Cody and Samantha...

As in Cody the Cube and Samantha the Skyline. I am not the kind of person to name cars, but I figure while I'm in Japan, anything goes. When we first got here, one of the obvious ways I could tell that I wasn't in Virginia Beach, or the U.S. for that matter, was the absence of SUV's or any kind of large vehicle. Small and compact is the way to go in Japan, and for obvious reasons once you see how small the roadways are and how congested the traffic can get at times. Below is a picture of the road leading to Ikego Hills, our new home. Most of the roads are just like this: tiny, two-way streets with pedestrians crossing constantly.


The cars used as taxis here are the Nissan Cubes. I fell in love with them from the first moment I rode in one....so much room in such a deceptively small car. So as soon as we finished our orientation class and passed the written and behind-the-wheel test to get our Japanese driver's license, we immediately started looking for one. The base has a "lemon lot" and lo and behold, that's where we found Cody. He has been working his butt off since we first got him....lugging groceries, suitcases, and various finds I've found while shopping at the bazaar.

Now we thought that we would be good with one car for a while because I wasn't planning on doing any driving outside of the naval base. Then came the news that the Navy was offering us a 3 bedroom place if we were willing to live about 25 minutes away from the main base. We decided to take it, especially after seeing what we would've been offered had we decided to stay at the main base-- a teeny, tiny 2 bedroom apartment that wouldn't even fit our bed in the master bedroom.

Living away from the base meant that Mike had to commute for work and I would basically be stranded during the day. Of course there are trains that I can take, but it's a 10-15 minute walk to the train station from the apartment, and a 10-15 minute walk to the base once I got to my stop. This is fine if I just want to get out and explore, but if I have to bring groceries back....forget it! So one day, Mike went to work by bus and this was my opportunity to test my courage to see if I could drive out in town. It was nervewracking at first, but I did it! Then, because I was feeling confident, later on that day, I decided to take the Yoko-Yoko, which is the expressway near our place. My heart was pounding while I was on it because everything is written in Japanese, with TINY English translations on the bottom so you really have to be paying attention. Imagine being on the highway and not being able to read anything....not fun, I tell you.

So long story short, we now have 2 cars, Cody and Samantha. Samantha is the Skyline that Mike just had to have once he saw how popular they are here. Out the window were our conversations of just getting a junker, a true 'lemon'. I should've known that deal wouldn't hold true. I mean, this is Mike we're talking about. Him....drive a lemon??? NEVER....