The rebirth
Six and a half years ago, in a bleak world, much different to ours, a monumental event was about to happen. Something so huge, and so drastic, it seemed things would never be the same again. Suddenly the world was bathed in brilliant light, and colours and music never before heard or seen revealed themselves. From that day on, the world was a much better place.
I am, of course, referring to the day I got my full licence. Those were good times. But all great things come to an end: The Roman Empire, Communism, Married with Children etc... The last 1 1/2 months in Japan has been very difficult for me without a car. Showing up at school late, either sweating or soaking wet, and not in the mood for standing in front of 30+ children, which is technically my job (and apparently, sitting at my desk sharpening pencils).
Apart from the stories of me coming to school looking like a shipwrecked sailor, I have a horror story about catching the bus. See, my bike was at school, so I needed to catch the bus. I had very clear instructions from a ...lets just say 'well intentioned'... person. I got up 30 minutes earlier than usual, walked 10 minutes to the bus stop, waited patiently for the right bus, got on the bus, and sat down. I had a great view as the bus completely skipped my town. I wasn’t going to stay on till the last stop as the cost of the trip was already getting to ridiculous levels, so I got off in the next town.
“I’ll be fine. Someone from my school will come pick me up”, I thought as I phoned one of my teacher’s cell phones. Voicemail… So I sat down to have a coffee from a vending machine. Shit, it had sugar in it, it was gross. So I finished at about the time that school was supposed to start, and still no answer yet.
So I walked. I followed the road signs along the highway. I walked through rice fields, and… well, just rice fields… I walked for 90 minutes. That’s almost 1 1/2 hours!!! And just to make my day complete, once I finally arrived, there was a sweet apology from that teacher left on my desk. It read:
“When you arrive, please come to class 1A”
Imagine how much I loved coming to work…
From then on, I was very keen to get a car. I would have bought the first piece of crap car I could found, except Japan has no piece of crap cars. They send them all to New Zealand. The problem is tax. Just to have a car registered for 2 years costs well over $2000NZ. Amazingly I found a car that cost about $2000NZ. In other words, it was almost a free car. It is ironic that the biggest purchase of my entire life was a free car? I am doing my Dutchness proud. So the problem was solved… right???
Well yes, but it took 9 days before I could actually drive, thanks to insurance and the Japanese tendency to be thorough.
But here she is...
I was expecting to get a car like most other Japanese. If you aren't sure what they look like, they look pretty much like a cardboard box. The only difference being that I would rather be seen in the cardboard box. So this is a 1990 Nissan California, 4x4 automatic station wagon. I thought, well, since petrol is so cheap at the moment, why not?
But since I began driving, last Friday, life has been so much better. I can only think back to the days when I first got my liscence. I have already driven to the other side of the prefecture, and despite numerous cars almost crashing into me (don't get me started on Japanese drivers...), it was about the happiest time of my life. Besides, I can rest in comfort knowing that in a collision, my car will win against a cardboard box everytime.
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