I've owned my Mk7 R for over 6 months now and I still cannot accept that the gear change from 1st to 2nd is sooo "clunky"! Is this normal?

Has anyone else experienced this? I still have my mk5 GTI(which I'm trying to sell) and I honestly perfer driving it now. Gear changes are so much smoother.

Massive favour but is there anyone in Melbourne area willing to let me drive their manual R to put my mind at ease as it may be just a characteristic of the new R.

Please don't say I should have bought an auto, I like to drive my cars