Driving Stick

I had my driving lesson this morning. I can't read the street signs (except stop), and the rules are very different in the Netherlands-- if someone is coming from the right, they have right of way unless there are "shark teeth" painted on the street. So Franklin people, think about the intersection of congress hill and pone lane; if I'm pulling out from congress hill (like from the firehall towards bully hill) people on pone lane have to stop for me. It's quite the change. People here bike EVERYWHERE, also. It's a really well organized system for safe riding, as long as there aren't any stupid Americans on the road. So I have to worry about the other cars, the bus lane, and the bike lanes, while also following these new rules without being able to read the stop signs. The dutch also seem opposed to posting speed limits; apparently they are strongly enforced, and tickets are very expensive, but there is some type of formula to it I haven't worked out. It is boring to explain, so I won't, but just trust me; I don't really know what's going on as much as I would like to.

Also part of the driving lesson was learning to drive stick. His (the driving teacher's) was like a cheater 4 speed; he had access to all the pedals, so he could put it the clutch if I forgot to. So then I didn't know when I was doing it wrong because I didn't noticed I was getting help. I did learn about about all the previously mentioned tricky rules, but then he just gave me a book in dutch that I can't read and made me drive around a hundred traffic circles, which I do feel confident about now. His car also had a screen that told you when you should shift up or down, which I won't have. 

My twingo-- Dad has pointed out that it's like a little old french woman.

After my two hour driving lesson (I just kept thinking that I could have driven home from Cleveland in the time I spent in a car) I tried to get my own car to move, and it took me another hour just to get it turned around in the driveway. I was fussing with the stick shift, and texting dad, and looking online, and after lots of trial and error I finally found the stupid collar on the stick shift to get it in reverse so I could turn it around in the driveway. That was my only goal for the day, but it still resulted in a lot of weeping and panicking. 

Tomorrow, I will practice starting and stopping in the driveway and down the road. Vanessa also mentioned she can try to come home earlier and drive me around so I can continue to learn the rules of the road. Wish me luck!