Both Dan and John are right. This exact thing has confused me, too. Especially when using the track (heading) indicator or VOR on a Garmin G430 Which looks similarly to the old school drum style Directional Gyro that John K describes, but turns in the direction you would intuitively expect. That is because there is a difference in the way that a vertical compass card works and is read versus the way an old school aviation compass works and is read. And, I call them old school even though I have seen them in brand new Piper Archer IIIs and relatively new[ish] Cessna 172SPs.
Vertical compass cards work using flux gates that can align themselves with North regardless of compass orientation. Old school aviation compasses like float or whiskey compasses work using a North-seeking magnetic bar or needle. This needle embedded in the body of the float. When viewed from the top, the North-seeking end of the needle is furthest away from you when you are facing North. But, if you can only view the float from the side, which is the case for a float compass, you can only see the side closest to you. Everything is reversed in the case of a float compass.
Try this. Take a can, a cup, a lid, or some type of cylindrical surface. Draw a compass rose on its top. Orient the compass rose to your local Magnetic North. Now, position the Cylinder so that it is between you an the magnetic North Pole while maintaining its Magnetic North orientation. This means you are also facing North. This will require you to put the cylinder in a position where it does not move. With the cylinder at eye level, and positioned between you and the North Pole, write the letter “N” on the side closest to you. Now, walk around the stationary cylinder until it is East of you. This means that you are a West if it. Yet, you are facing East. Write the letter “E” on the side closest to you. Do the same for West and South.
You will quickly see that, while the float compass is moving in the correct manner to keep it aligned with Magnetic North, your perspective on its movement is reversed. A CFI once told me, “Whiskey compasses are like women. If you want one to come to you, run in the opposite direction.”