Learning to drive in a foreign country can be proven to be a very very difficult task. And when that country has roundabouts (of all shapes and sizes), drives on the wrong side of the road (the left), and has two lane roads which can hardly fit a Smart car, let alone a normal sized vehicle, it can be a very daunting and sometimes pretty scary learning curve.
From the moment I sat down, in what should have been the passenger seat, put my hands on the wheel, and put the car into drive with my left hand, I began to have flash backs of my beginning driving days when I earned the nickname crash. It only took me a week and a half to drive my beloved Izzy right into the bumper of an oversized sedan. I got Izzy back from the body shop and within two weeks got my first, of many, speeding tickets. A few months later was backed into by a friend's '75 white, vintage, solid metal Charger. And a couple months after having another side of Izzy replaced, I was side swiped at a red light. I was the body shop's best customer as I drove around in what was practically a brand new car. That was all in my first year, so needless to say I did not tell my new husband of my past when I assured him I was a very experienced driver and plenty capable of learning to drive in England.
All was well in my first few months of driving on this small island they call the UK. I of course had a couple close calls as I whipped around the roundabouts forgetting to yield to the right, but wouldn't any american driver naturally look to the left? Then, while at work, a foreign exchange Japanese student sprained her wrist and I was volunteered to take her to the ER. I nervously agreed, not admitting I was shitting my pants at the thought of having to drive into there miniature parking garage built for nothing wider than a bicycle. I somehow managed to make it into the tiny parking garage and lucky drove my oversized car straight off an up ramp into a tight little space.
I took the girl in to see a doctor where he patched her up and we were good to go back to work just in time to get some lunch. We walked back to my car and squeezed in through the small gap I left for our doors to open. I put the car into reverse, checked it was clear, and off I went... a total of 10 feet. As I reversed, trying not to turn the car too much to avoid hitting the car next to my right and the cement wall to my left, I somehow rolled right over a huge cement bump on the up ramp. Trying not to panic and desperately trying to reassure the poor Japanese girl with smiles and slow simple english, which she did not understand, all was ok, I put the car into drive and tried to slowly drive over this huge bump. Nothing happened. The car would not budge. I kept gently putting my foot on the gas revving the engine hastily trying to get my car to move as I began to break out into a frenzy as a line of cars had now queued up watching me try to get out of this pickle. I then did what only seemed right and pushed the gas down hard until the car flew forward scarping the underneath of the car making loud screeching noises while lights on my dashboard simultaneously lit up like a freaking christmas tree. And all the while the Japanese girl kept spouting out what seemed to be the only english word she knew, 'uh-oh uh-oh'. I got myself pulled back into the parking space while I stuck my hand out the window desperately waving the cars to please pass me so I could attempt this exit a little more gracefully without the audience. To my horror they would not drive pass me. They all stayed, lined up, staring at me when one kind samaritan shouted out his window I had left a huge chunk of plastic from the underneath of my car in the middle of the way and no one could drive pass. As I still had a broken record Japanese girl saying 'uh-oh uh-oh' in my other ear. Could this get any worse!? Yes. It did. I then had to get out of my car walk and get the huge black plastic wheel protector and try to stuff it in the trunk of my car as all the spectators drove past.
