Funny, I had the exact same experience as a kid in the 70's. Up to coils it all seemed pretty easy.

So yes, coils (or, to be more correct, inductors, in Dutch we use 'spoelen' which is closer related to 'coils' so I tend to make that mistake all the time) are 'different' in that sense, as are the equations that govern them. And the theory is sufficiently complex that you have a hard time hitting the right value right off the bat if you put something together that you think will have a particular inductance unless you've done it many times before. Slight variations can make big differences. On the plus side: the values are critical, even so, there are usually plenty of ways to compensate if you got it wrong. One trick is to overwind and then to remove windings until you hit the right value. Another is to hook up a scope through a very high impedance probe and to couple your coil magnetically to an oscillator with known frequency. You can then tune for the required response without ever knowing the exact inductance that you're looking for.

In the higher frequency domain (when you start using air coils of silver plated copper) you can usually achieve the same effect by slightly opening up or compressing the coil windings.

Resistors are easy, capacitors are bit harder, coils are 'magic', but with a bit of practice that magic becomes ritual and ritual should be at least reproducible to the point that the part becomes a manageable quantity.