Obviously driving on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right side of the car is a small adjustment. The first week we were here, I had multiple anxiety attacks just riding around. That first week I thought, “Oh no…there is no way I am going to be able to do this. The signs are in Kanji—what if I’m driving in the bus lane? What if I can’t figure out where the turning lane is going? What if…” and on and on. The alternative is to be stuck at home or dependent on others—not so easy with four kids to haul around. So, I began driving around base first, then gradually I mastered one main road, and now I feel like I could figure out how to get most places with Google maps on my phone. It’s amazing how much you don’t need to read to be able to drive…wait, should that bother me?
The strangest thing is not driving on the opposite side of the road though. Here are a few things that still surprise me when I see them:
Many cars have a sticker “Baby on Board” with a stick figure child in a seatbelt, which is funny because there are often kids in those cars bouncing around, standing next to the driver, sliding over seats, waving to me from the back glass (they are ridiculously cute). Americans are still required to follow all seatbelt and carseat guidelines, just like in the states, a fact Memphis often points out is MUCH safer. She is incredulous that anyone might ride without a seatbelt. I haven’t told her we used to ride around unbelted in the back of pickup trucks. What a difference a generation of seat belt laws makes!
Car curtains: Many cars have curtains hanging in every window. Can we say “blindspot?” I saw a truck last week that had curtains completely closed on both front windows, and he had a valance covering the top six inches of the windshield and a window shade cut to fit the bottom third of the windshield. He had a 12-18 inch view of the road. He clearly has the right of way if I am driving near him.
Driving on island time: The speed limit off base is between 50-60 kilometers per hour on most of the big roads—not that you’ll actually go that fast (50 kmph= 31 mph). No one is in a huge hurry (except the Americans with the “Y” on their license plates). Red traffic lights seem to mean “six to ten more cars may slowly proceed.”
Honking is considered rude. Another nameless driver in our household sometimes drums on the steering wheel, and he often honks accidentally, making everyone in six lanes jump. He quickly bows and gives the “sorry” signal—vertical knife hand to the face, thumb to nose with a head bow.
Driving courtesy is rewarded here (or at least acknowledged). Drivers will say “thank you” with three flashes of the hazard lights. I had read about it somewhere, and now I notice it all the time when I let someone in to merge. So nice!
One thing that is NOT different is the varying and reluctant enthusiasm from our kids to go places. The kids hate driving here, and as soon as we announce we are going somewhere, they immediately ask how far using landmarks. Cue eye roll and slumping: “Are we driving ALL THE WAY up to Kadena?” (Kadena Air Force Base is north of us about 19 km= 11 miles, but remember we’re often in heavy traffic driving 20-30 mph) The south landmark is Kokosai Street, where we went to the parade. “Are we going to that parade street? That took forever.” Kokosai Street is less than 6 km away (less than 4 miles). In Ransom and Memphis’s defense, they have to ride 45 minutes on a bus to and from the middle school every day—if I did that I would need to lie down in a dark room each afternoon.
*Sorry for the lack of photos. I had a hard drive crash this week, and it is not looking good for recovery. I had most things backed up, but I am still figuring out how much has been lost, including many photos from our first three months here. 🙁 And yes, at least I have the ones on the blog, but I resize them for the internet, so the resolution isn’t great. Saying a little prayer for a technology miracle here.*