Tipping Over to the Dutch Side (1) - Being Chauffeured

As I already mentioned, I was recently back in England for a few days and I was quite alarmed to see how used to Dutch life I had become. I have realised for some time now that I exist in a world between being British and being quite a lot "Dutchified". But it would appear that with some things I have started tipping over to the Dutch side.

Left side? Right side?
(c) Amanda van Mulligen

Take for example getting in to a car. A very simple thing. However, when I was getting in to the front of my dad's car in England I had to do some swift, hard thinking about where I should be sitting. I was a passenger so I logically had to get in to the left of the English car. But this went against every grain of instinct because of so many years of getting in to the passenger side of a Dutch car so each time I had to do a double take before I headed for the correct side.

I started to understand why Europeans mutter about the Brits making life difficult with everything being on the "wrong" side.

Note to self: probably a lot easier in future to just wait for the driver to get in and then get whichever side they didn't.

There were a more things that seemed a bit foreign in England so look out for Tipping Over to the Dutch Side (2)......