YAAAAAAAAAY congratulations *pawpawtaptaps on* Is it much harder than in US? ...and why not test driving in snow? o.o Have you stripped a gear (or opened a window) yet shifting? XD

And awwh, being a pro bum. But you're not one of those. If anything, think of me and how I still don't have fully/actually entrance into my own field. At least you have motivation and aren't easily distracted like I am from job hunt and stuff. I hope you can get work that really fulfills you and makes you feel good, even if it is a stopgap (you'd be surprised how good stopgaps can be!) :) I can't imagine you being depressed, Dorans don't function like that. *rubs your floof* c: They run on sun and muffins and hugs, so *bighugs* good luck.

*squees and paws at paws* The driving test in the UK is quite a bit harder than in the US, yeah. Obviously in the US you still need to work at it a bit, but it seems like so much more of a given that you'll just get your license around that age in the US. Over here it's not uncommon for grown adults to need several attempts to pass it. They test you on a lot of things and you're only allowed so many minor faults and no serious faults before it's a fail.

I've stalled a number of times but don't think I've done anything -too- horrible to any gearboxes. ;) As for driving in snow, the weather over here is a pretty unpredictable thing, and they'll cancel the test as they did on me in January if they don't feel the test can be conducted safely, or something. With my experience driving in Michigan I might have been just fine on the snow, but it was pretty heavy and it would vastly change the conditions of the test so they tend to cancel if the weather gets too bad.

In ways it does sound like we're in a similar situation, both trying to get our foot in the door of the career we've spent the rest of our life training for and so far not having a lot of luck. I'm sure it'll get there though, for both of us. I'm not always feeling hugely motivated or excited about the job hunt, but I've got my CV up on a number of different job search sites and subscribe to a bunch of email job alerts, such that usually each week I'll find a few to apply for. So at least I'm trying to keep active with it. But yeah, the hope is definitely to finally end up in a position that's fulfilling and well paying and feels like a good application of my skills and experience. Hopefully temp work will help anyway!

I've had some days of feeling a bit mopey and down, but as you say, Dorans don't tend to do properly 'depressed' too much. Because you're right, I just can't function like that. Sun and muffins and hugs work much better. ^^

Congrats *hug* Knew ya could. =)

And hey, I'm in a similar spot, but your piece of paper is more impressive than my piece of paper, so... Plus ya got this nifty accent to all the Brits so you're exotic and weird. I'm sure that's going to count for something. Heck, being exotic and weird got me a room at FurDU, so.

My piece of paper will feel more impressive when it gets me a job! But yeah, it still feels like an accomplishment, and being the weirdo foreigner is kind of interesting and exotic. ^^ Glad being weird and exotic is working out so well for you! ;)

nice

Thanks!

^^

They take driving 'seriously' in just about entire Europe and most of the world ;)

Hehe, this is true. You do have to work for it a bit in the US certainly, but the standards aren't nearly as strict as they seem to be in most other places. I'd feel better about it if I didn't still see plenty of idiot drivers on the road in the UK too despite the harsher test, but I guess if somebody really wants to drive like a crazy person they're going to anyway no matter how well you teach 'em. :P

You cannot un-teach stupidity ;p

Lamentably not. >..<

Well done on the driving test! Must've been quite a struggle to avoid mixing up US insanity with UK whackery. Good show!

Hehe! Yeah, mostly my US experience helped but there were some practises and habits I had to sort of un-learn or modify to do things right here. I made it though! Thanks!

Awesome! Congratulations Dorey. ^_^ It really -is- much harder to get a license over there, not to mention just harder in general on some of the little roadways. The job thing should perk up eventually - particularly if you land a citizenship. Just keep at it, and keep hitting up as many interviews as you can. Also, remember to stay in human form - Dorey would scare them. *smirks*

To a large extent 'driving a car is driving a car' and you need the same training and awareness regardless of where you are in the world, but the environment you're driving in makes a huge difference, certainly! Even without a language barrier there are a lot of differences over here; the signage, the rules and guidelines, different ways of doing things like roundabouts, plus the entire character of the road just feels different with narrower roadways and smaller or no shoulders and the like. So yeah, there's more adaptation required than some might think!

I'm still not sure if I'll end up going for full UK citizenship, it kind of depends on ever being able to get a straight answer out of anybody regarding what that would do to my US citizenship, but once I get my indefinite leave to remain it ought to be just as good as far as employers are concerned. Until then, I'm starting to think that temp work might be a lot more likely so we'll see where I end up. And yes, I will take your advice. ;D Dorey is not a scary dragon, but an interview session might not be long enough for them to get over the initial panic!

*nods* Mmm, true - very different environment. Roundabouts are brilliant though - wish we had more of those in North America.

I wish I could help with the Citizenship question but I'm unsure as to whether the UK supports dual citizenship or not. I believe they do, but you would need to check. The US does not support it, which means to the US, you will only be a US citizen unless you renounce your citizenship. I would advise not doing that since it would be handy to keep for return trips. :P

And yeah, Dorey's a wonderfully sweet and amazing dragon, but you might have a hard time convincing a terrified human of that without some time to spend with them. I'd say just prop up his amazing footpaws to lull and sooth them, but that'd probably only work on people like me. ^^;

I have mixed feelings about roundabouts, I think. :) I love them over here, and in a practical sense they're so much better than signals at keeping traffic flowing. As far as wishing there were more in North America though... it's a hard call. Nobody in the US at least really understands how they work because they're so rare and nobody's taught about them. So when people do encounter one, nobody has any idea what they're supposed to do. I think they are a good idea, but there needs to be more education for drivers about how to treat them and what the point of it is. As it is now, I only tend to find them in the US in goofy closed off rich communities where people put them in to try and feel European. ;) They work great but they need a population that isn't terrified of 'em!

That's the thing; I have it in my head that the UK doesn't mind dual citizenship, but the US does, so if I took UK citizenship the US would revoke mine, and I don't want that. I've still got family and friends and I want to be easily able to get back into my home country! And from the experiences of someone else I know who's a couple years ahead of me doing the same thing, once you get indefinite leave to remain in the UK there isn't much you really would need UK citizenship for. Voting's about the only thing you don't get at that point.

*giggle* If there were more people like you giving job interviews I'd probably have a job by now. And maybe I could just present my CV the way Merystic did: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9637895/

I believe it was Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson that said something like "You won't find innovations like roundabouts in the US very much because most Americans are terrified and confused by them." Honestly, that's likely true. Even up here in Canada I could see them causing mass confusion and chaos since concepts like green lights and road signs already seem to baffle most drivers. :/

I don't think the US would revoke your citizenship. It's more likely that they simply won't accept your UK one, so if you travelled to the US, you have to have a US passport and not bring up the UK citizenship or anything. That's how it works for Canadians with dual citizenship.

*snickers* Awww, Merystic's CV rocks. And yeah, I'd have hired ya in an instant - even before you presented those awesome footpaws.

Hehe, yeah I think it is true. Traffic signals are nice and easy; you just do as you're told. Roundabouts require more active thinking and observation and being fully aware of your surroundings and making quick decisions based on other traffic. They were pretty terrifying to me at first, and I imagine this would be the case for many US drivers!

Interesting notion about citizenship... I continue to be curious about how it would work, so if I can ever find a straight answer from a proper authority on it I'll be sure to let you know!

Congrats hun! that is awesome

Thanks dear! ^^