Car Stuff

I have to say driving in Okinawa is one of the quirks of living here. It is a familiar everyday task, but it constantly reminds you that you are in a foreign country. Just when you start to get lulled into complacency the subtle, but important, differences demand your attention once again. The following story illustrates this point. I have gotten comfortable driving my normal routes. So comfortable, that I begin to "auto-drive" to some extent. Recently, I was deep in thought while on my way to Kadena and I made a left hand turn. My first thought was exactly this..."Why are these people in my lane?" Fairly rapidly, my brain processes that about 10 people would have had to make the same mistake at the same time/place for all of them to be in the wrong lane. This means that the other variable in the equation...myself...must be in the wrong lane. Instinctively, I indicate my intention to return to the correct side of the road by flipping on my windshield wipers. (I later learned that this maneuver has a name...the Okinawan Wave.) Yes, not only is the steering wheel located on the other side of the car, but the turn signals and windshield wiper controls are reversed on said steering wheel. Then, with windshield wipers on full blast, I blindly merge back to the proper lane of traffic having head checked over the wrong shoulder. Muscle memory is a bitch. Thankfully, people are understanding and patient for the most part. There wasn't one horn blast. I have noticed that horns are not used a lot over here at all. I have also noticed that cars here don't have a lot of bumper stickers either. I started noticing this after I saw an American vehicle plastered with them on base, including one that said "Yank Tank"...classy. I began checking out the Japanese owned vehicles (you can tell if they are American or Japanese owned by the license plate) and found bumper stickers to be very rare. If they are there, they are usually small and discreet.

I have included some pictures of some typical Okinawan streets. As you can see, with the exception of the major thoroughfares (not pictured), roads are very narrow, lack center striping, and intersect at odd angles. Thankfully, they have helped alleviate the problem of blind intersections by installing mirrors to help you see any oncoming traffic. Using these mirrors to drive is a must or you can find yourself in a fender bender very quickly. Brian and I like to play a game called "Is it a road or an alleyway?". As far as we can tell the basic rule is if a six foot tall man could stand in the middle of a passageway and touch both buildings with his arms then it is an alleyway. If not, it is a two-way street. Everything pictured in this entry is a street.