Okinawa Week Six (originally posted Jan 12, 2012)

I thought this week would be a good time to talk about Transportation here in Okinawa.  As a transportation "geek", the differences here catch my attention.  So the first big difference of course is that they drive on the opposite side of the road.  There are many times in the car that I'm looking to make sure no cars are coming but am looking the wrong way.  Also on a few occasions, I have gone to the wrong side of the car to get in, but for the most part remember to go to the other side.  Jake always laughs at me when I do this - habits are hard to break!  Jake has a car and drives us places on nights/weekends and uses the car to go to work each day.  As I have written before I have been walking everywhere and have logged over 100 miles in my time here (I wear my GPS watch everywhere to see how far it is  - hey I already mentioned I was a geek - ha!).  This week the rain has been back and after two days of being stuck at home I decide it's time to buy a bike.  Technically I'm not stuck at home, however it is a 45 minute walk to the gym and stores on base and I really do not enjoy walking in the rain that far (wet shoes, spots on my glasses, messy hair, etc) and of course if I buy anything I have to carry it home.  So with my Christmas money in hand I walk to the athletic store on base and purchase my new bike.  The return trip home only takes me 18 minutes!  I'm super excited to have a bike here now and Jake is going to get one too so that we can do biking on the weekends.  At home in PA I would say that where we live has a pretty flat landscape. Here in Okinawa, the opposite is true, there are hills most places.  So walking, running and biking here are more challenging then at home.  As a pedestrian, it is hard for me to remember sometimes the correct way to look for cars when crossing the street and which way cars might be turning from into parking lots, etc.  Also on the sidewalks, I am used to at home, where as a common courtesy, we mostly travel in the same manner as cars - sticking to the right side, but here since cars travel on the left I find myself always walking into the crowd on the wrong side of the sidewalk!  Jaywalking is enforced, so you must always cross at the cross walk.  The one nice thing is that there are many pedestrian bridges across the main roads, that you travel up and over the street instead of having to cross it.  

Other major differences I have noticed:

1.  Motorcycles are allowed to "white line".  It is common practice here for motorcycles to go in and out of travel lanes or to create their own lane between the cars by traveling the white lines.  They are allowed to travel the white lines in the middle and sides of the roadways.  As a vehicle driver, you must always be aware of this while making turns or changing lanes.  When we approach red lights, all of the motorcycles travel between and outside the cars to get to the front of the pack and take off first when the light turns green.  All of this is completely legal.  They do have a helmet law here.

2.  Children/babies are not required to be in child/booster seats.  They believe that the child is safest on the mother's lap.  Many times you will see young children crawling around on back seats, unbuckled, walking, looking out the window, etc.  

3.  New and Older Drivers are clearly marked.  Both of these types of drivers are required to place a decal sticker in a certain place on the car to signify to other drivers to be more aware of them on the roadways.  

4.  Vehicle size is smaller here.  You rarely see a minivan, SUV, truck or other large vehicles here.  Many of the car make/models here are not the same as in the US.  Also parking spaces, especially at homes, are very small due to limited space on the island.  Many days I wonder if our car was any bigger if we would even be able to get down the driveway to our apartment building.  

5.  One lane, but two way traffic.  Much of the smaller road network, especially in residential areas, are one lane, but allow for two way travel.  Once we leave the main interstate to travel home, most of the roads are this way.  Since parking is a premium here, cars also have a tendency to park on the road.  You must zig-zag around the park cars and pull to the edge if another car is driving towards you.  

6.  There is a vast pedestrian infrastructure here. There are many large (8 foot) and smaller sidewalks along most major roads to accommodate bikes and pedestrians.  As mentioned above, there a many pedestrian bridges also at large intersections.  Surprisingly to me, despite this vast network and the large percentage of population that utilize them, they do not have public trash cans along these pathways, so litter sometimes becomes a problem.  They also do not have a "curb your dog" policy, so it is very important to watch where you step!!!

Until next week,

Natasha and Jake