Traffic Lights and such...

So here in Japan there are definitely some things you have to be aware of when driving. Most importantly, drive on the left side of the road. I've only messed up on that once. It's easier than you'd think, actually, because the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car (versus an American car) and so the driver is still nearest the center of the road. So for the most part it's pretty natural. The hardest part to remember is which side of the car to get it! (I'm serious about that).

But there's other stuff too - crazy stuff. Like traffic lights. You know how there are left turn green arrows in America? Well, here there are (remember, opposite side) sometimes right turn arrows. Occasionally there are left turn arrows as well, because there's no allowance for a 'right on red' here (or 'left on red' as it would be). And infrequently there are green arrows pointing straight ahead, indicating the obvious; you can go straight, but you can't turn. Well, all this to say that twice now in Japan I have come to a traffic light with arrows pointing left, right and forward, with all of them green at the same time. What is that all about?!!? Isn't that just a regular green light? I wish I had taken a picture. I thought traffic signals were supposed to direct, not confuse...

And the custom of stopping at a stop light is different here, too. First, the Japanese seem to think that as long as you can enter the intersection within 5 seconds of the light turning red, then it's all good. They just don't stop for the red lights. Maybe they are colorblind and can't see yellow or something, I don't know. Craziest one yet - the other day I was driving on a road with just one lane in each direction, with two cars in front of me. The light changed as we approached and the first car stopped. The second car didn't - he gunned it and flew around the stooped car through opposing traffic just to get through the (already) red light. Keep it mind, it's not like the first car slammed on the brakes or anything... This was bold, even by Japanese standards.


So, when you come to Japan, be careful if you plan to actually stop when a light turns red; you might get hit in the tail.


On a brighter note, the Japanese (when they stop) they ALWAYS stop at the white line... never cross it. Never. They've got the Americans beat on that one!


The other day I went to Oshima (the largest island belonging to Yamaguchi prefecture). Here are some pictures from that...

The Countryside...

Hirao really is country. I feel it the most when we venture to pass out fliers. Here in Japan, unlike America, it is legal to place advertisements in mailboxes. In fact, it's not abnormal to open the front door and just leave your paper sitting there on the floor! We try to stick to the mailboxes though :) Right now we are preparing to start some new English classes at the church in March, and so in addition to the ad we put in the paper, we're distributing flyers around the neighborhood.
There are 13,000 people in all of Hirao. Small, but not super small. Still, we have no train station, which is basically the marker of whether you are in the 'bush' or not. But here's the deal - and it's noticable when passing out fliers, because - there really aren't any neighborhoods. It's a house here and a house there, and one way over there. It makes passing out fliers pretty difficult. And tiring. Thankfully I am finally familiar enough with the area and all the little roads that I don't have to do too much backtracking to see if there's a house at the end of 'that' street or not... it's taken some time though. When you go out for several hours and only pass out a couple of hundred fliers, it's easy to get discouraged!
But we worked on it today, and will go back out tomorrow in the morning... before the rain comes in the afternoon. We should have a little time left next week, too. But even if just one person comes because of the fliers, it's worth it. We're praying for a bunch though - the more the better! Have to wait and see...