Driving on the Flipped Side v1.0

My blog got its name the week I got behind the wheel in the UK for the first time. 

Apparently the English drive on the left because:

• Back in the day you kept your sword in your left side, leaving your right hand free to pull out the sword across your body, and your left hand to use the shield
• Soldiers marched on the left for this reason - if you passed someone you passed on the left so you could draw your sword easily.
• A horse is mounted on the left
• To make my life more interesting

This article in the guardian gives a whole bunch of "I heard its because" statements  http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-19385,00.html

I don't know... there is no right answer and I'm sure plenty of historians will give you a different answer related to battles and Napoleon. I'm not sure I really need to know, but for me, this historical evolution into driving motor vehicles on the left hand side meant I had to reorient myself. And quickly.

Many people back home have asked me how I find driving on the left. Before I could drive a company car (which I have only temporarily which is a whole other story) I had to take a 3 hour "UK Driving Orientation Course" with an instructor.

Getting in the car for the first time last summer was definitely an odd experience. First thing my strict "I love the rules" supervisor for the afternoon asked was if I knew how to drive a manual car. Thanks to my Dad for making me learn 10 years ago, leading me to drive a manual car for the past decade. (Yes, I'm admitting you were right about this life skill, Father!)

We went over the basics of roundabouts on a piece of paper before he unleashed me into the left side driving world. Of course, the weirdest part of the switch is your sense of depth perception. As evidence I very promptly ran over the curb (spelled kerb here - odd?) driving out of the parking lot and my instructor sighed in a very "oh, here we go..." fashion.

I came out of the 3 hour session being labelled "medium risk"(!). Apparently my hands weren't at 10 and 2 enough even though I was extra conscious of it, I approached the roundabouts too quickly and tended to drift to the left with this depth perception issue...  Well then. I was just trying to remember to shift with my left hand in the opposite direction than I'm used to, while concentrating staying on the left side and looking in the rear view mirror where it looked like there were headless drivers in the cars behind me because they weren't in the spot I was accustomed. I thought I didn't do too shabby.

After 2 weeks I was pretty comfortable and after 2 months it felt natural. Now, I'm a completely ambidextrous driver, but I still don't have my UK license. The law is that my US license is good for one year, expiring soon, and I'm completely dreading this process.

Step 1: Obtain Provisional License (a permit)
Step 2: Pass the theory test
Step 3: Pass the driving test
Step 4: Obtain UK Driver's License (apparently they're going to take away my U.S. license which I don't understand at all...)

I plan to take a lesson or 2 with a driving instructor on "how to pass the driving test" which I'm sure will be expensive but probably less expensive than taking the test multiple times. There are all kinds of crazy rules during the driving test that you would have no idea about if you didn't learn how to pass with an instructor. More on what I learn later... with an average 40% FAIL RATE... I think I'll take the studying seriously.

I feel like I'm 16 again.