Carbondale

Carbondale is a small town in Southern Illinois. It looks like countryside, not like a city. SO it can be more fun to drive a car in and around Carbondale. When you drive your car, open the window and let fresh air come into your car; nice wind makes you feel great. In my hometown it is a big city; it looks like St.louis. So do you thinkdriving a car is good or bad? A lot of people and cars sometimes have traffic problem. SO it is not very fun. But in my city we have a big lake. But when you arrive there you will find it is very beautiful. It looks like Carbondale; the wind from lake is so nice. My hometown and Carbondale are different, my hometown has a lot of lakes and rivers, so driving a car is like driving a boat, and here it looks like countryside; it has a lot of farmers. Soif you drive a car, you will find a lot of differences, but both of them are fun.

Driving in Carbondale

Carbondale is a small town. So, driving in Carbondale is very easy. There are many signs and it is clear. Carbondale does not have mountains and the roads are extended, so driving is not difficult. Since Carbondale lies in a forest, the driving around Carbondale is exciting. There are a lot of trees, lakes, and farms. Driving in Carbondale has a good advantage, which is that the roads have numbers, so it is easy for everyone to go anywhere. In my country, Jordan, driving is difficult in some ways. There is more traffic. My city is big. So driving there is not easy. The roads have names, but you cannot see that in the Internet like here. I am enjoying when I drive in Carbondale. Mr. Leverett said, “in Carbondale you know every car,” but in my city, you cannot know every car.

Be careful while driving!

I am very impressed by USA traffic patterns because it’s very systematic and strict. India is never serious about traffic, although we are second in population. Traffic is a big problem now in India and we don’t have more space to build a road. Especially in my city, Ahmedabad, our city population is 12.5 million and people have a lot of vehicles, so our municipality decided to build an over bridge, which can help to solve the traffic problems. We have traffic signals the same as the USA, but people don’t care about pedestrians or handicapped people. We don’t have separate way for bikers and handicapped people. People are crazy about traffic manners. Mostly people break the traffic rules; they don’t even care if they are caught by traffic police, because police are also corrupt. People who have cars have to wear a seat belt and two wheelers have to wear helmets. I have the best video about my city’s traffic; it is “Crazy everyday driving in Ahmedabad, India” from You Tube. When I see this video I remember my flash and I realize this is the magic of Indian traffic that I don’t want to miss.

Carbondale & area

First of all, as we know there are many bountiful places in the world, and some of them are nice and some of them amazing. Carbondale is of the nice places in the world; however, there are big differences between Carbondale and my hometown, Jeddah. My hometown is bigger than Carbondale, and it is on the ocean. In the rush-hour all the traffic becomes crowded, and that is because my hometown is the second biggest city in my country so we have high pollution. On the other hand, Carbondale is very different from my city in many ways like the environment, cars, restaurants and buildings. Therefore, in Jeddah we have very nice buildings that have many stairs, and we have many hotels and land parks. Finally, I do not feel that am far away from my hometown, because I feel Carbondale is like my second home.

Carbondale & area

There are many differences between Riyadh, which it is my home city, and Carbondale. First, Riyadh is the capital city of Saudi Arabia, so it contains many highways from the east to west and from the north to the south. But the problem is there are at least five million people who live in it and almost 99% of them have cars. So, it is very crowded, especially on rush hours. Sometimes, when you want to move from one place to another, it takes you thirty minutes, but in Carbondale at the same distance it takes you five minutes. I don’t remember here in Carbondale that I ever waited one or two minutes at the traffic lights, but in Riyadh, sometimes maybe you wait seven to ten minutes. Second, in Carbondale you rarely hear horns, but in Riyadh it is normal to hear them at least twenty times or more a day.

Traffic patterns different

Tell about driving in and around Carbondale. How is it different from driving in your country? How are traffic patterns different?


In Carbondale, there is special nature. When people go to Giant City Park, which is located in Makanda, they can meet special nature around a car; there are several trees and squirrels. People can meet original nature. Actually, in the United States, also including Carbondale, there are one-way road, but in Korea this road is not a common road. When Koreans drive in the United States, they said that first time was very confusing because of one-ways or stop signs. Some people have been in car accidents because they forgot the stop sign. Both Korea and US have similar traffic patterns, but the United States has more freedom to drive. Also I thought that the United States has wider roads than Korea. So some people say driving in the US is easier than driving in Korea

Red, Orange and Green

I always heard about driving style in the USA. Many relatives from the USA, always tell about the driving in the USA. When I came first time in the USA, I loved the driving style in the Carbondale and all around. I love the big roads. The traffic system is very good in Carbondale. All people follow the traffic rules. There are strict traffic rules. All have to follow those rules and they do. The Policeman plays a big role in the traffic system to check and keep it in track. The traffic system is totally different from my country. There are not strict rules in my country. There are many rules but people do not follow them properly. I like one thing most in the USA, that if there is an accident that occurs or someone gets injured, there is always police and ambulance ready to help that person, but in my country nobody comes to help him or her. They will come after someone calls them, or they come after he or she died at the accident place. Here I like the traffic flow; everyone always drives in a line, parks in a row and at the traffic signal they always stop in line. I like the Zebra crossings, which are in front of the college and the shopping mall, where every car has to stop to let everyone cross the road. In my country, on many roads you can go in any directions and there is no traffic rule in many areas to follow. You need to have some tricks to drive there and everyone wants to go first there. I love to drive here in the USA. Traffic rules and systems are excellent in the USA.

Carbondale & Area

When driving a car around Carbondale, I felt very comfortable, easy, and fun, because I like to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. I also can feast on a gallery of natural landscape and a charming sunset. I am really excited to drive on the broad road and to feel the freedom. There are fewer traffic lights and signs to interrupt my driving enjoyment. Moreover, when drivers meet pedestrians on the road, they will let walkers go first. It is a good educational culture. On the other hand, driving in Taiwan is like a boring job, because there are too many traffic lights and cars. Furthermore, it is not only difficult to find a parking space, but also expensive to park. People who drive in Taiwan need to pay more for insurance to protect their life. Following those reasons, driving a car in Carbondale is a wonderful amusement.

Driving in Carbondale

I think the driving in Carbondale is a little bit dangerous, especially in the night. In my country, there are a lot of street lamps, even in the countryside. I think it is possible to build many street lamps, because our country is not that big. Anyway, when I drive in the night in Carbondale, I can't see forward well, and it's a problem that it is too dark. However, except for this one fact, I like driving in America and Carbondale. I do like the stop sign system in America; I think it's a very developed traffic system. In Korea, there are too many traffic signals and too many crossroads. It makes traffic jams. In Carbondale, there are no traffic jams, because there are not too many cars. It's one of the reasons, and I think the stop sign system is another one of the reasons.

Difference of driving

When I arrived in Carbondale, the driving systems shocked me. First, the traffic lane is too small, and there are a lot of one-way roads. Second, most drivers make a concession for people. For example, if we are waiting at a crosswalk, most drivers stop the car in front of the crosswalk. Finally, when we want to cross a crosswalk, we should press a button. I still can not understand why an automatic system is not applied. In Korea, it is very hard to find one-way roads, and most traffic lanes are wider than 4 lanes. Also, if we are waiting at a crosswalk without a traffic signal, we may wait for a long time. Therefore, most crosswalks have a traffic signal, and it is applied with an automatic system. I think that these differences of driving system are affected by size of city.

Driving in Carbondale

I had driven a car in Thailand for 10 years. It is a little bit difficult because I live in ChiangMai, the second capital of Thailand. There are a lot of cars in rush hour like 8-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. When I came to America, Carbondale, I thought driving in Carbondale was easier than driving in my hometown. There are not many cars like my hometown. Drivers in Carbondale are very polite. I have never heard somebody honk a horn. Drivers don’t drive too close to other cars. I especially like the traffic signals. Carbondale always has speed limit signs to tell me how fast I can drive. My country doesn’t have speed limit sign, because the government thinks everybody should know the speed limit when they take the driving test, but I think it would be good if they could remind drivers again. Moreover, I really like the stop signs in America. I think it can help the traffic flow quicker than using traffic lights as in my country. Only one reason that I think driving in America is more difficult than driving in my country, is I used to drive on the right hand side. I have to adjust myself to the left hand side. Now, I am used to driving on the left hand side. When I go back to Thailand, I will have to change it again.

Driving in Carbondale & Japan

I do not have a driver’s license, so I cannot drive a car. But I am interested in driving a car. The traffic road in Japan is on the opposite side from driving here. Also, we drive on the left side. That is, it is difficult for Japanese to drive here. But I want to try to drive here too. I like seeing in and around Carbondale, and getting in a car. Especially now, there is a lot of nature even on campus. I can see various flowers, greens, trees, and so on. I also like feeling the wind, and opening a window.

Tell about driving in and around Carbondale.

Carbondale is very different from my hometown’s traffic atmosphere. First, my hometown has lot of cars so driving is very hard. Also both taxis and buses are driving fast. So I think driving in my hometown makes you become more easily tired than driving in Carbondale. Second, my hometown has lot of intersections and signs, so when I want to drive even a short distance, it does take much times. Third, my hometown doesn’t have much scenery around the road because of lots of high buildings. So when I have driving time in my hometown, I felt stuffy all the time. But Carbondale has nice nature; also, I could see beautiful clouds with fresh air. I like driving in Carbondale. I never felt tired because of driving in Carbondale, except driving from Carbondale to Chicago. -Moon-

Driving in Carbondale and Taiwan

In Taiwan, it is legal for us to get a driving license as 18-year-olds. Luckily, I got my driving license when I was 18. It is hard to get a driving license in Taiwan. I always remembered the day before the exam day, that I couldn’t sleep the whole night. It was such a huge test for me, since I just practiced for a month and I would be tested on all driving skills, especially the parking skill, because the parking space was quite small and almost the same as the car size. In the end, I passed my test, but actually I did not have many chances to drive in Taipei since it is a capital city with convenient transportation. Nevertheless, driving in Taiwan is totally opposite of driving in Carbondale. The only one thing that I was afraid of was my language problem, because it is like an English test and not a driving test for me. Luckily, I passed my driving test in Carbondale. I have driven in two countries. There is so much difference between the two countries. In Carbondale, we could see stop signs everywhere. When we see the stop sign, we have to stop even if there is no car. Another difference is parking lots. The parking area is quite big in Carbondale. We do not have to worry about hitting someone’s car. However, Carbondale is a small town, so there are not as many cars as in a city. Driving in Carbondale is easier than driving in Taiwan.

Carbonadale & area

EAP2
Airi Murasaki
04/22/2008
Carbondale & area

Traffic in Carbondale is simple. Every body is driving a car. We can enjoy driving. The roads here are easy to look over and large. In Japan, our density of population is high. So roads are more narrow and it is sometimes difficult to look over. We often have a holdup everywhere. And then Carbondale has no train to get around this small town. So I feel sometimes it is inconvenient to go shopping. My country has a lot of trains. We use a train every day, especially for students and salary men. Traffic between Carbondale and my country are so different.

Carbondale

What place is interesting in Carbondale? The media center is definitely the best answer. There are three reasons to illustrate my point. Firstly, it provides a comfortable environment and effective equipment to study. I can stay there to surf information on the Internet, to collect academic resources, and to watch YouTube. Also, the media center is filled with Apple computers which I have never seen in my country. I am interested in the brand and it has become a part of my life. Due to its charming appearance and workstation, I have immersed myself in the media center to enjoy the amazing products. The last reason is the printer. It always hold my attention, because I can print my homework to finish my work on time. If I go to another place, they will charge extra money. According to these factors, they are why I like the media center so much.

Carbondale...

I believe that Carbondale, itself, is unusual. I think Carbondale is the good place to study. This is because there are few places to hang out with friends, so we can focus on learning. However, this is also big problem that every student feels. As I said, there are few places to make us fun. There are several bars here, but people who do not drink alcohol might not enjoy there. I was also surprised at that SIUC has a place to play bowling and billiards. In Japan, we do not have things like that. In addition, generally, universities are kind of located in the countryside, but we have more places to hang out with our friends in Japan than the U.S. has to improve here for students’ to be successful in life.

Unusual Place in Carbondale

An unusual place for me in Carbondale is the bar. I have been to a bar in America two times, and both times were in Carbondale. When I was in my country, I usually went to the bar. But when I go to the bar here, I feel unusual. The first reason that makes me feel uncomfortable when I go to the bar is that I spend too much money. I have to pay an entering fee. In my country I have never had to pay for this. I also have to remind myself that the prices of all the drinks are more expensive than the prices in my country. The second reason is that when Americans dance, they dance with inappropriate actions that are related to sexual dancing. I think that because of my culture, Thai people can not do these actions in public areas. When I see the way they are dancing, I want to avoid them. Moreover, when some people are drunk, they usually do crazy things, such as yelling, and fighting. Even when they go back home, they drive their car very fast because they are drunk. It is easy to have an accident. These are the reasons that I tell you the bar always makes me uncomfortable when I go there.

Southern Hills

I have lived in Southern Hills for a long time since I came to Carbondale. When I came to Southern Hills, first time, I thought it was a very beautiful place, because it is located in a forest. There is a beautiful entrance street with many trees. It is very unusual for me. However, there are more unusual things, indeed. I felt very strange when I saw a sign about deer. Then, one day, I came outside in the midnight to smoke. At that time, I discovered many deer in the street of Southern Hills. I was surprised by deer, because it’s really an unusual situation for me, and maybe it’s unusual for Korean. It’s unusual, but it’s a very beautiful spectacle. I could feel like I was really in America.

The First City I have been to

Carbondale is the first city that I have been to study; also it is the first city that I have lived in without my family. Actually I thought Carbondale was going to be bigger than it is, but when I came here I found it is much smaller than my city that I lived in. Because I found that Carbondale is a small city, I felt that I want to go back home, because I wasn't used to living away from my family and my friends; also there are not a lot of places to go to and to have fun. I used to go out a lot in my country and have fun with my friends but here I stay a lot in my home, because there is nothing to do in Carbondale, but I am used to that. Moreover, I was happy to come to Carbondale because I heard that there are a lot of international people, so I thought that I am going to have conversations in English without being shy, because they came here too to study, but when I came here I found that I couldn't find a partner to speak with, so I chose American people to speak with, but the first time I had problems because I am shy. If I stayed in my country none of these would to happen to me. Finally, there are a lot of things that have happened to me in Carbondale, but I liked to show how things are different when people are traveling away from what people are used to.