Parked Vehicles

Yesterday was the first time we went out in town as a family. I made Shawn drive because I still don't feel comfortable with the craziness that Japanese people call driving. There is this phenomenon here called stopping, but no parking. Yes, as long as you keep your car running you can pull over and stop your vehicle, get out, and go into a store or whatever. These are some great pictures that depict this strange road rule. This is a very busy 4 lane road that stretches along our area of Japan...Rt. 16. It's probably comparable to the road that travels downtown DC. And as you can see these vehicles on the left hand side are stopped. You'll be driving down the road and there will just be a car or a large truck stopped. The rule is that you just jump in front of the person in the next lane...and I do mean jump. Literally, you close your eyes, pray, hit the gas, and jump into traffic.

I never laughed so hard watching Shawn drive thru this madness. He usually is up to any adventure, but this is one that I don't think he will forget anytime soon. It was a real nail bitter, and only reinforced my belief that I am not ready to deal with the craziness of driving outside the base gates, especailly with Caleb calling my name and calling out every car, truck, boat, bicycle, and motorcyle that he sees.