The Okinawa Wave

I'm so excited to write in my blog that I finally got my car!!!!! Like I mentioned in my last post, we have been here a month without a car. It's crazy how we all take cars for granted. I was so tired of depending on other people to give us rides! If you know anything about me, you know that I love the color pink. Every car that I have owned has been modified to have pink on it; it helps when your husband knows how to paint cars! Before I got to Japan, I was looking at Okinawayardsales.com at cars that people were selling. I found a pink car on the site and I jokingly sent the link around to my friends saying I was going to have that car. Little did I know, pink cars are actually pretty common over here. When we went to the dealership, they actually had 2 pink cars. The same kind of car I had previously saw on the online classifieds. Chad knew that we had to get one for me, so he didn't put up a fight when I told him that is what I wanted. I think he wanted it more for me than I really wanted it. I love it though and I'm so happy I got it! We knew coming over here that we'd have to drive foreign cars; there's definitely no Chevy over here. So I decided that I wanted to drive a cute little car. I think I found the perfect one! The pink even has a sparkle to it :)

The first place that I drove to was from the dealership, which is right outside the base gate, to the BX. It was crazy! In Japan, they drive on the left side of the road and so the steering wheel is on the right. Not only are you driving on the opposite side of the vehicle, but also the stick to turn the blinkers on is also on the opposite side of the steering wheel. Do you understand how much of a habit it is to turn the blinkers on with your left hand? You don't realize it until you are constantly turning the wipers on every time you go to turn. Chad was cracking up at me because the first time I drove I kept turning the wipers on and I was in such a panic that I couldn't turn them off. Here in Okinawa, it's quite common to see wipers swipe before someone turns, it's called the "Okinawa Wave". For me the hardest part of driving is getting used to the blinkers lol. It really wasn't as weird as I thought to drive on the opposite side. I think I am just used to it now since I've been riding in others' cars. It is still a little nerve racking driving, I don't want to just be in a daze and go to what is normal for me which would be driving on the right side. That could be dangerous!

 After I drove to the BX, I let Chad behind the wheel. He acts like he has been driving here his whole life. I did have to laugh back at him when he used his wipers as a turn signal a few times. Chad was even brave enough to drive off base. The driving off base is a lot more crazy, there is so much traffic and crazy drivers. He did perfect though!

Coming over here the plan was for us to only get one car, at least for awhile. Well we found out that I wouldn't be able to drop Chad off at work since he works at the bomb dump. I didn't really want to be stuck at home all day without a car, especially since I plan on getting a job. So we decided we would just spend the extra money and get 2 cars. We hadn't really looked around a lot for a car for Chad. He knew a couple styles of cars he liked so I was looking on Okinawayardsales.com and found a few cars for him that were in our price range. The first car he called on today, the person was available to show it to him right away. We were able to test drive the car and we really liked it! We will be doing the paperwork for the car on Monday and it will officially be ours. I'm so happy we were able to find Chad a nice car at a very decent price!

So not only did we get 1 car this week... we got 2! If you're in Okinawa, I'm sure you'll see me around in my little Pink Honda Fit giving you the Okinawa Wave :)