My Car

I’ve been in Japan four days and I’m the proud owner of a kei-car – a 660CC Daihatsu Move.

I feel quite safe driving here since it’s the same side of the road as NZ and the general speed limit is 40kph.  What I wasn’t prepared for was the rabbit warren my apartment is hidden in.

My predecessor drove from the car dealership (where you have to organise registration and change of ownership) to the apartment.  I thought I was paying attention.  Clearly I wasn’t.

I had to drive from the apartment to my school, with another teacher giving directions.  I thought I was paying attention.  Clearly I wasn’t.

Then.  I had to drive home.  On my own.  And how did I fare on the 7-minute journey?  Let’s just say it took a good 30 minutes, including at least 4 U-turns.

(The sticker that tells everyone I'm a newbie driver.)

But I made it.  I made it home, changed out of my work clothes and decided to go to the supermarket, which Google maps told me was 7 minutes in the opposite direction.  Or, perhaps in my case, 20 minutes in all sorts of directions.  I nearly made it to the highway at one point.  And I almost visited another town.

Shopping done (eventually), I headed home.  Sort of. 

On the plus side I got to see some of the sights of my town.  On the minus side, I saw some of them three times.

Another plus – I now know I live on the turn off under the 2km long tunnel.  Not through the tunnel. 

Good to know.