Interesting, my brief flirtation with gliding (must get back to it if I can) I can only remember thermaling to the right - I kind of assumed it was convention... or do we thermal to the right the UK, and those on the continent to the left?
I was a passenger in a C172 landing into wind at some small quiet airfield in Maryland, my pilot having announced our positions in the pattern including "final at XXX" on Unicom. We were about a quarter of a mile out, a C421 lined up at the other end announcing his intention to depart immediately. A squawk of protest from us and ready to go round, the C421 replied "no sweat son, I'll just wait here till ya clear..."