Driving in the U.S. after living in Japan for so long presents certain challenges. Like the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, Japan drives on the left side of the street, which means you need to pay attention to what other cars are doing when switching from one country to the other to avoid any problems. Although it’s not that difficult to make the switch — just make sure you’re closer to the center of the road than your passenger, whichever country you’re in — I find it’s impossible to keep from accidentally trying to get into the wrong side of a car, no matter where I am. Similarly, although automobile controls are identical no matter what country you’re in, the turn signal and windshield wiper controls are reversed between the U.S. and Japan. This increases the likelihood that I’ll accidentally turn my wipers on when making a turn, usually when a group of attractive girls happens to be watching me. In Japan, there’s a 5-second delay between when one traffic light turns red and the next changes to green, which means there’s always a stream of cars running every red light since people know they have a few more seconds to make it across. This time delay doesn’t exist in the U.S. however, which is a very important thing to keep in mind when driving.
Like the U.K., the Japanese drive on the left, which causes me to get in on the wrong side of the car sometimes.
