"Have you guys gotten a car yet?"
Is a first question we have gotten numerous times from new acquaintances here. Lydia's automatic retort usually goes something like, "Naw, our bicycles are on the way!" or "What about the bus? Doesn't anyone here ride the city bus here?"
At the "newcomers briefing" anyone with a current US license had the opportunity to get their SOFA (Status Of Forces Agreement, so military members and their dependents with a US drivers' license don't have to get a Japanese license) license. A surprisingly easy process. We sat through a 60 min lesson on road rules, road signs, and driving hazards on the island, took a 20 question test, and now, along with the 60 other people at the briefing, are licensed to drive. Which brings us back to the original question, "have you guys gotten a car yet?"
No.
Thus began our search. We looked at a place known as the "lemon lot," officially called the "Auto Resale Lot." The cars there all seemed to be way outside our price range. Our next resource was a site called bookoo.com which is like an Okinawa specific form of Craigslist. This resulted in some promising leads but we wanted to check some other options as well. We then took a city bus a ways away from base, got off at a random stop, and started walking. We stopped at every dealership we passed. Walking from dealership to dealership looking in vain for cars in our price range and/or English speaking salespersons. That adventure did afford us the opportunity to sample several new beverages from the abundant vending machines along the way (which saved us both from dehydration),
but lead us to the conclusion that our best option would be one of the cars from bookoo.com. We sent out numerous messages to potential sellers but unfortunately most of the answers were "sorry, just sold it." Then we saw... The Cube! It was a listing that had been up a few days and from the sound of her reply it seemed that the seller hadn't received much interest. So, after arranging a time to meet, Daniel taking it on a short but harrowing test-drive on the left side of the road from a right-side steering vehicle we decided it was a good option. Later that day, after our other option was sold before we could even see it, we decided to make a low-ball offer and to our happiness and amazement it was accepted! A few days later we took possession of our white 2001 Nissan Cube. :-)
Now our answer will be; "Yes, and we'll only have to use it until our bikes arrive!"
Is a first question we have gotten numerous times from new acquaintances here. Lydia's automatic retort usually goes something like, "Naw, our bicycles are on the way!" or "What about the bus? Doesn't anyone here ride the city bus here?"
At the "newcomers briefing" anyone with a current US license had the opportunity to get their SOFA (Status Of Forces Agreement, so military members and their dependents with a US drivers' license don't have to get a Japanese license) license. A surprisingly easy process. We sat through a 60 min lesson on road rules, road signs, and driving hazards on the island, took a 20 question test, and now, along with the 60 other people at the briefing, are licensed to drive. Which brings us back to the original question, "have you guys gotten a car yet?"
No.
Thus began our search. We looked at a place known as the "lemon lot," officially called the "Auto Resale Lot." The cars there all seemed to be way outside our price range. Our next resource was a site called bookoo.com which is like an Okinawa specific form of Craigslist. This resulted in some promising leads but we wanted to check some other options as well. We then took a city bus a ways away from base, got off at a random stop, and started walking. We stopped at every dealership we passed. Walking from dealership to dealership looking in vain for cars in our price range and/or English speaking salespersons. That adventure did afford us the opportunity to sample several new beverages from the abundant vending machines along the way (which saved us both from dehydration),
Lydia demonstrating the her first beverage pick of the day "Apple Tea"
Now our answer will be; "Yes, and we'll only have to use it until our bikes arrive!"
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ReplyDeleteLove it! I still miss the bike I had in Japan. Do all the Japanese ladies still ride the mama cherry bikes?
ReplyDeleteAnd, you've got to try Dakara Life Partner. It's your partner on hot days. :)
Sweet Ride!
ReplyDelete