Wulf's got it!
The main thing to remember is that our (wonderfully human) eyes WAY outperform a camera's sensor... scenes that look normally lit to us, may be way outside of the camera's dynamic range. A lot of the trick is just getting used to
when your camera is going to get confused, recognizing that, and then recomposing, using fill-flash, or perhaps using exposure compensation.
Over the years, I've started to see things differently just in everyday life -- I find myself thinking "wow, the light is really harsh today..." when it's bright, sunny, and blue-skied. You'll get there too.
