I think I am a bit ashamed. After all, I took driving lessons ten years ago and now I am back to square one and I have to learn how to drive... again.
Learning to drive the first time around was an interesting experience. When I first started my driver's ed course when I was 15 I was by far the worst driver in my class. I remember my driving instructor telling me that the worst driver in the class always turns out to be the best driver by the end of the class because they have so much to learn. Most teen drivers don't pay much attention and slack off during class and never really improve in class but since I had so far to go, I really had to work hard to learn how to drive.
As a result, I think I am a very safe driver. I had one road accident when I was in college on Woodward Ave in terrible road conditions, other than that I have a clean driving record and have never had a speeding ticket.
Now that I have to take driving lessons again, I suppose I am afraid that my second experience as a driving student will be the same as the first and it will take me forever to master switching gears. I have to remind myself that I do have 10 years of driving experience, and the "easy" part of driving is actually operating the vehicle so I will probably learn very quickly.
Also, I made the mistake of allowing Jason to try to teach me to drive several months ago which was nothing short of traumatic. First there were vague instructions including the very helpful "just do the thing" and other completely incoherent instructions. Then he convinced me that I was driving the wrong way down a one way street (though I actually wasn't). At this point I realized that maybe I wasn't as bad at this as I thought and maybe it wasn't best to be taught by the king of speeding tickets.
I am feeling a bit more confident about the driving lessons now, wish me luck! I hope it only takes a few weeks until I am driving a manual transmission like a pro.
This Week's British TV Review
Come Dine With Me
This is one of my favorite British shows and I started watching it immediately when I moved here. It is a competition where 4 people take turns hosting a dinner party and rate each other's cooking and entertaining skills.
I love cooking and entertaining so its a fun show for me to watch and always gives me great ideas. Each show features a different host or hostess and follows them throughout the day as they prepare their meal. I love watching the cooks scramble to create an impressive feast, often attempting recipes that are beyond their abilities and failing to deliver.
There is also always a bad egg in every group, the snob who turns their nose up at everyone else's food and rubs everyone the wrong way. I love this "reality TV" dynamic of the show.
The prize for the show is £1000 which is awarded to the host who scores the most points after the guests (who all take their turn at hosting) score the night on a scale of 1-10. I love watching the smug snob of the group realize that their superior attitude toward everyone's food wasn't the best strategy when it comes to actually winning the competition!
This show is available on the Channel 4 website if you would like to check it out! (Let me know if the link doesn't work outside of the UK!)
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