Backwards Traffic

Or, How I Almost Got Hit by a Car

There are some things about England that are, for the most part, common knowledge: the accent, the use of the pound, the famous landmarks, the queen, and the fact that the cars drive on the other side of the road. It’s not as though I didn’t prepare or do my research before coming here. In the back of my mind though, I didn’t think that coming to England would be that huge of an adjustment since it’s a western culture and they speak English (naive, I know). 

What I definitely didn’t expect was just how disorienting the traffic directions would be in reality. I knew the cars would be on opposite sides of the street, I always have, and yet I have to constantly remind myself to look to my right as I cross the street (even as I was typing that, I had to pause and really think about it and visualize the street). Even when walking on the sidewalk, it’s a little strange to see cars coming towards you on the right sidewalk, or hear them come up behind you on the left sidewalk. For 20 years I have looked left as I crossed the street. It’s become instinctual, like breathing or blinking, feeling unnatural only when made aware of it. 

Even though I’ve been constantly thinking about this reversal of traffic flow, sometimes, my instincts get the better of me, and I look the wrong way as I cross a street. Consequently, I sometimes step in front of cars who then angrily honk at me, cursing me in a Yorkshire accent, until I stumble backwards more than a little dazed. 

Nearly being run over is one of many little bits of culture shock that I’ve experienced in my mere 36 hours in England. Already I’ve been made to feel how out of place I am in more than one way. I’d experienced culture shock before, when moving to Wellesley (the Boston college scene will certainly make you feel your class), but there it was mostly internal, as I watched the way other people live. Here, it’s a completely different story. Here, I am made to feel like a foreigner as soon as words come out of my mouth, “Ah, you’re American!” While I’ve certainly found some things to be odd already, like the bacon and the traffic, I’m certain there is more shock and odd to come.