Zebra's, Toucans, Pelicans, Puffins and Equestians Crossing?!

I am learning to drive. I am a licensed driver in the US and I have been licensed for 12 years. However, I now need to learn it all over again. You are wondering if I've had some horrific accident, fallen in a freak accident perhaps and lost all of my memories associated with driving. Well, I haven't and that actually would make learning a new way of driving easier. My problem is that I moved to a foreign country and with a new country comes... you guessed it, new everything!

The back story from where I wrote last to where I am now would be helpful. So last time I blogged I was worried about a job. Well I got it! Yay! And I'm very excited to start working at my new job in Leeds this Thursday! I found out a few weeks ago however there was tons of paper work that needed filling in. References that needed calling, and now I am about to start my first full-time job in a foreign country. Woot.

With the position came a car allowance or a company car. So, after thinking it over I decided I would get a car and then use the car allowance towards it's upkeep, petrol, insurance, MOT, Tax, etc. I found a 2001 Skoda Fabia 1.6 with and 8v engine. So it's no sports car and as Eric put it, "it doesn't really have much pickup." But it seemed like a good deal, the car only had 60K miles on it and is in good condition. No major rework/accidents, etc.

The only problem with the car, or my problem rather, is that my Skoda is a manual and I've been driving a manual for the grand total of 1 week (which incidentally is how long I have owned my Skoda).

So here is the deal. I've actually given my car 1 month to bond with me. I'm just not feeling it. You pay a good amount of money for something and you'd expect there would be an instantaneous bond between you and that thing, right? Wrong. That is not the case with my Skoda. I feel that my car is out to scare the crap out of me or just make me miserable. I swear that each time I do something--start out, shift, make an uphill start--I'm trying to do it the same as I did last time when it worked just fine. However, if I think too much about it... I stall out.

(My new car and arch-nemesis Skoda)

Therefore, I'm hating on my car and I'm hating on driving right now. I have been so distraught over learning a whole new way to drive and I'm now worried about the driving tests I will eventually need to take if I want to keep driving in the UK past Oct 4th.

I'm trying not to be so negative and find the silver linings so maybe if I share them with all of you, (whoever you are) I can convince myself to push on with the driving thing.

Reasons I hate driving now:

1. Everything I knew about driving just got thrown out the window
2. I don't get the road markings. If I grew up here it would be easier to understand what road marks mean but I have no clue what the difference is between a Pelican or Toucan crossing.
   
3. I keep wanting to drive on the right or worse turn onto the right-hand side when turning onto an adjoining road
4. Roundabouts are a good idea but more difficult than they look (plus they make me sick when I'm the passenger)
   
5. The roads here are VERY narrow and oncoming traffic is scary as s*&#
6. Roads are so winding it takes an hour to go 18 miles
   
7. Although I've been practicing, I still suck at driving a manual
8. It feels like I'm learning to drive for the first time but I have done this years ago!
   
9. I get very nervous every time I need to drive
10. Driving with Eric has been banned because I get too defensive around him

Reasons to keep trying:

1. I am stubborn
2. It will be a good life-skill to have
3. Practically all vehicles outside of the US are manual
4. The freedom to drive
5. Not being reliant on public transportation
6. Independence
7. Bragging rights to say I can drive a manual
8. So that I can drive to pick my friends and parents up from the airport and drive around England when/if they visit
   
9. So that Eric will ride with me again and when we go on our trip/s around Europe I can drive as well
10. To be proud of myself for learning something hard and new

Okay so.. I'm not totally convinced that the reasons to keep trying are completely outweighing the reasons I want to quit. But it's a beginning and I am going to keep trying. I told my car today that she'd better start bonding with me or she's going up for sale and then I practiced driving in our back parking area that has a slight uphill slant. The goal was to conquer the dreaded uphill start. The rules were as follows:

1. Kate must make 10 uphill starts in a row.
2. If the car stalls out, Kate must start over at 0.
3. Once Kate reaches 10 successful uphill starts she can reverse down the drive and then stop practicing.
4. Kate is not allowed to stop practicing until she reaches 10 successful uphill starts.

It took over an hour and I was really glad that our upstairs neighbors were at work when I tried it. The good news is that I did indeed make 10 successful uphill starts in a row. Now I just need to try it on a steeper slant and make it work while driving in traffic. ugh...

I guess for now I'm forging on. I'm never one to quit but this is one thing that is a lot harder than it looks. Wish me luck!