Right….ehm, no…I mean left

Once bitten and twice shy, or so they say. When Brett, the father in my host family, came to collect me at the airport, I confidently walked over to the right side of the car and got confused finding the steering wheel on that side. I should have know that, and I did, I just didn’t think about it. Convinced that this mistake was due to the fatigue from the journey and the enormous impression of catching a glimpse of the Sydney opera house and the Sydney Harbour bridge, I hopped in on the other side and prepared myself for not being startled by driving on the left side of the road. It turned out that I just would not have the time for doing that anyway, my attention was already grabbed by the chaos of the traffic and the realization that driving on the highway can actually be breathtaking, when national parks consisting of lots of trees, growing on perfect hills stretch out on both sides of the road, as far as you can see.

When we arrived at the house where I am going to stay for six months, there was a smiling, excited three year old girl waiting for me in the hallway. I also met Margaret, her mother, but I didn’t have much time to let little Isabella cuddle me, because we had to pick the other child, William, up from school. The moment we got out of the front door and were supposed to cross the road, I could just avoid being almost crushed by a car, because I was doing the left-right-left habit that has been on automatic for ages. Not working here. Right-left-right it is, never forget that again.

That same evening, I would join the biggest part of the family to go to William’s music class, so I had to climb in the car again. I did not have to go everywhere with them, because I had only just arrived and was not required to work yet, but I did it anyway, because it was quite a nice way of seeing their family life and keep myself awake at the same time. Dumb as it may seem, I walked over to the right side of the car again, to be puzzled by the sight of the steering wheel being there, again. Still blaming the fatigue and impressions I got that day, but I surely couldn’t use that same excuse for making the same again, when trying to get into a car two days later to head over for a barbeque.

And to be honest, I am still doing it. People must think that I am completely stupid, since I seem to circle around cars and look a hundred times to both left and right before crossing the road, since I feel to have completely lost any sense of what’s left and of what’s right.