"I managed driving a stick shift on the wrong side well enough (in three countries, I think). What I found surprisingly important was that the shift and clutch are BOTH on the left over there; changing what had been a cross-body activity into something happening all on one side made a surprisingly big difference. "

Interesting point. I think I would notice that too. I seem to be very aware of laterality (and not in a good way). I have a terrible time transferring learned skills from one side to the other.

The more I think about it, the more I think it would be worth paying extra for an automatic.