Well, I never thought I'd do it, but...I bought a teal green, crome side-mirrored, wood-grain interior, sonar parking systemed, gps navigation systemed(in Japanese), mini-van...for $3000. It has some -isms, but it'll do. It's not REALLY a mini-van. It's kind of like an old-school SUV (at least that's what I'm telling myself because it looks REALLY mini-vanish). The doors do not slide open on the side, which to me, does not put it in the same category as a van.
It's very functional and I can't believe I actually bought a vehicle that was larger than the 4-door sedan I was already driving, not because I was scared to drive a large vehicle (heck, I've been driving Chris's trucks around for years), but I'd heard how hard it was to drive a large vehicle in Okinawa. The streets are narrow, there is much back-in parking and parallel parking, and although people drive pretty slow around here (max speed limit anywhere is less than 60 MPH), there are the white-lining scooter drivers who are quite nerve racking. But...it's not too bad really.
The street signs are a little different, like the stop signs are in the triangle shape that yield signs are in the US. And it's illegal to turn on red (unless you're on base). And it's illegal to talk on your cell phone on base but legal to talk when you're off base. Like so illegal that you lose your license right away. Yep, no talking while driving will I be doing! I personally think it's a good idea.
Driving on the left side of the road is probably what intimidated me the most. Even more than getting lost (because you can't really get that lost...it IS an island, after all). I thought, "Oh my gosh...I'm totally going to drive down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic with my babies and run over some crazy scooter people." But, like I said before, it's not too bad, really. You just get used to it, and with everybody else driving the same way, you can do a good bit of following what others are doing. If you mess up, you have an American letter on the license plates so the Japanese can just shake their head at you and give you a break. I've driven down the wrong side of the road (momentarily) before ON base and thankfully not off base yet. I just have to keep telling myself, "Left, left, left, left, left. Close to the line, close to the line..."
Chris bought a pretty awesome "toy" truck for $1800. I say toy because it's tiny, but SO cute! I wish we could pack it up and take it back to the states with us! It's rusty, stinky, has no radio, completely standard transmission, and painted jungle camo. Like I said, awesome...and unmistakable. There are several little trucks on the island, but only one as unique as Chris's. Especially now that he has a longhorn on the back window. :-) The other cool thing about Chris's truck is that the bed converts completely into a flat bed if you need it to. I swear, the Japanese think of everything!
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