expect him to be quarantined when he comes back to Kochi for summer vacation. Another student in the class is going to Kyoto (next to Osaka, with cases of its own) but she's not worried about catching swine flu. Would she be afraid to catch swine flu if visiting Hawaii? Yes.