Let’s talk traffic…. I’ve been avoiding addressing this in my blog. Part of our gift of this adventure is to learn to recognize different perspectives and to “lean in” to uncomfortable situations and try to find the positive. I promised myself that I would be honest with my blog while still trying to maintain a focus on seeing the “good” And then I got into a taxi….. A little background about myself. I don’t passenger well. On any given car ride I frequently make audible gasps and some would say misuse of the passenger floorboard “brakes”. My husband is a saint for driving me anywhere. So I knew this was going to be a problem. Our daughter, June, lived almost a year in China. She has provided frequent “mom, the traffic is going to be bad” comments in the time leading up to this fellowship. I knew I knew I knew. But really there was no way to know. I didn’t want to be the person among this brave cohort of adventurers that I’m fortunate to travel with to scream like a little girl at the first intersection. But I did. To my credit, they drive on the left side of the road. There is nothing inherently wrong with this but I needed a gentler introduction. Next, there appears to be absolutely zero adherence to any traffic laws or logical rules of order. It is commonplace to pull right out in front of other fast moving motorists and just believe that they will stop. And they do. Unbelievable, but they do. It’s the craziest thing I have ever experienced. Someone described it like a school of fish that move like a well choreographed and rhythmic dance. There are mopeds that you can summon just like you would an Uber at home. They are called Gojeks and they are everywhere. The drivers seem to only have minimum grasp of the laws of physics and yet they are so popular people wait in line for them to arrive. Incredible. I’m not sure I could ever get truly acclimated to the traffic here. I KNOW that I could never be a driver. But somehow even among all the chaos there is a weird hard to describe beauty to it. Is there a lot of trust involved? Yes. Is it still terrifying? Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Does it exceed my medication ceiling? Absolutely. But it works. And I can lean in to that. Eventually. www.go-jek.com/
2 Comments
"This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee's own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State."
Sri Maryati
7/17/2018 11:42:32 pm
Welcome to Indonesia 😁
Reply
Lee Seitz
7/22/2018 02:02:23 pm
When we went to Australia several years ago, where they also drive on the left side, we went straight from the airport after that 20-hour flight to a passenger car. They put me in the front. You know, where the driver would normally be in an American car. Let's just say that took a little adjustment and my sleep-deprived brain was no longer prepared. But they at least drive sanely (from the American perspective, that is).
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2018
Categories"This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee's own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State."
|