Thursday, August 12, 2010

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

Even though I have only lived abroad for two years (and really only began international travel about three years), I feel like I'm a fairly adept traveller. I feel as though I can go with the flow and adapt to the circumstances. Especially in a country that speaks English.

Now, I thought this same thing when I moved to Trinidad and I came into a major culture shock for the first few months. It was my first exposure to driving on the left side of the road, Caribbean English can be hard to decipher, especially when you aren't accustomed to the slang, and the everyday choices (ie - groceries) had some similarities, but for the most part was pretty different.

Moving to London, I was prepared for all of that. After all, I'm "experienced" right? Given, I'm more familiar with the slang after having a couple of British friends and students in Trinidad, the last two years, watching some British TV, and having visited London a number of times. So I was good there. However, my first into the Tesco (national grocery store chain), put me in my place right quick.

We started in the produce section and Angie started grabbing all of her regular, favorite goods. I picked up a mango here, some plums there, and that was about it. I was a little overwhelmed by the choices. I had no idea that there were so many different types of lettuce. In Trinidad we had Iceberg and cabbage. Then throw in all the options between organic and non-organic and it started to get to be a bit much. So I said, I'll just follow your lead and add on here and there. My way of getting out of making any decisions.

We moved along and when we got to the bread aisle, it was more than I could handle. Wheat, whole wheat, multi-grain, oats, different sizes of each one, and on top of all of that, you had to check expiration dates, because stuff is fresh over here. By the time we got to the aisle with snack bars, and various other boxed goods, my head was spinning. I almost felt like I was having a panic attack. I felt short of breath and I couldn't even figure out if I was looking at a brand name on the box or the name of whatever type of food it was. I just couldn't do it anymore and I had to throw in the towel.

Angie agreed and said she remembered how overwhelmed she was when she first went shopping there and her running around like an old pro and break-neck speeds (because who really wants to spend an afternoon at the grocery) didn't help my situation. She then took a step back and really took in the panicked look on my face and said, let's go check out. I felt like such a tool. Who freaks out at a grocery store?

The next few days Angie had to work so I was kind of on my own during the day. I did some stuff around the house (laundry, making dinner, etc.), looked for flats on the UK's version of Craig's List called Gumtree, and went downtown once to visit a friend from Trinidad who was visiting family here (she's now teaching in Kampala, Uganda - Hi Sam!). But then, in order to be able to drive Angie's car that is provided by her work, I had to take a driving induction class, where they basically see if I'll be a danger on the roads or if I can be trusted behind the wheel of an automobile without killing anyone or driving on the wrong side of the road.

All I heard about driving in England is how incredibly difficult the tests are - the written and the actual driving test. We have all been told that most people do not pass the first time. There are many differences that you will be graded on, besides the obvious of driving on the "proper" side of the road. For instance, you cannot cross your hands while driving or turning. You can check your blind spot, but cannot turn around when driving. This includes going in reverse - all checking needs to be done from your three mirrors.

And then there are the signs, paint and the roundabouts. There are more signs on the sides of these roads than I have ever seen. They have signs that tell you that you are 300 meters from the upcoming exit, then 200 meters, then 100 meters. But you don't know that is what they are telling you, because they are just slanted lines. The national speed limit is noted by a white sign with a black line through it. But you can't just remember that the national speed limit is 70. No, no. You have to know from this same sign, what the different speed limits are if you are on a dual carriage way, rural road, or motorway. You also have to determine what speed limit you need to drive in residential or urban settings by the street lights - not necessarily a posted speed limit.

The streets are also painted with loads of different markings as well. If there is a white zig-zag (like on Charlie Brown's shirt) you cannot park there. If there is a double yellow line, you cannot park there. But if there is no zig-zag and no double yellow line, you still might be cited because you may block the flow of traffic. There are arrows galore and there are giant triangles painted on the road to let you know that an intersection is coming up, in case you couldn't tell by the traffic and road crossing your path.

THEN there are the roundabouts. Oh my are there roundabouts. There are roundabouts that are as small as a painted circle in the middle of an intersection and roundabouts that are so big that they are as big as half a city block and have buildings built on them. There are roundabouts extending off of roundabouts and signs that look like something out of Pee Wee's Big Adventure (I'll try to get a picture of one sometime).

But it's not just the roundabouts, because in all honesty, they do keep traffic going. It's the supposed etiquette of the roundabouts. If you are turning at the first exit, you must be in the left lane with your left turn signal on. If you are going straight, the you don't have anything on and you stay in the left lane. If you are going "past 12:00", then you need to be in the right lane, with your right turn signal on and when you past the second to last exit before your desired exit, you need to get in the left lane and when you pass the exit prior to your desired exit, you need to make sure your left turn signal is on, and then you can exit. I swear there are rules to the rules just to have rules and it gets quite ridiculous, if you couldn't tell.

Fortunately, I have always kind of enjoyed driving and while I may not always follow the rules, I tend to know them. Angie warned me that when she went out for this driver's induction class, the instructor kept grabbing the steering wheel and moved her from one side of the lane to the other. She told me how incredibly stressful it was and at the end of her class, the instructor let out an exasperated sigh and told Angie that she would most certainly fail the exam, but they will let her drive for now.

When I got behind the wheel, I had a slight advantage because I was used to being on the left side of the road from driving in Trinidad. We drove for about 30 minutes and I asked a lot of questions as my instructor was telling me where to turn and what not. After the 30 minutes, we pulled into a retail garden center and he gave me a quick summary - I followed the cars a little close on the highway (he keeps about a 4-5 second rule for distance so he's a little extreme), but said on the whole, that I was a very competent driver and then asked me if I would like to go have tea. I thought that was nice, so I did, we chatted and he dropped me off at home.

Angie was a little perturbed by the difference in our experiences, but is now very happy to know that she can hand over the keys and not have to drive everywhere anymore. I guess I'm happy with that too.

I'm also happy that things are starting to get a bit more familiar for me now that I've been here a couple weeks. Hopefully the differences won't be as extreme, although I'm sure they will continue for months to come.

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