Driving in a New Country or State

After a move to a new country or a new state you may find driving in a new place rather stressful. Driving culture is different in all places, sometimes subtly so, and sometimes enough to fear stepping in to the car at all.
Before moving to Australia I lived in New Zealand for three years. In New Zealand it seems there is one main road which follows the edge of the entire country. This road, compared to many places in the world, is quiet and easy to find. There are times when you can drive for an hour without meeting another car. Even city driving in New Zealand is relaxed compared to many places in the world.
Arriving in Australia was therefore a bit of a shock to the system in regards to driving. Roads everywhere, going in all directions, and lots and lots of traffic. I felt nervous as a passenger and couldn't even imagine myself driving. To make matters seemingly worse our first choice of car was a little Daihatsu Charade manual that was really in need of an extra gear in order to cope with the motorways, although I must admit we were also grateful to have a car at all in which to cover such vast distances.
Once we were able to purchase another car my immediate thought was to get a big car that I could feel safe driving. So we did, we bought a big Ford Fairlane that has a limo feel to it, is big, long and heavy. At last I felt able to drive safely on the big roads and I would try not to think about parking this limo like vehicle until I arrived at my destination. I truly loved driving this car and could not imagine driving anything else; at last I felt I could cope driving on the big roads and I felt much more relaxed.
And then it happened...I adapted to my environment. While parking the Fairlane in the garage last week I struggled to get the angle right and I caught the side of the car on a post. I thought to myself "This car is just too big for everyday use, I need something smaller" and I realized I was quite happy with that thought, I was no longer worried about the roads, I was more frustrated at trying to continuously park a big car. Finally after a year I have adapted to the Australian roads and my new environment enough to feel secure about buying a smaller car, and I am quite happy to be driving the smaller car on the bigger roads.
I would like however to suggest an easier way to adapt to driving in a new country or state...Find a local driving instructor and take a few lessons. These few lessons will give you an indication of the local driving culture and you may get some good tips.