I was talking to Michiko Sensei recently and I was explaining the different experiences I had when I was living in Naples, Italy. The one that stood out in my mind the most was when I first experienced the driving in Naples. When my family first arrived in Italy, we had to drive ourselves from the airport to our house. We were totally unprepared for what to expect on the road and the driving edicate that the Italians practiced.

Basically in Naples, the driving laws are very flexible. The road signs and traffic lights are more like suggestions, rather than definite rules. Even though there are police around, they don’t seem to stop a lot of drivers from basically doing whatever they want to do. So when we started driving from the airport, we were totally shocked. People were cutting us off without using their turn signals, running red lights, and constantly honking their horns. When we got on the highway, we found that the four lane highway turned into a six lane highway. There were cars inbetween lanes trying to squeeze between others cars and on the shoulder trying to get past the traffic. It was quite an experience to say the least. But despite all of that, we made it home safely in one piece and eventually got use to the crazy driving.

One thing that I found very interesting about the driving was that the drivers in Naples are  very confrontational with each other. If somebody cut a driver off, both of the drivers would roll down their windows and start arguing with each other. They would yell and honk at each other and until they said everything that they wanted to say. And then after  they are done arguing, they would just drive away. Nobody would take it personally and because of that there would be no physical fighting. I thought that was great because then people can just vent and say whatever they want and nobody gets hurts. In the US, it is the complete opposite. If somebody cuts you off or honks at you, you take it personally and want to get violent. But nevertheless everyone should experience driving in Naples at least one in their lives.