"Driving in my car beep beep"

Cars are an exciting and petrifying experience out here. Without them I'd be lost. I wouldn't be able to work and I wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Yet, that is the American in me. Most Japanese ride their bikes depending how far it is and they live pretty close to their work.

I love my little yellow car. Its the first car that I want to be in rather than just will be in. I don't cringe at someone seeing my car, I am proud of it. The car handles amazing. It fits on the tiny roads out here and I can spot it when I need to. My gastank is probably 10 gallons (or whatever a close equivalent in liters is to 10 gallons). It costs me around 30 bucks to fill it up and that will last me 2 weeks. Yay decent gas mileage (and I don't drive that far).

The Japanese culture out here is different than ours in so many ways. At tutoring one day I had the owner ask me if I was rich when I asked them why, they said it was because I drive a Volkswagen  Realistically I got it pretty cheap on base.

Mike has an alfa romeo 147 (I think) and its a cute little car. sports manual, fun, fast and sporty car. I love it. Everyone has been telling me to worry about Mike's and my cars but im not buying it. His car had a light on for one start-up but it was turned off after that. And we will only be out here a year and a half so I am not so worried about the whole car thing (knock on wood). Of course we will always see.

The hardest part about not being in the US is the speed. The average is 40km which is under 25 mph (yeah I know it is BARELY under but it still is). It's not so hard to get used to beacuse of the tiny roads. It reminds me a lot of Chicago where driving 35 felt like you were flying. But it must be tough on all these gearheads and speed drivers if I struggle with it from time to time.