Driving!

Ok, so before you read this post, just remember that I am in fact still here to record the events of the day, so we all know that everything will turn out ok.......
Today I had my first driving experience on THE AUTOBAHN!!!!!! I've lived here for a month 1/2, and  since it's Sunday, and we were going to church, I figured I had a better chance of my guardian angel being on duty- just in case.  I guess I should mention that getting to our church building takes a good 25 minutes of mostly highway driving. It's not just a buzz down the road.
Let me tell you, it was one wild ride! It didn't help that I'm driving a little VW Golf stick shift. The reccommended speed on the autobahn is 130kmh, which sounds really awesome, but when you convert that to miles its only about 78mph, so not quite as impressive as you first think. I figured that I could at least get close to that in my little VW, but alas, I had almost everyone whizzing by me like I was just sitting still on the side of the road. Even little old German ladies were passing me! I guess most people take the whole 130 thing as exactly what it is-a suggestion and not a rule.
Finally, with the help of my faithful navigator, Courtney, we not only made it to church without getting lost, but we also arrived without harm nor incident. I walked into church feeling pretty full of myself. (Despite the fact that old ladies made me look bad).
Fast forward to our after-church trip home. I'm all full of myself, feeling good, when lo and behold, I stall out at a red light. It was pretty embarassing because there are people from church behind me, but I just blow it off and act like it was the car's fault and not my own. By this time I should mention, the girls are freaking out and yelling stuff about how we're all going to die. Not exactly what I need to be hearing right then, ya know? The rest of the trip is uneventful, and we arrive in the parking lot of our hotel unscathed. Once again, I start feeling pretty cocky about my amazing ability to drive a stick shift car in a foreign country. I guess you could say I spoke a little too soon.  As I pull into the parking space, I randomly get the clutch mixed up with the brake pedal, and instead of stopping, I roll over the curb, and into the parking space on the other side. This is the part where I say a quick prayer of thanks that no else had decided to park in that particular space!
So now I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to pay my children to get them to ride in the car with me after this. Heck, I may even have to pay myself!
 I have learned some important lessons though.
     1. Don't be cocky. It always comes back to bite you in the end.
     2. Today's tragedy is tomorrow's comedy. Once the shock wore off, we couldn't stop
          laughing. Especially when we realized that a couple of people were standing outside
          and saw the whole thing happen. 
     3. I NEED AN AUTOMATIC!!!!!!!