On the first day I drove to work, a friend of mine sent me a message through QQ: “Congratulations on becoming a member of the automobile club. A word of friendly warning: It is just the beginning of having to spend a lot of money on the car.” Seeing this, I sent him a smiling face as a reply. Frankly, I believed I was well prepared for the upcoming new expenses. There’s no free lunch in this world. You get what you pay for. For me, it was just a necessary investment for a new life. That is why I compared and weighed so seriously before I finally decided on a Skoda Octavia. I’m sure the good reputation of Shanghai Volkswagen is a guarantee for the quality. Being one of the most fuel efficient cars, Skoda Octavia 1.6 Manual can make my new life sustainable.

Life with a car is sure different from before. The topic of your daily conversation changes, you make new car-friends and your living radius enlarges. You never have to worry about how to carry things along. You would feel fortunate inside the car seeing others wearing raincoats or holding umbrellas on rainy/ windy days. You don’t have to wrap yourself up in thick clothes in the freezing weather when you are on a short trip. It is truly nice and cool to drive to work while listening to the morning news or your favorite music,

However, under this seemingly wonderful surface, there’re numerous dangers and worries. Other than possible accidents, where to park the car is always a big headache, especially in cities. China is just not ready for becoming a nation on wheels. Stores, restaurants or any other commercial areas were designed and built for non-drivers. China IS one of the most populous nations in the world, unlike the States. The few parking spaces are always unavailable for a person like you! So you have to park at a distant place and then walk!

You never know how many electronic dogs along the road. Different places have different speed limits. And you have to be careful otherwise these dogs would bite you by taking a picture of you. Within a week a ticket of several hundred would come. If you stop in the wrong lane before traffic lights, if you run a red light, if you go the wrong way on a one way street, if you park at a wrong place, tickets will sure come, and you just get your money ready. First go to the traffic police to have some forms filled out and then to the bank. There’s just no way for you to escape being fined.

When I received the first ticket (the only one so far, hehe), I was very depressed. How much gas could I buy with that much of money? And I was trying to reduce the fuel consumption! The wide road ahead became a landmine. However, when I got to the traffic police station, I was immediately cheered up by the guy in front of me. Boy! He had a stack of tickets and two of them cost him nearly three thousand!