Hey guys I just can't make up my mind on whether im going to get a Manual or an Automatic. I'm 19, 20 in april (living in the OC) and a certain part of me deep down just really really wants to drive a manual car sometime while im young and kickin but within a year i will hopefully be transferring to USC in LA for school and i hear from some people that its a hassle to drive manual in traffic etc but on the other hand people say that driving manual just becomes second nature and you really don't notice it after a while... but the problem is I DONT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE MANUAL YET

So if i do decide to get a manual i would have to learn before i get my car.. Ok so i know the basic concepts of driving a manual car and i've driven my friends car around the block once or twice but thats about it...
WHAT TO DO!?

Advice from experience manual drivers please!
Is it hard to learn? how long would it take (to get good)? could i get good enough just from lessons via a friend?
Thanks