What does 臨海学校 mean?


I ran across 臨海学校{りんかいがっこう} in a manga (ときめきトゥナイト) and I'm unsure what the
exact meaning is. All the online dictionaries I've checked translate it as
"seaside school", which doesn't quite make sense to me. To me that means
literally a school by the sea, but in the story, it seems more special since
the students are taking a trip and spending a couple days there.

The teacher says this to the students:

> 3泊4日の臨海学校だがな




This is an example of where using J-E dictionaries has the potential to fail
pretty spectacularly. Literally 臨海 might mean "seaside," but there is more to
it than just that. 臨海学校 is a special sort of school outing wherein kids go to
study for a few days by the sea in the summer, I think especially targeted at
kids who live in cities or are otherwise normally unable to go to the ocean.
It seems to have a real 'summer camp' type of vibe to it, with various fun
outdoor events, games, activities, and general mischief, and the kids lodge
together for a few days away from home. The official curriculum is listed on
the [Wikipedia
page](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%A8%E6%B5%B7%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1) that
Ash posted. There's a similar event called 林間学校{りんかんがっこう}, which happens in
the fall and is more for woods/mountains.

I won't delve too deep into the cultural implications or what the event is
like since that's more into culture and outside of the realm of language (I
think), plus I'm not _that_ familiar with it in general. But the important
part to realize is that beyond the notion of a seaside school it is a more
culturally loaded term. For example, if you were to say "summer camp" to a
person of Western cultural origins, it would evoke a lot more than just
"camping in the summer."




This is an example of where using J-E dictionaries has the potential to fail
pretty spectacularly. Literally 臨海 might mean "seaside," but there is more to
it than just that. 臨海学校 is a special sort of school outing wherein kids go to
study for a few days by the sea in the summer, I think especially targeted at
kids who live in cities or are otherwise normally unable to go to the ocean.
It seems to have a real 'summer camp' type of vibe to it, with various fun
outdoor events, games, activities, and general mischief, and the kids lodge
together for a few days away from home. The official curriculum is listed on
the [Wikipedia
page](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%A8%E6%B5%B7%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1) that
Ash posted. There's a similar event called 林間学校{りんかんがっこう}, which happens in
the fall and is more for woods/mountains.

I won't delve too deep into the cultural implications or what the event is
like since that's more into culture and outside of the realm of language (I
think), plus I'm not _that_ familiar with it in general. But the important
part to realize is that beyond the notion of a seaside school it is a more
culturally loaded term. For example, if you were to say "summer camp" to a
person of Western cultural origins, it would evoke a lot more than just
"camping in the summer."

