-Driving on the left side…need I say more?
-If you don’t peel out as soon as the light turns green, the person behind you will honk at you. They will honk at you again when you take the time to look around and try to figure out why someone is honking until you realize it is because of you…again.-Buses have the right of way. And apparently this is no matter what because they will pull into your lane even if you are in their way. (sometimes this is followed by more honking by the cars that don’t want to let you get over even though you are about to get taken out by a massive bus!) I have to tell you that it only took this happening to me ONCE to learn my lesson and now I stay clear and always make sure to give them space.
-In the US when we want to turn right at a red light we stop and then turn as long as there are no cars coming and there isn’t a sign telling us not to. In Oz you can ONLY make your left hand turn at a red light if there is a sign that says you can but then you wait patiently for the pedestrians to cross before you can turn. Luke and I are very pedestrian friendly as that is still our main mode of transportation. And guess what? If you are being extra pedestrian friendly as we like to be, the car behind you will probably honk and be upset that you didn’t quickly creep up to the crosswalk to make the pedestrians uncomfortable and feel the need to run the rest of the way to get across safely. And let me tell you, as a very slow pedestrian walking across the street these days, I will waddle even slower and give them my best mama bear eye if they even think of pressuring me to move more quickly! -Parking next to a car that is too close to the line makes it very difficult to get out of the car when you are 8 or 9 months pregnant. So difficult in fact that you have to climb over to get out on the passenger side. Yes, this happened last month...
-Parking isn’t easy to find and if you do find a spot you better be fast at parallel parking (remember we’re on the other side) because yep, you got it, people will honk at you for being in their way.
-Parking is expensive even for short amounts of time. -Even if you do find a place to park you might still have to walk a long distance to get where you are going. This is also after spending numerous precious minutes just driving around looking.
-Remember the giant Huntsman spider we had on the ceiling of our apartment last year? Well, we have discovered one of them living inside or outside of our car…somewhere. This is apparently very common and they’ve been known to like to live up under the visor. I’m terrified for the day that it makes an appearance while I’m driving. Note to self: always wear sunnies while driving. Do NOT put down visor. The webs that this thing makes on a daily basis on the outside of our car are amazing and wind and rain are no issue. Remember, this isn't one of the dangerous ones but it is still large enough to make me cause a scene!-I’m not a fan of round-a-bouts. Back home, I don’t find them to be an issue but for some reason over here they always stress me out. I know that a big factor in this is not always knowing where I am going. No worries! This is something that is getting better.
-If you take the wrong road or exit, it can take a very long time to get back to where you were headed.-The first time I stopped at the gas station I didn’t know which kind to get! All three pumps were a different kind of Unleaded but didn’t really give me much of an idea of how they were different. After a big sigh of frustration I called Luke and by texting him a picture we made the decision. Sad, I know, I know! That should have been an easy one!
And now for some of The Good Stuff:-air conditioning
-parking in the garage under the grocery store for free to make a quick trip and being able to buy more than 2 bags worth of items-not having to be in labor and go to the hospital in a taxi
-being able to bring the bub home in our own car and not in a taxi-getting to our doctor appointments quickly
-being able to get somewhere much more quickly (as long as the parking isn’t much of an issue)
All in all, we are happy about our car purchase. Luke’s list of “dilemmas” is much less dramatic than mine but I had to share some of the situations I’ve encountered in the past couple of months! It’s all part of this experience. J
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