It's not a Rolls, but it does

After a couple weeks of riding around in buses and other people's cars, I (Ethan) have hit the road. We found a used Honda Accord on an auto trader website, and the owner was kind enough to drive over to our place so that I could have a test drive. He was even nice enough to take me to a long, wide road to have a go at it. It was a little strange at first, but I really liked the car, so we agreed to a deal. It is a 2002 Accord hatchback, with a 1.8L Vtec engine.





I went to pick it up today, after going to the bank to get the money from the auto loan that I took out yesterday. The drive home was a little nerve-wracking. Not only do I have to learn how to drive on the left, I have to learn how to shift with my left hand. So it wasn't the smoothest trip, but I got it home safely. After trying to start it without pressing the clutch, I started it up, and pulled out into the road. My first instinct was to pull out and keep right, but I managed to veer left subtly to make it look like I meant to pull out that way. I found it difficult to judge where the left side of the car was, so I managed to rub the front tire on a curb at an intersection. No damage done. I have, however, damaged the knuckles on my right hand by reaching for the shifter over there, only to find the door handle. And of course, there are a million round-abouts out there. We were at the supermarket tonight, and they even had a mini round-about in the parking lot!

I think with a little more time and practice, driving on the other side will become more natural. Then I can keep up with all these crazy British drivers. And it's amazing how the country side doesn't look at all like southern California ...