Adjustments....

Everybody knows that you drive on the left here in Australia, right? (I mean correct, trying not to confuse.) Do you all know that everything is reversed in the car? For example, the blinker is on the RIGHT side, window washer on the LEFT. In the book my sweet sister, Tracy, gave us The Americans Guide to Living in Australia, it comically talks about knowing you're behind an American because they are turning and the wipers are on with brilliant sunshine. I can't tell you how many times this has happened to both of us. We laugh every time. But there are other things about the driving that makes you feel like if you don't pay unrelenting attention you will be crashing your car. The round a bouts are one of these things. 

In Wisconsin we are just seeing these traffic inventions from Hell. Round a bouts save loads of money by not having to put traffic lights up at busy intersections. Traffic lights cost a lot of money, and they can break and need maintenance, and can be run into by drunk drivers. So Wisconsin has followed what many states have done and used these round a bouts as an answer to controlling busy intersections. That said, I have only been in a couple of intersections where they have been placed and I was confused, as was everyone else, as to how the traffic pattern was supposed to work. The Wisconsin DOT has taken to the air and created public service announcements teaching us dumb drivers how to manage these intersections. Clearly, there's a problem.

Now add driving on the left and a GPS yelling at you to take the 3rd or 4th exit in the round a bout. They are frightening. I never know which way to look first, I always do left and it should be right as they don't stop. Then the car on the left SHOULD yield to you but they are uber aggressive here and if you waffle even a little they take the intersection and you're left shaking as you thought you should go and they nearly hit you. And they are everywhere. I thought I could find my way by busier roads which have stop lights but eventually you have to turn and there the dreaded round a bout is! I will get the hang of them but I pray I don't have an accident.

I can't even speak about parallel parking.

Suffice it to say that all of this is a process and I will get there. And John is no master of the lefty drive either, he just acts like he knows what's going on.