Why is Douglass awkward in his new employment

He found being a field hand awkward because he was not used to this work:

I had left Master Thomas's house, and went to live with Mr. Covey, on the 1st of January, 1833. I was now, for the first time in my life, a field hand. In my new employment, I found myself even more awkward than a country boy appeared to be in a large city.