It's been 7 months since we arrived in Canada!!
今住んでいるところは郊外なので、移動するのにいつもSteveのご両親の車をお借りしていました。
We've been lucky enough to be able to borrow Mr.&Mrs. Johnson's cars to get around here.
でも、先週の水曜日！！
ついに、車を買いました！！！(*^^)v 2005年Hyundai の TUCSON（トゥソン）です。
But last week we finally bought a car of our own!(*^^)v
私自身もこの車は大きいなぁと思いましたが、カナダの道路を走ると他の車のサイズが日本のものより2倍も3倍も大きなトラックや車がたくさん走っているので、Steveと事故に遭った時のことを考えてがっしりした車を買おうと決めました。
I myself thought that this was a fairly big vehicle, but most of the other vehicles driving on the roads here in Canada (Steve's note: especially Alberta!) are trucks about two or three times the size of a car in Japan. So, with safety in mind Steve and I decided we should try to find a strong and protective mid-sized vehicle.
上の条件から、私たちは小さいエンジンを乗せたコンパクトSUVという車を主に探しましたが、他にも、中古車探しの中で、小さい車で安全という評判が高いHONDAのCIVICやMAZDAのMAZDA３やSUZUKIのAERIOなのが紹介されていて、日本の車がこちらでも高く評価されていることが分って嬉しかったです(*^_^*)
実際、私たちもHONDA CIVICなども見に行きましたが、私たちの希望に合うものがありませんでした。
（軽自動車が人気の日本と比べると、こちらは「小型の車」でTOYOTAのカローラや上に挙げた車になるので、やっぱり物が全体的にカナダは大きいです・・。）
With the above safety conditions in mind, we focused in on compact SUVs with smaller, more efficient engines. We also looked at some used cars that were smaller yet had a good reputation for safety, including Honda Civics, Mazda3s, Suzuki Aerios. I was happy to find out that Japanese cars are rated so highly here in Canada!
To tell you the truth, we looked at a lot of Honda Civics, but we couldn't find any that matched what we were looking for.
(It was interesting to compare these small cars, like the Toyota Corolla and the ones mentioned above, to "kei cars" back in Japan (cars classified as small in body size, weight and engine size). In general, things are all bigger in Canada, and even these "small cars" were no exception.)
私たちが車を買ったのは、2年間カナダに住んでこれからインドに帰るというインドの方でした。初めて車を見に行った時から、この車には運命的なものを感じていました・・。
The car we ended up buying was from a guy from India who had lived in Canada for 2 years and was getting ready to move back home. The first time we went to have a look, we noticed small signs that perhaps it was in our destiny to buy this car.
①イルカの飾り
First omen: a dolphin hanging from the mirror.
知っている方も多いかもしれませんが、Steveはイルカが大好きです。それを伝えると、この車のオーナーは、イルカのこの飾りもそのまま残してくださいました。Steveが大喜びです(^.^)
As many of you may already know, Steve is crazy about Dolphins. After hearing that, the owner kindly said he would include it.
②音楽
Second good sign: The Music
車を初めて試乗した時、エンジンをかけるとステレオから・・・♪インドの音楽が・・♪(*^_^*)Steveは日本にいた時にインドに旅行しに行ったことがあり、インドがとても好きになったそうです。その音楽を聞いて、「もしこの車を買うことになったら、インド音楽のCDも１つもらえるかなぁ・・」と冗談で言っていました。
後日、車の購入が決まってから冗談でこの話をオーナーに話すと、「全然問題ない！いいよ！」とCDも譲ってくださいました。
The first time we got in to test it out, we started the engine and Indian music came a-rockin' from the speakers. When Steve was living in Japan one of his most memorable trips was to India. So, when we heard that music, he jokingly said, "If we end up buying this car, maybe we could ask the owner to include one of these CDs!..."
When we finally decided on this car, we candidly shared the above story with the owner. "Sure! No problem!!", he said. It's the only CD we've had in the car so far....Steve joked the other day that we should make it a rule to never remove it from the player.
③誕生日
Omen Number 3: Birthday
これは全くの偶然ですが、このオーナーは、生年月日がSteveのお兄さんErikと全く同じでした！！
This was completely coincidental, but in doing the paperwork etc, it turned out that the owner has
the exact same birthday as Erik!!! (day, month, and even year!!)
・・という３つの偶然といろいろな条件が一致して、この車を買うことになしました(*^_^*)
So, with these 3 coincidences (as well as many other admittedly much more necessary and much less mystical conditions met), we decided to buy this car!
このブログでは、中古車探し、購入の裏話の詳細は書きませんが、本当に本当に大変でした。
車のディーラーから買うとぼったくられるということを本で知ってから、個人売買に絞って車を探しましたが、交渉というのを実際にして、Steveも私も・・・ビジネスには向いていない・・・と心底思いました。特に車の売買は、売り手が勝手に値段を決めるので、値段交渉も大きなカギです。が、それが難しいときたら・・。特に私たちが車を買ったオーナーは一番の強者でした・・！！！
この経験はちょっとカルチャー・ショックになりました。
In this blog, I won't go into the details of how we searched, researched, and searched and searched some more for a used car...but trust me when I say that it was a true challenge. We studied-up and found that basically trying to buy a used car from a dealer is the first mistake people often make. Most of the time it's a hassle that inevitably leads to being had. We focused on buying from a private owner, but that also involves a lot of negotiation. Steve didn't do too bad, but I think he had to become uncomfortable in his own skin... Anyway, we now fully realize that we are not exactly cut out for negotiating any type of business deals. In particular, unlike in Japan (at least as far as I know) the price is set seemingly arbitrarily by the seller, rather than a reflection of it's actual market value (that is, unless the seller is being perfectly honest). So prices are generally inflated and finding a fair price falls on a classic battle between reality and opinion, commonly referred to as negotiation. Let's just say that our experiences in Japan did not prepare us well for such challenges of this nature.
とにもかくにも、2人で初めて納得して買った車です。
その日は、インドの方から車を買ったことにあやかって、教えてもらったインド料理屋さんで車購入の祝杯をあげました(*^_^*)
Anyway, we are happy with what we bought.
In keeping with the theme of the day's conversations (and with a good suggestion from the previous owner) we celebrated the purchase of our first car with a delicious feast of Indian cuisine!
バイキング形式のレストランだったので、動けなくなるほど食べました（笑）
Long story short, it was a delicious buffet of all the best Indian dishes. Steve was winded and having trouble moving when all was said and done.
めでたしめでたし！
And they lived happily ever after.
１ヵ月弱、中古車購入のために時間を随分費やしました。
少しずつこちらでの生活の基盤ができつつあります。これからもますます頑張っていかなくてはなりません。一歩ずつ一歩ずつしっかり前進して行こうと思います(*^_^*)
We spent a lot of time - the better part of a month - researching and searching for the right used car.
Bit by bit, we continue to make progress here, and this was another step for us. We will continue to do our best. Step by step, we continue to build our Canadian experience.
p.s. アントへ
Dear Antonio: p.s.
Regardless of your recent job experience, we want you to know we support you!
