Driving In Taiwan

I really, really, REALLY, did not want to have to start driving in Taiwan. Driving is capital C- Crazy here and I wanted no part of it. We've had a rental car for almost two weeks and Nathan has done amazing considering we had no GPS (it's in English but wanted us to put the street names in in Chinese Characters) and no experience actually driving here though Nathan has been coming to Taiwan for 9 years now so he claims he sees "a method to the madness" and a "flow to the traffic". He must need to change his contacts.

But as the beginning of school approached and coincided with a big Tech Show that Nathan would have to be scampering off to it became more and more clear I wouldn't be able to avoid driving for much longer. How we got International Licenses I have no idea, it doesn't seem prudent does it? But then, you haven't seen how everyone else drives here so in that context, as long as you've got one eye open, pinky finger on the wheel and your lead foot on the gas, you'll be better than most.

Monday was my big day:

(Sweaty Palms Not Pictured)

My first experience = not so good. Here's a little Taiwan Driving Trivia for ya, who is more aggressive?

A. Buses

B. Taxis

C. Scooters

Answer? Buses. Buses are incredibly aggressive here. Two blocks from our apartment on my first drive I was on the outer ring of a large roundabout, when out of no where this huge ol bus cuts from the inner lane of the roundabout clear across, in front of me to exit at the last second. I was able to slow down enough not to hit him but it scared me pretty good. Our destination was a store one more block away and Nathan directed me down a side street which is lined with cars and scooters on both sides and there is barely room for the car to get down. At the end of the lane it comes to a "T" where we discover we've driven into some sort of street market. One where a car will definitely not fit mind you. We had to switch drivers and Nathan had to back clear back down the street with old ladies on bikes chewing us out in Chinese for being in their way. I was done driving for a few hours. Though to be fair the Market thing was just funny as I didn't have to back out.

I attempted again that afternoon. It went much better. Check out what a typical stop light will look like. Lot's of important Chinese mumbo jumbo. One of the confusing/irritating things is that on the lights there are signs about times of the day when certain things aren't allowed, left hand turns, U-turns, certain lanes going certain ways- and it can make things stressful. The placement of the actual lights is different than what I'm used to and I have to really pay attention to notice them, plus there is usually only one light per intersection, not one for each lane like in the states. One thing I kind of like is that many of the lights have a countdown so at least you know how blasted long your going to wait.
One of the most scary things for me is unprotected left hand turns. In this picture I am in the proper lane waiting my turn. Notice the bus to my right. He is not in a turn lane but is going to pull up along side all of us and turn with us anyway. This is perfectly acceptable. Then what confuses and scares me is that the person in front just starts inching out into oncoming traffic, eventually forcing the traffic to slow down or stop and then a few cars turn and the process starts over. Needless to say, I hate unprotected left hand turns.

There is a lot of other crazy stuff like how double parking is normal so the flow of traffic all has to sway left to avoid the parked car and you never know if someone is just moving over to avoid a car or coming into your lane etc. You have to get really used to driving super close to other cars and buses which is not my favorite. And the scooters everywhere like a swarm of annoying mosquitos that I have to be constantly vigilant for because they go all around you and you have to swerve around them...

I won't bore you with more traffic talk but please be proud of me that I am driving- and with Nathan's help prepping me to find where I am going, I have driven to several playgroup outings on my own. Even I can't hardly believe it. Don't worry though, I'm not cocky. Driving here is still really nerve racking and I feel like I still have a lot to learn.

PS- on another note, the Typhoon really walloped the mid and southern part of Taiwan. It's pretty bad. There are a lot of clothes and food drives going on and it is on the news constantly. Maybe just keep those people in your prayers if you think of it.