Yesterday I got settled in with the Ely's. I don't know how long I'll be here, but it's nice to know that I have a place if all else fails. My room is more that I could have asked for, or expected; and they are great people.
Today I got my first experience with driving on the wrong side of the road. Well I suppose technically, it was this way first... but let's not quibble. It's funny how one's mind gets trained in a certain way and it takes a concerted effort to break that instinct when necessary. Even before I got behind the wheel, I came to realize that at cross walks I always try to make eye contact with the driver, to make sure they see me; I never really noticed that I did it, until I came here and I kept looking into empty passenger seats.
So, I rented a car today. It is a manual, but since the steering wheel is shifted, it means you are shifting with the left hand instead of the right. I had no problem shifting from the left, but I found myself always reaching to the right first, fumbling through space for the stick shift only to realize that it was on the other side. Skylar Ely rode with me to make sure that everything went alright. I only turned into the wrong lane a few times... only on empty streets. I think it's only fair that if they insist on going the wrong way, they should at least have big flashing arrows all over the place to tell you which side to drive on!
One thing that took me by surprise is that the blinker is on the opposite side as well, so I kept turning on the windshield wipers when I was trying to signal. I did that several times, at intersections, on the freeway, at roundabouts (traffic circles) and the list goes on. I kept thinking, "You would think, someone with a college degree could figure this out." I cant help but think that some New Zealander probably saw me and just shook their head at the crazy American driver.
We decided to have pizza for supper, so on the way home Skylar and I stopped to get pizza. We waited and carried it out, and I hopped in to crank up the car. After only a moment, I got out of the passenger seat, walked around to the drivers side, got in and cranked up the car. That's right... I got in the wrong side. Skylar helped my bruised ego a bit though, in telling me that he still does that from time to time.
There is quite a difference though, driving on the left side of the road, in the right seat. It's deceptively challenging. One would think... well, just do it all backward, but the mind doesn't work that way. I suppose the challenge comes from the fact that it is just counter-intuitive to the instinct that has been there for all of my driving experience. There is also a crazy traffic law called "give way," I'm not going to waste your time in this blog trying to explain it, because it would take a novel. Just suffice to say that it is annoying. If you really want to know what it is, let me know... and I'll tell you to google it.
Now that I have the car, hopefully things will begin to pick up. I have looked into a few jobs, and finding at least some leads is the goal for tomorrow. It's a good time to be going job hunting. No idea what the job will be in, but it will be a job. I may not be staying in Auckland, so that will have a bearing as well.
Today's New Zealand driving tip: If someone honks at you while passing, they are thanking you for being a courteous driver... No, seriously.
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2 comments:
I laughed out loud multiple times reading this blog. I am so glad that you are getting to do this. Just FYI I'm living vicariously through your blog.
Glad to hear things are going well and keep writing, it's very entertaining.
haha, well good. I laughed out loud the entire time I was doing it. Glad you are enjoying it! I am too.
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