Left where the lights used to be

I spent last weekend visiting family outside Krakow, and wanted to drive to the local bus station. I asked my host for directions, and he started to explain. "Get onto the Katowice road," he started, obviously assuming that I knew how to get from his house onto the Katowice road, "and drive on straight, and keep driving on straight. You'll start passing Real on the right." I wondered if he meant the only Real I know in the area. "Is that the Real in M1?" "Yes, that's the one! Then you turn left" My host's wife interjected "At the set of traffic lights" "Yes," agreed my host, "turn left at the traffic lights. Then you drive straight, and you start driving uphill, then you drive straight to the top of the hill, and then you start to drive downhill, and you drive downhill, and you drive straight, until you come to a large crossing, quite a large crossing, at the local stadium. There is a large taxi rank beside the stadium, too." I summarized "So, I go left at M1, and then go straight on to the large crossing at the stadium." "Yes, and then you go straight on," he continued , "and keep going straight on, until you get to a roundabout" I was surprised at what came next "...and then you turn right. Then you take the second left, which is about 200 metres after the first" -he never mentioned how far from the roundabout the first left was- " and drive straight on. And drive straight on until you get to the end of the street, and then turn right, and the bus station is on the left."
My host had used a description that was a million metaphorical miles from the description I would have used ("Left at M1, right at the roundabout, and take the second left, then the bus station is the next left."), and I remembered the old joke about an Irishman giving directions (go down to where the old tree used to be, and then you'll come to a large white house. Ignore that, and go on until you come to a field where Paddy sometimes leaves the cows...).
I read once that, if you ask a woman where the mustard is, the likelihood is that she will explain that it is behind the butter, and below the cold meats, in front of the mayonnaise. A man will probably tell you it is on the second shelf from the top, on the left. Men generally explain with coordinates, along with the philosophy of 'A place for everything, and everything in its place' Women use landmarks and reference points, seeing the world and everything in it as being related to each other.
What is interesting is that this is not news to anyone. We always complain that someone gives directions in a certain, specific way. 'He just gives the street names', 'She has to repeat every important detail twice', 'He gives the direction at every crossing, whether you go left, right or straight' Why not use this information to you advantage in the future? If someone always gives only street names when giving directions, then the best way to give him directions is not to tell him which landmark to look out for, but to tell him which streets to use. If someone reports every important detail twice, then he will understand something is important to you if you repeat it twice. I, for one, will give directions to my host in the clearest way ossible, with as many details as I can give. Why? He has already shown that this is the way he analyses and remembers directions.
Get into the habit of doing this, and you will find yourself automatically listening better to people giving directions. The end result is you will get lost less, and people will appreciate your directions.