When I first arrived in Hokkaido, I took the train from the airport with my supervisor to get to my part of the island. Once we got to our train station, my supervisor had conveniently parked his car there because we still had a 10 minute drive to get to my town. After loading my luggage in the trunk, without even thinking I walked over to the right side of the car to get in. My supervisor - already standing there - points to the other door and says in english, "Japanese car".

The first thing you notice about driving in Japan is that, obviously, everything is on the opposite side. The first time you ride as a passenger in one of these cars, it's a very eerie feeling. It's like riding in the backseat of a car that you usually drive everyday (you know what I'm talking about). I got used to it after a while but I sometimes still look left when I come to an intersection. Last week was when I had my first driving lesson in the town car. We drove to each of the schools I'll be teaching at in order to remember where they were. The driving itself wasn't all that different than driving back home, except for turning. If I remember to always stay on the left-side of the road, usually everything turns out alright.

The second thing you notice about driving in Japan is that everyone drives really slowly! In and around town the speed limit is 40-50 km/hr. On the "highways" (which are single lane in Hokkaido) or where it's unmarked, the speed limit is 60 km/hr. But, being like it is everywhere, it seems that the speed limit is just a "guideline" and it's normal to drive 10-20 km's above. Police and photo radar do exist, but they are clearly, clearly marked. Photo radar for example have bright fluorescent signs before the camera's, warning everyone that there is a photo radar camera coming up! Police also drive around with their light's flashing day and night so they are hard to miss.

Also, getting anywhere takes a lot longer. In Alberta for example, you could drive from Calgary to Edmonton in about 3 hours or less. That's over 300 km. In Japan, 300 kms would take about, let's see... maybe 5.5 hours? and that's in the summertime. The winter is a whole other story..

Overall, driving here isn't too bad; you get used to it really quickly. I've even almost forgotten what it's like to drive back in Canada. One thing I don't miss about Calgary are the bad drivers and the traffic jams. The bad drivers here are usually older people who get a little careless... but are going so slowly anyways that it's not a probem. Traffic jams are virtually non-existent in my area. So apart from taking hours to get anywhere, and gas being $1.60/L (enjoy your cheap gas while it lasts!!), driving around Hokkaido is really great.