urgghh I'm having a hard time driving

[angela920 0]

hello to everyone here in visajourney! Just wanna share my experience.. I arrived in USA on 11/06/2008 and since then we been working on our papers. We haven't submitted our AOS yet coz our papers are not yet complete. For the meantime, I'm stuck here at home.. I'm also waiting for my SSN to arrive which will be i think next week.

Right now, my husband is teaching me the driving rules. I have an international driver's license but as soon as I have my SSN i will apply for CA driver's license. I find it so difficult to adjust. I can't seem to memorize the place right away. I know how to drive but I just don't memorize the place so its so hard. One time, I took my husband to his work and I was in the wrong lane coz I didn't know I would make a turn or It was late when i found out... lol that was on the freeway! I failed to merge coz it was a short one and traffic.. oh well i ended by taking another exit! By the way, we live in Fremont, CA.

Also I'm thinking to volunteer either for Animal Shelter, visit lonely seniors or foster canines and felines. I have been browsing online. Do you think I can volunteer while waiting for my SSN to arrive? Thanks

I'm just so depressed right now! hope to get it over with.

[Otto 83]

hello to everyone here in visajourney! Just wanna share my experience.. I arrived in USA on 11/06/2008 and since then we been working on our papers. We haven't submitted our AOS yet coz our papers are not yet complete. For the meantime, I'm stuck here at home.. I'm also waiting for my SSN to arrive which will be i think next week.

Right now, my husband is teaching me the driving rules. I have an international driver's license but as soon as I have my SSN i will apply for CA driver's license. I find it so difficult to adjust. I can't seem to memorize the place right away. I know how to drive but I just don't memorize the place so its so hard. One time, I took my husband to his work and I was in the wrong lane coz I didn't know I would make a turn or It was late when i found out... lol that was on the freeway! I failed to merge coz it was a short one and traffic.. oh well i ended by taking another exit! By the way, we live in Fremont, CA.A Defensive Driving (or similar)( course might help - otherwise it takes time and practice.

Also I'm thinking to volunteer either for Animal Shelter, visit lonely seniors or foster canines and felines. I have been browsing online. Do you think I can volunteer while waiting for my SSN to arrive? Thanks As long as you're not volunteering in a position that would otherwise be paid - you're free to give your time.

I'm just so depressed right now! hope to get it over with.

[Jon&Lindsey 0]

I found it strange driving over here too. It is weird how even though you may know the way being a passenger, everything looks different once you are driving! Don't feel bad - you haven't been here very long yet, and you'll get to know where everything is if you just ride round with your husband more first and see the differences between driving here and in your home country. Just make sure you don't do something dangerous once you miss the exit you needed, it's better to just take the next one and have a longer journey than have a crash trying to take the one you wanted, too late! Volunteering is a great way to get out of the house, meet people and feel useful - hope you find something

[Hannah+Vito 0]

we will be in california too, and I had the options of learning to drive in England before i leave and getting my driving licence (finally after many years of procrastination) or waiting till i get to CA. My finace tried to explain the rules of their roads to me when i was there and it frazzeled my brain, you can turn on red on this direction but not the other, pull out into the box junction and sit there for a few mins. it was too much, then trying to work out the roads and directions of how to get where. which i'm usless at the best of times. i decided to wait till i'm there, but i think i better save for lots of lessons.

i dont evey you going through it already. i know its gunna be a must do, but its not one i'm looking forward to having to do.

perhaps your hubby can buy you a sat nav for xmas prezzie

[angela920 0]

we will be in california too, and I had the options of learning to drive in England before i leave and getting my driving licence (finally after many years of procrastination) or waiting till i get to CA. My finace tried to explain the rules of their roads to me when i was there and it frazzeled my brain, you can turn on red on this direction but not the other, pull out into the box junction and sit there for a few mins. it was too much, then trying to work out the roads and directions of how to get where. which i'm usless at the best of times. i decided to wait till i'm there, but i think i better save for lots of lessons.

i dont evey you going through it already. i know its gunna be a must do, but its not one i'm looking forward to having to do.

perhaps your hubby can buy you a sat nav for xmas prezzie

yea you can turn either left or right even if the light is red knowing that the road is clear coz its their right of way. Also their lanes are confusing sometimes if you stay in the middle it will eventually go to the left or right so I really have to know or memorize where im going otherwise I'd be lost. I have been here for less than 3 weeks and I'm happy that I'm somehow getting a little grip about their rules. I'm also depressed a little bit coz I have so many what if's in my brain! like "what if i can't memorize the road?" "what if i dont get a job?" It's really pressuring... I have been studying google maps but It's different when you are actually driving.

[SunDrop 59]

Get a sat nav! Honestly, it's the most helpful thing once you learn to trust it. You don't have to worry about counting roads for your turn, reading street names, knowing when to merge. MY USC SO hates driving in Cali (he's from AZ) and last Xmas when we went on a week long road trip, he treated himself to a GPS/ Sat Nav. He says it was a lifesaver because it made the driving experience far less stressful.

It says things like 'stay in the right lane' or 'in 300 yards, turn left' so you know what's happening. You can program them to tell you all sorts of things and also for not much more money, get the one with the browsable points of interest. That way, if you have a gas card for a certain gas station, for example, you can tell it to go to the nearest one.

[beejay 123]

yea you can turn either left or right even if the light is red knowing that the road is clear coz its their right of way. Also their lanes are confusing sometimes if you stay in the middle it will eventually go to the left or right so I really have to know or memorize where im going otherwise I'd be lost. I have been here for less than 3 weeks and I'm happy that I'm somehow getting a little grip about their rules. I'm also depressed a little bit coz I have so many what if's in my brain! like "what if i can't memorize the road?" "what if i dont get a job?" It's really pressuring... I have been studying google maps but It's different when you are actually driving.

Good for your for getting out and trying right away! It's the only way to learn Eventually you will get familiar with the roads and one day you'll look back on these first few months as a distant memory.

keep it up!

[angela920 0]

Get a sat nav! Honestly, it's the most helpful thing once you learn to trust it. You don't have to worry about counting roads for your turn, reading street names, knowing when to merge. MY USC SO hates driving in Cali (he's from AZ) and last Xmas when we went on a week long road trip, he treated himself to a GPS/ Sat Nav. He says it was a lifesaver because it made the driving experience far less stressful.

It says things like 'stay in the right lane' or 'in 300 yards, turn left' so you know what's happening. You can program them to tell you all sorts of things and also for not much more money, get the one with the browsable points of interest. That way, if you have a gas card for a certain gas station, for example, you can tell it to go to the nearest one.

Ohhh I would really love that! Can you recommend me a good brand? wink wink! What's the brand he's using?

[Jasman0717 9]

I tried teaching Claudeth how to drive but after she hit the Del Taco building and destroyed the left front fender of the Mustang I kind of backed off the driving instructions

[angela920 0]

I tried teaching Claudeth how to drive but after she hit the Del Taco building and destroyed the left front fender of the Mustang I kind of backed off the driving instructions

uh oh.. I hope both of you are ok!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Look at the Navigon 5100 or TomTom. We have the Navigon and it works really nicely. A good friend has TomTom and she loves it. She recently moved to a new city and has found it invaluable in helping her navigate unknown territory. So far we haven't tried to go to specific destinations with ours although it has voice instructions, but are just getting used to driving it with the visual map.

[milimelo 4,477]

Look at the Navigon 5100 or TomTom. We have the Navigon and it works really nicely. A good friend has TomTom and she loves it. She recently moved to a new city and has found it invaluable in helping her navigate unknown territory. So far we haven't tried to go to specific destinations with ours although it has voice instructions, but are just getting used to driving it with the visual map.

I have a TomTom One 130 and it's very good except when you're under the trains in Chicago (their raised trains) - then it goes crazy and can't figure out where it is. Also, it did try to make us "turn around when you can" even though we were on the right road and in the middle of a busy street. I guess it's time for me to actually do the online update as suggested instead of just plug-n-play

[angela920 0]

I just found out that my phone has gps.. oh thank god.. now i wont be so worried about getting lost but i need to shut her up.. lol Thank you guys!

[DeadPoolX 9]

we will be in california too, and I had the options of learning to drive in England before i leave and getting my driving licence (finally after many years of procrastination) or waiting till i get to CA. My finace tried to explain the rules of their roads to me when i was there and it frazzeled my brain, you can turn on red on this direction but not the other, pull out into the box junction and sit there for a few mins. it was too much, then trying to work out the roads and directions of how to get where. which i'm usless at the best of times. i decided to wait till i'm there, but i think i better save for lots of lessons.

i dont evey you going through it already. i know its gunna be a must do, but its not one i'm looking forward to having to do.

perhaps your hubby can buy you a sat nav for xmas prezzie

yea you can turn either left or right even if the light is red knowing that the road is clear coz its their right of way. Also their lanes are confusing sometimes if you stay in the middle it will eventually go to the left or right so I really have to know or memorize where im going otherwise I'd be lost. I have been here for less than 3 weeks and I'm happy that I'm somehow getting a little grip about their rules. I'm also depressed a little bit coz I have so many what if's in my brain! like "what if i can't memorize the road?" "what if i dont get a job?" It's really pressuring... I have been studying google maps but It's different when you are actually driving.

I've never heard of being allowed to turn left if the light is red, unless a green arrow accompanies it. I know you can make a right turn on a red light (although this differs from state to state).

[Old Dominion 26]

hello to everyone here in visajourney! Just wanna share my experience.. I arrived in USA on 11/06/2008 and since then we been working on our papers. We haven't submitted our AOS yet coz our papers are not yet complete. For the meantime, I'm stuck here at home.. I'm also waiting for my SSN to arrive which will be i think next week.

Right now, my husband is teaching me the driving rules. I have an international driver's license but as soon as I have my SSN i will apply for CA driver's license. I find it so difficult to adjust. I can't seem to memorize the place right away. I know how to drive but I just don't memorize the place so its so hard. One time, I took my husband to his work and I was in the wrong lane coz I didn't know I would make a turn or It was late when i found out... lol that was on the freeway! I failed to merge coz it was a short one and traffic.. oh well i ended by taking another exit! By the way, we live in Fremont, CA.

Also I'm thinking to volunteer either for Animal Shelter, visit lonely seniors or foster canines and felines. I have been browsing online. Do you think I can volunteer while waiting for my SSN to arrive? Thanks

I'm just so depressed right now! hope to get it over with.

It's a tough adjustment to make. You are free to volunteer and there are lots of agencies that need help, so long as you don't accept any pay. Allow yourself 3 months to feel more comfortable driving in California. In most states, when you apply with an international driving license, you still need to start with a learner's permit and then take the state driving test.