It's August 20th and much has happened. I've been driving in the Motherland for about two weeks now and am really starting to get the hang of it. Manual is pretty fun. I pretend I drive a racecar everyday! At first the width of the roads scared the crap out of me ("there's no way that car and I are going to fit!! AHHHH!"), but now passing an oncoming car on the windy country roads hardly phases me at all.
But BIG NEWS! Ariel ist hier. She got here two days ago from Portland and lemme tell ya, that girl means business. Right from day one we're looking up apartments, exploring the towns and finding Ultimate. I will admit that I'm a much more slow paced. Do a couple things one day and one or two more the next. I do things a little at a time, but Ariel gets here and within 24 hours is up and searching.
Well, you have to take into consideration that I've been spending the past two weeks driving everyday trying to learn how to not stall my car everytime I'm unsure of traffic laws or there are any cars around me. If you include that and had seen me the first few days of driving, you would agree that I've gotten a lot done!
We're a good team.
First non-jetlagged day in Germany we go to an appointment with a German realtor, which proved to not be very helpful but we got a lot of information! Then, we went to base to print out listings, went to a restaurant in Ramstein and got lunch and beer, explored Ramstein village and looked up the best apartments to call.
Today we're going to call some apartments and check out Kaiserslautern, which is the big city of the area. 90,000 people live in K town, versus 9,000 in Landstuhl.
It's a tough call on where to live. At first, I wanted to live in Landstuhl because it's biking distance from base, closest to the hospital, and is bigger than Ramstein with a better nightlife. I hadn't even considered living in Kaiserslautern because of it's distance from base and our car situation. We aren't sure if we want to buy a car, we were thinking about just renting one during the winter months and biking the rest of the time, but Ariel seems pretty set on living in K town, despite it's location. Of course, there's a lot more people and a lot more to do there. We'll see how we feel when we explore the city!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
First Day of Driving
I drove a manual transmission rental car in a foreign country with an American license today. Yup, first time driving in Germany.
At times, it was terrifying, only because I hardly know how to drive manual much less in a foreign country with foreign laws. Granted, I’ve read the rules of the road book and become familiar with the driving but STILL.
I pulled out of the rental car agency without a hitch, which was unlike my daydreams which consisted of me starting the car and immediately stalling while the car rental employee shakes their head thinking, “What have I done?”
To make sure I was okay, Justin, who drove me there, followed behind me with a very safe distance between us. I drove like a grandma, almost always going at least 5-10 km under the speed limit. It was funny looking in my rearview mirror on the country road and seeing a line of three cars impatiently tailgating Justin while I refused to speed up.
See, German roads aren’t like American roads, as I’m sure you all could guess. They’re a lot narrower. For example, on most roads in the villages if there is car parked on the side of the road that means there isn’t enough room for two way traffic. So, if you’re traveling along the road and suddenly there isn’t enough room for you and the car coming towards you to fit because of a parked car in front of you, you have to slow down, let them pass, and go around the parked car.
Very simple, right? But let’s add another factor: Not being 100% confident in your slowing down skills. This happened to me, and it went like this,
I started pressing the brake, which slowed down the car. I downshifted into what I thought was second gear, but it really could have been fourth. After the car passed, I pushed on the gas and prayed. It turned out to be second! I lived!
Up til now, I’m sure it seems like I had a horrible time driving, but it was fun in that thrilling, I’m driving in a new country kind of way with a manual. How European. I decided before coming here that if I didn’t learn how to drive manual, then I fail at living here. I’m in Europe! I have to learn how to drive stick!
The best part of the drive, by faaaaar was after I parked outside of Justin’s place and was told that I needed to move about twenty feet further up. I turned on the car and kept stalling it while Justin standing there watching with an amused look on his face. After about the fifth time stalling, he gets in the car and talks me through it while chuckling at my antics.
I’m still not very confident in my stick shift skills and need to be able to drive in order to get what I need to do done. It’s only been a day, though. I just need to practice and all will be well in Deutschland!
Here's an example of what the roads look like. They're a bit narrower where I'm at. Also, notice lack of dividing lines painted on the road. Yeaaaah.
At times, it was terrifying, only because I hardly know how to drive manual much less in a foreign country with foreign laws. Granted, I’ve read the rules of the road book and become familiar with the driving but STILL.
I pulled out of the rental car agency without a hitch, which was unlike my daydreams which consisted of me starting the car and immediately stalling while the car rental employee shakes their head thinking, “What have I done?”
To make sure I was okay, Justin, who drove me there, followed behind me with a very safe distance between us. I drove like a grandma, almost always going at least 5-10 km under the speed limit. It was funny looking in my rearview mirror on the country road and seeing a line of three cars impatiently tailgating Justin while I refused to speed up.
See, German roads aren’t like American roads, as I’m sure you all could guess. They’re a lot narrower. For example, on most roads in the villages if there is car parked on the side of the road that means there isn’t enough room for two way traffic. So, if you’re traveling along the road and suddenly there isn’t enough room for you and the car coming towards you to fit because of a parked car in front of you, you have to slow down, let them pass, and go around the parked car.
Very simple, right? But let’s add another factor: Not being 100% confident in your slowing down skills. This happened to me, and it went like this,
I started pressing the brake, which slowed down the car. I downshifted into what I thought was second gear, but it really could have been fourth. After the car passed, I pushed on the gas and prayed. It turned out to be second! I lived!
Up til now, I’m sure it seems like I had a horrible time driving, but it was fun in that thrilling, I’m driving in a new country kind of way with a manual. How European. I decided before coming here that if I didn’t learn how to drive manual, then I fail at living here. I’m in Europe! I have to learn how to drive stick!
The best part of the drive, by faaaaar was after I parked outside of Justin’s place and was told that I needed to move about twenty feet further up. I turned on the car and kept stalling it while Justin standing there watching with an amused look on his face. After about the fifth time stalling, he gets in the car and talks me through it while chuckling at my antics.
I’m still not very confident in my stick shift skills and need to be able to drive in order to get what I need to do done. It’s only been a day, though. I just need to practice and all will be well in Deutschland!
Here's an example of what the roads look like. They're a bit narrower where I'm at. Also, notice lack of dividing lines painted on the road. Yeaaaah.
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