On empty...

A and I both passed our theoretical test for driving today, so we thought we'd go this afternoon to get a rental car.  We've decided to rent (lease) until we figure out the system for buying a good used vehicle and what we'll be comfortable with.  We called the rental company and they indicated not having a driver to come pick us up, so we decided to wait until after the weekend (Friday and Saturday) and try again. 

I started dinner and A was working on something when we got another call that the driver was on his way and would be here in 15 minutes.. Change of plans.. We called L, another new teacher, to come sit with the kids.  Not knowing the process or how long it would take to find our way back, we thought it best to leave the kids here.  On the way to the rental company, A and I both watched intently at landmarks, roundabouts, and streets to navigate back home.  We also had a map pulled up on the ipad, but it wasn't the best map.

We got the paperwork finished fairly quickly and since the SUV we wanted wouldn't be ready until Saturday, we got a small white car until then.  We set off for home about 30 minutes before dark.  We realized fairly quickly that the gas was almost empty and the ipad battery was almost dead.. Bad combo when you're new in a foreign country.  The issue for us was finding a petrol (gas) station and being able to get to it from the street we were on. 

We were advised not to drive in the dark until we know our way around and to follow the brown signs toward Education City (where we live)...  We didn't do either... We will in the future...

The street we tried to find wasn't marked (shocker), so we went way too far.  The gas light came on and then we finally found a way to get onto an access road and saw a station we could get too!  The BEST thing...  gas is SO cheap it cost less than $9 to fill the tank!  Ok, back on the road...  Going in the other direction, the road was marked and after only a few more wrong turns, we made it back.  We're a pretty good team, but I'm not ready for a solo drive just yet..

Not too bad for a first try!  We're buying a GPS in the morning...  Hopefully that will help. 

I really wanted to photo journal this, but with a dead ipad... no pictures...