There are some major differences when driving here in Sweden… no they do not drive on the left side. Almost everyone drives a manual. It’s for fuel consumption and cost reasons, but that presents a problem for me. The last time I drove a manual, I was 15 and a half years old and learning to drive in my Dad’s prized possession midnight blue Porsche. I have no idea what he was thinking letting a teenager drive such a powerful car not to mention a car with the toughest clutch in the world. I couldn’t reach the pedals, but he insisted that I learned to drive a manual since driving an automatic is a piece of cake. I even took all my lessons in a manual car. I remember the teacher placing me on a hill and I watched the look of horror cross her face as we started to roll backwards. She then needed a smoke break! LOL!
I ended up passing my driving test with flying colors because I took the test in an automatic. All that practice for nothing because all the cars I had after were automatic. So that’s the difference, if you pass the driving test in the United States, you can drive an automatic or a manual vehicle. In Sweden, you must pass your driving test in a manual to be able to drive one. You have the option to take the driving test in an automatic, but then your license is only good for automatic cars. Crazy, I know… but it does make sense.
My American drivers licenses allows me to drive one year in Sweden before having to take the Swedish driving test. The classes and the test are way more expensive here, but the classes are also more intense. I don’t know first hand, but I’ve been told that you go to an actual training course with black ice and objects being placed in front of you. That’s not how it was back home, you take the required hours with an instructor and then take the test. Nothing is ever purposely place in your face. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes once I start classes. For now, I’m practicing around our little city. Thankfully there aren’t many cars out when I’m driving. So far, I’ve managed to take myself the gym and the local grocery stores. I have yet to tackle big city driving or round abouts… they still confuse me.
Thinking about learning to drive made me think about all the cars I’ve driven in the past. I learned to drive in my Dad’s Porsche, when I got my license he let me drive his huge Cadillac Seville, this thing was like driving a boat. In fact, we called it “the boat”, it was white with red velvet seats, something a pimp would drive. I took care to total it my first year of driving, so that just goes to show, kids should not be driving that early! My father then got me a Mitsubishi Gallant which I drove throughout my high school years. I loved that car, so easy to drive. My senior year of high school, I got a Honda Accord, which I took to college, it was my Mom’s old car before her Mercedes convertible. After college, I decided it was time to get a new car. I was so young and foolish wanting to live the high life. I was living in Los Angeles had my first real job and thought I could afford a nicer car. That was when I bought my Mercedes. Someone forgot to mention that maintaining a Mercedes was expensive! My whole family drives luxury cars so I thought, why not me? My father had 2 Mercedes, my mother had a Mercedes before getting a BMW convertible, my eldest sister has a Mercedes E Class and SUV, Daisy only drives the newest Mercedes SL 550, my eldest brother drives a BMW M5, and my other brother has like 5 different cars… including a Porsche Cheyenne. I guess I just wanted to fit in with the family… on a much lower salary. I learned my lesson the hard way. I had to work 2 jobs to support myself. The only thing I can say I was proud of is that I paid it off myself and took on the responsibility of my actions by myself. I didn’t ask my family to help me since this was my choice. Well, that isn’t entirely true… my brother did help me with new tires one year. You live and you learn… all I want now is something that will get me from point A to point B.
