Automobile achieved

Posted: August 28th, 2006 | Author: amake | Filed under: Japan | 9 Comments »

My car and parking lot

Last week one of my coworkers in the Policy Implementation Division took me driving to test my abilities. In a former life he was a driving instructor or tester or something like that; in short, a pro. I wasn’t sure at first if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Japanese people are loathe to say anything negative, ever. If you can string two words of Japanese together, they will praise you up and down for a good half hour and insist that your Japanese is perfect. This gets really old really fast, but at least it’s relatively harmless. I was worried that this might carry over into piloting motor vehicles, but luckily I was wrong. Mr. Miyamoto was quite frank about how scary it was with me leaving approximately an atomic monolayer between the car and the side of the road when I took left turns.

I quickly got a decent feel for things, though, and they readily handed over the keys to the Internationalizationmobile after just two sessions. It’s not a super posh car, but it’s got a working stereo and can fit two full-sized adults in the rear seat, which is more than I can say for some cars. All I have to pay for is any gas beyond the one tank per month that the yakubizzle shells out for.

You can see my car on the left side of the photo. The local ALT’s car is on the right. Another person in my building parks between us. I took this picture for two reasons:

To illustrate how tight parking is, and
as evidence against the owner of the grey car, who parked in that spot illegally for months.

Luckily I didn’t need the evidence, as he started parking elsewhere when he realized my car was staying for good. Parking is hotly contested in Japan; in fact, you can’t buy a car without proof that you have a legally-approved parking space already available for it. I don’t have to worry about that, but there may be mysterious and unexplainable scrape marks on the cars around mine from time to time.

9 Comments on “Automobile achieved”

1 R said at 7:45 on August 29th, 2006:
バックできっちり駐車，うまくなるね～．今日からまた新たな友達が出来ました．その人もかなり日本語上手なんだけど，amakeさんのことを知っていて（同じ日本語のクラスをとっていたらしい），amakeさんの日本語は嫌みなくらいうまいと言ってました．マディソンでも充分有名人だったのね～！
2 Rui said at 7:55 on August 29th, 2006:
yo u got a car! awesome!!!!
3 Unkie Paul said at 14:35 on August 29th, 2006:
Now we can hit the hills and get into some serious drifting!
4 utsana said at 9:44 on August 30th, 2006:
This really very interesting.. I heard in the US they stick to the right (so to over take it’s the left) whereas in countries like Australia is the other way round. Is it the same in Japan? which road rule do they follow? ..and yeah the road’s real tight..the cars’re real small… I used to drive a Mitzubishi Colt, so I’ll probably be alright in a small car in Jpan I guess ^^..

So you live there Aaron? what visa do you hold? (if that’s not too personal a question) I envy you mate…
5 amake said at 10:42 on August 30th, 2006:
R > バックはね・・・　やっぱ最初入れる時はうまく入れない。一回また出て、車の向きを直さないとダメだ。そのうち慣れるだろうけど。

３年後、アメリカに帰ったら、駐車場を見渡す限り僕の車だけバックで入ってるのを想像するだけでなんか心が重い。

そうそう、UWの日本語科ではもうすでにセレブ。っていうか、その方がセレブな気分だったね。ここはまだ誰も知らないから、「なんだこの外人オッさん」という目で睨まれてるだけ。

Rui > Yeah, finally. I’m psyched about getting even less exercise.

Unkie Paul > I asked if we’d have time for drift racing at the Tokyo orientation, but they said our schedule was 2 fast and 2 furious.

utsana > Thanks for the comment, and the one on my essay! Sorry I didn’t get around to replying. In Japan they drive on the left. JET CIRs all have “Specialist in the Humanities” visas.
6 Angie said at 10:07 on August 31st, 2006:
Did you see the “stellar” parking job our neighbor’s friend did last night? Sandwiched a car the size of that silver one right between you and me…verrrry tight. I went for a walk late last night and I almost need a javeline (sp?) just to launch myself outta there…
7 amake said at 10:19 on August 31st, 2006:
Angie > Holy shit, I missed that. I guess every mysterious scratch won’t be my fault…
8 JJP said at 1:43 on September 2nd, 2006:
Get Miyamoto-san to keep prepping you for the driver’s license test, then get that out of the way ASAP. He knows his stuff.

The car will make all the difference for you. Without it, a guy can get to feeling hopelessly and crushingly trapped, especially come winter.

Can’t say I miss that scrap of a parking lot- parking is practically a bloodsport in that little area. People can get very nasty about it. Sounds like you’re doing swimmingly, all in all…

Could you put up a recording of the town’s chimes? That would be really great.
9 amake said at 1:28 on September 3rd, 2006:
JJP > Hey! Glad to see you’re still alive. I’m planning to be on the ball regarding the license issue, though I’m not exactly looking forward to it. It is nice to have access to a pro like Miyamoto though.

I’ll work on getting those chimes for you.