It's my last night in DE for this trip. I escaped having to drive too much as my work colleague drove each day but the one where I had after hours plans and I drove myself. I didn't mind to rent a car from the airport--I wasn't sure if my colleague wanted a car pool buddy, and I like to drive in Germany. I like the order of the autobahn and the driving is on the 'right' side.
Before coming back, I was figuring that driving on the 'right' side (both literally and figuratively), would be like putting on an old pair of shoes, something that I would ease right back into.
I love being proven blatantly and obviously wrong!
I was a little tired on Thursday, but ok. I was in the office all day and then had a meet-up with a colleage after work, and then with my English student after that. Coming back from beyond Leverkusen to Cologne, I was able to follow the signs back to the A3, where I know my way back to my colleague's.
I was in unfamiliar territory, beyond following the markers to the A3. As I approached a traffic circle, I slowed down to think through--which way should I be going into it?
(Yikes)
Fortunately, there are blue signs with arrows showing the flow (something I've never noticed before.)
This one was a little odd I think, because:
1. I didn't go through so many traffic circles when I lived in Germany; there was one I went though perhaps every two weeks or so when I went to the train station. As opposed to the UK where I must go through multiple traffic circles to get into the office each day.
2. I was not in a familiar area, so I had no autopilot on which way to go into the circle.
Then, the icing on the cake--I whacked the door twice with my left hand, going to shift gears.
OK, so it's less than when I 'converted' to driving on the left...
I find this interesting because I was not expecting to have any issue whatsovever. I figured that I would revert easily to that which I have always known.
Hmm...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Back in the days when I used to go back and forth regularly, I had a few very near misses. For me too, the roundabouts (traffic circles-- Verkehrskreis) were the worst.
That and coming out of petrol stations.
Beware! I prefer you live to dead.
v: i need to get petrol on the way to the airport tomorrow, thanks for the advance notice. ;-)
Sorry about the driving confusion, but something tells me it is quite natural and not something to beat yourself up over.
As for the Verkehrskreis, I've got to admit that I will go many kilometers out of my way to avoid the Siegessäule here in Berlin.
Snooker: I was pondering that question, thinking of people who regularly go back and forth, such as these freight truckers one sees on the ferry...i wonder when it becomes old hat and natural that one can drive back and forth without thinking?
Well, it is probably a bit like switching between languages depending upon the situation/conversation partner. Although I can report only mixed results with this... a niece back in the states knows me as the Aunt that says "ja" a lot.
Post a Comment