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elliesc

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  1. Ah yes, the traffic rules! We were stationed in Taipei 76-78. The missing rule is that passengers are sometimes responsible for the signaling, so watch the passenger window as well as the driver for signaling. When we first arrived, and before our black cadillac (intended to sell when we left) arrived, I swore I would never, ever attempt to drive. Well, things changed because my husband worked shifts, so it was either drive, ride the buses or take a taxi to get to the compound. After doing the later two, both of which are life altering events, I decided I would drive. I found that the basic rule of the road was that the biggest vehicle wins, so I did pretty well against motorcycles, bicycles, pedicabs, taxis, most other cars, and even small trucks. Buses were another story. I worked at the Taipei American School, and one day was turning at the light to go into the parking lot, when a bus jumped the light as mine turned yellow. He slammed into the driver's side of my car and spun it around 360 degrees, but I was not hurt. I was however, very angry, and very pregnant. So here I was, the giant (5'6"), pregnant gaijin. I sat for a few minutes and composed myself, then I jumped out of the car with the requisite Taipei weapon in hand...my umbrella, and marched over to the bus. The older driver refused to open the door even though I was beating on it with my umbrella. All of the passengers moved to the other side of bus. Fortunately, about that time, the foreign affairs police arrived and calmed me down. My husband was not happy that the car was damaged, but happy that I was okay. Turned out that the older driver had been driving for a couple of years, even though he was ten years older than I. The car got fixed after two months, since parts had to be ordered from the states. Result was that we sold the car for a couple thou less than we could have. Final result was a beautiful baby girl, who grew up, and has just recently given us two beautiful grandchildren. She likes to tell everyone that she was "made in Taiwan."
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