Driving on the "Wrong" Side of the Road

I know I haven’t been faithful at keeping up with this blog. Every day I plan to post but later find myself doing something else. On one hand, I would like to keep all of you at home updated, but on the other hand, I just want to remain private until I get my bearings straight. Being in a foreign country is exciting, but it’s also overwhelming.

I don't understand one word (or should I say character?) on this building.

With that said, I can’t believe it’s already been a week since we set foot on the island! It’s been a busy time, running around the base (literally), meeting new people, searching for cars, buying new cars, sitting through long, boring briefings, and coping with sickness.

Unfortunately, we are still living out of a suitcase, sleeping in a hotel, waiting to find out whether our future home will be on base or off base. In order for us to be eligible to live off base, housing on base needs to be 95% occupied. As of last week, it was 94.27% full. So, we shall see come Monday.

Perhaps the greatest progress made this week was in the form of transportation. On Wednesday, Kevin and I passed the test to obtain our Japanese driver’s licenses! Then on Thursday, we purchased two Japanese cars! Mine is a 2003 Mazda Familia and Kevin’s is a 2002 Nissan Primera. Not the most beautiful vehicles, but much nicer than most driven on Okinawa.

My car.

Kevin's car.

As you can see, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. And believe it or not, we have to teach ourselves how to drive on the left side of the road!

Let me just say, getting behind the wheel that first time nearly crippled me…

I had heard all of the horror stories behind Japanese drivers coming to a complete stop in the middle of the busy highway. (It is customary for them to allow other drivers into traffic as a courtesy.)

I had watched videos of Japanese drivers running red lights. (In Okinawa, there is what’s called the “Three Car Rule.” Although not actually a rule, you should never enter an intersection until you’re sure that all cross traffic has halted. It is a common occurrence for at least three vehicles to continue through the intersection even after the light has turned red.)

And I had been told that if you’re ever involved in an accident with a Japanese driver, you’re automatically liable (Japanese citizens and local nationals are not required to carry insurance. Only Americans are.)

So you can probably imagine how anxious I was just to even step foot on the gas. My drive home from the dealership was a total of five minutes but it felt like forever. This is exactly how it went: First, I walked to the wrong side of the vehicle. FAIL. Then, I turned the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal. FAIL. Then I almost drove into the opposing side of traffic. FAIL. Thanks to my guardian angel, I did make it home in one piece. SCORE.