With a new environment, comes new experiences…and one of the inevitable ones is driving. Driving a left-hand drive car, rather. Everything is the total opposite of what it is in Malaysia, and I had to keep reminding myself that.
When I visited the States several years ago, I drove a little bit too, but this time round, I’m gonna take it a leap further and get my California state driver’s license as well.
Although I am authorized to take a total of 8 hours’ of driving lessons from an authorized driving school here, I drove around a couple of times prior to taking lessons, of course with my hubby offering tips and *advice* in the process. Well, last Friday was my first FORMAL driving lesson. My instructor, a nice lady by the name of Terry, sat by my side while I drove to goodness-knows-where, practising what needs to be done for the road test, including observing the various street speed limits, stopping a certain distance from the vehicle in front, and “backing up in a straight line”. The lesson was a whole 2 hours’ long, and we also had time to go on the freeway.
To get my driver’s license, I would need to first get my Social Security Card (application currently in progress), and then pass my written multiple-choice driver’s test, and THEN pass the road test.
I am definitely getting more confident on the roads now, and sometimes I would even be allowed to drive the car on my own. Hehe. Sometimes though, I still flick the wipers instead of the indicators, but that rarely happens now, I am happy to say.
Tomorrow morning I have my second driving lesson. My thoughts? I just wanna pass all the tests and get my driver’s license pronto!
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“flick the wipers instead of the indicators….” 🙂
that happened to me to when I was in the State.
The Giddy Tigress says: I guess it happens to most people 🙂 Thanks for visiting my blog, and hope to see you here more often!
wah…. driving on the left is instead a fresh new experience hor?
hope u’ll pass it… with flying colours summore! 😀
The Giddy Tigress says: I do hope so too! Thanks!
That’s such a cool experience! I wonder how I’d fare driving on the other side of the road… hehe.
The Giddy Tigress says: You’ll have plenty of time to experience that!
You will get the hang of it. I tot malaysian driving license is good enough to drive there. How come have to take test?
The Giddy Tigress says: The Malaysian driving license is good enough for a limited period only. If you plan to drive here long term, i.e. on relocation, you’ll need a valid Californian driving license.
i guess it’s a whole new world driving on the other side 😛
The Giddy Tigress says: It really is!
lol! its like doing it all over again – i mean learning driving. hahaha. i have to get my australian driving license next year too..
The Giddy Tigress says: Yeah…all the best to you too!
I went down to Social Security office to apply for SSN more than 3 weeks ago, still waiting for the SSN to come in the mail.
You might be able to get driver license without SSN in some states i.e. CA? In IL where I am, can’t get car insurance until I get a driver license, can’t get a driver license until I have the SSN, aargh!!
The Giddy Tigress says: THREE weeks??!!! I thought they said 10 days or something?!! I was there about 10 days ago actually. Well, I can use my Malaysian driving license as a driving permit to take lessons, but to take the written test, I need the SSN, and to take the road test, I need to pass the written test. So pretty much everything is dependent on the SSN.
Let me know when you get your SSN.
And i always went to the drivers seat thinking it was a passenger seat!
The Giddy Tigress says: Happened to me a few times too!