Sunday, 6 January 2008
Old habits died hard. I automatically walked to the left side of Mike's truck when he met me at the airport when I first arrived in US 8 months ago. Months later I still make the same mistake sometimes! Mike laughed "Honey, you are in US".
In Malaysia, the front passenger sits on the left side while the driver sits on the right side and we drive on the left side of the road!
My first time sitting as the front passenger on the right side of the car was in China in 1999. China drives on the right side of the road too! It felt funny moving forward on the right side of the road. Now that I am getting more comfortable with moving on the right side of the road here, I wonder how I would feel when I return to Malaysia and move on the left side of the road!
Michael had courageously allowed me to drive to church to attend meetings, for the past month. When we were in a hurry, my left hand would automatically reach up to my right shoulder to pull down the body strap over to my left side. And of course, there was nothing to pull!
Then the signals. I still made mistakes in this aspect, especially if I didn't use my head in advance. In Malaysia it is located on the right side of the steering wheel but in US it is located on the left side. In Malaysia you push up the lever to signal when you are turning to your left and you push down the lever to signal when you are turning to the right. In US it is just the opposite - lever up signals right and lever down signals left.
Mike kept teasing me that in US, they drive on the right side of the road for the right reason! I kept saying that it is not incorrect for us to drive on the left side of the road in Malaysia and we are not on the wrong side in Malaysia! It is just the way we were taught to drive there. Now that I am in US, I will need to drive on the right side of the road, the way this country drive!
Today, for the first time in US, I drove by myself! Today, Mike didn't feel well to go to church. I asked him if it was alright for me drive myself. Michael had courageously sat by my side while I drove to church for the past month. I have gain confidence on that particular stretch of road but I dare not try any other street of the city. Michael said "please drive carefully".
2 comments:
Hahaha, I know how silly it feels to switch on the wiper when you wanted to turn the signal light on! We have both the Japanese and European made cars in Malaysia so I also used to make the same mistake when switching between cars.
Anyway, do drive carefully!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences about driving, Irene.
I enjoyed it as most of us have the same issues here in Europe, with UK driving on the left and the rest of Europe driving on the right it gets complicated when travelling between the two. Roundabouts (not many in the USA) are the worst!
In Scotland we have some very serious accidents, usually in the summer, when Foreigners visit us but forget to drive on the left hand side of the road having just driven off from a beauty spot etc., With very few dual carriageways in Scotland this act of driving on the right hand side of the road can easily give rise to fatal accidents. Now, at the exit to every beauty spot, there are large white signs on the road that say “KEEP TO THE LEFT”. Sorry for being a bit morbid.
I know how Mike must feel inside about letting you drive alone for the first time but it is always the same for any concerned relative of friend. It was always a bad feeling for us when each one of our 3 children passed their driving test and took the car out on their own for the first time. Of course, they will be fine and we will always have faith that they will return home safely.
GOSH! I don't mean to lecture, sorry.
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