Driver's Ed @ MindSay 
The number of private cars in China is climbing. Everyone wants to trade in their flying pigeon for a Volkswagon or a Suzuki. (Or even a Great Wall - China's own car designs are improving every year.) What does this mean for China's roads? It is hard to imagine them getting much crazier. On my 2 kilometer ride to work, I witness countless near miss accidents and pass through three "hot zones" - areas so congested and rife with careless disregard of life, limb and traffic rules it is pointless to try describing it. The good news is everyone is moving at less than 30 km/hr. (Here is a bit of imagery to give you a flash of what it is like: people crossing 3 lanes of traffic without looking, motorized tricycles driving the wrong way down the wrong lane without fear, long trucks blocking all lanes of traffic for as long as they want as they attempt to turn into a road already packed full of trucks, pony & wagon travelling down the middle of the road, passenger buses rolling full tilt through the traffic light on red, several policemen congregating on the side of the road, laughing and talking as mayhem reins all around them... I could go on and on! And as I have seen on Youtube videos of India & Africa, China doesn't even seem all that bad.) (And Dad - there is no need to worry. It all happens in slow motion.)
In an attempt to understand how Chinese people learn to drive, I accompanied my Chinese friend, I., to her driving lessons this weekend. I. has been attending classes at a local technical college for several months. She has already completed 2 of the required 4 examinations to receive her license. I figured with so many examinations to pass, Chinese drivers must really be getting quite good driving educations. Hmmm. Not really, at least not in my opinion. (Not that American driving education is so great, either. Many of my European friends are appalled that I received a driver's license without any ability to drive a car with standard transmission.)
As with most education in China, the emphasis is on rote learning of small details that have little practical value. An example.
One of the driving examinations tests the applicants ability to back the car into a garage. Fair enough, that is a useful skill. However, the teaching of the skill goes something like this: Back up until the piece of masking tape on the side of the passenger window is in line with that pole in the distance, then turn the steering wheel completely to the right. Turn until the masking tape in the rear right window is in line with that pole, then stop. Back straight until the masking tape... bla bla bla. I wonder if these students were faced with a car and garage with no masking tape and poles, could they get the car in the garage? In order to pass the exam, the maneuver must be executed precisely with no error.
The street driving portion of the exam requires the applicant to drive straight ahead at a constant speed, then pull over to the side of the road, and then pull back onto the road. They are not really instructed on merging, overtaking, turning around, navigating traffic lights, etc. I was stunned when immediately upon entering the car, no one bothered with seat belts. No one looked at their mirrors, either. In fact, the rear view mirror was turned completely away from the driver. Scariest of all, when joining another road, no one bothered to even look at the merging traffic. The assumption is that anyone coming from behind will simply move out of the way.
Despite the lack of practical, real world instruction, students are expected to parallel park flawlessly, in only one move. Who cares if they don't know they have to stop at a traffic light or how to merge, at least they can park their car efficiently. (**sarcasm**)
I contrasted all of this with my own experience learning to drive. I took summer "driver's ed" - a rite of passage at high schools all across America. I sat in my little simulator watching films from the 1970s as I navigated my sim's steering wheel along with the film. Later, we drove around town in the little Chevy Cavalier driver's ed car, the kind with an extra steering wheel and brake added to the passenger seat. My town was all of 2,000 people and two traffic lights, so this wasn't very intense training. Sometimes we drove to the post office so our teacher could drop off his mail. Or we'd go up to the Circle K to get candy bars and soda. We drove down a lot of country roads with practically no traffic at all. I didn't really get to put any of this training to much use, however. Only a couple of months after getting my license I moved to Kuwait, where driving wasn't allowed until 18 years. Even then, I wasn't sure I wanted to drive at all. The Kuwaitis have fabulous roads but they take to them with a speedy vengeance the likes of which I had never seen. Our favorite activity on the way to school everyday was surveying the road sides for evidence of fiery high speed crashes.
I've had my driver's license for over 15 years but I haven't driven in two years and I still don't know how to drive a stickshift. In fact, I'd say I'm probably always gonna be a reluctant driver. I much prefer the passenger seat. (And if that seat is on a train even better.)
Unfortunately, there are millions of newly-middle class Chinese just dying to get behind the wheel. Let's hope that is dying in the figurative sense.
B-I-N-G-O, and bingo was his na--, oh..hello there^^ Long time no up-date, ne! Well, There isn't to much to say. Rayne and I went to Michelle's house for J-Rock day..Carmen got there just as I was leaving >_< ..at least I got to meet her ^^; Eh, well Rayne came over yesterday and we swam in the pool and whatnot. Um, I have to work at the church festival this weekend >_<nooooooo Come visit me there and take away the pain of this torture!! I'm kind of looking forward to school and kind of not.. It depends on what day it is x_^ Erg.. Kerry, you need to come over, I mish you ^^!!
Oh!! ..And I passed meh driver's ed. class! Weee I'm taking the test tomarow I better goddamn pass it!! x_X Um, wish me luck then! I love you!!
-Akane
Today has been hell. Dad called at 10 to see if I was awake yet...obviously I picked up the phone...Didn't want to go back asleep after that. Dad called back to tell me Driver's Ed. cashed the check for behind the wheel...I never took it yet they cashed it anyway, so dad called the teacher and he said I was suppose to call my original b-t-w instructor...B.S!
The situation: I took Drivers Ed. and was assigned to a teacher named Mrs.Burns...I asked my present teacher if I could just set it up with him, he told me no problem and we scheduled a day. When that scheduled day came it was pouring so I called to cancel it with him...Two days later I called for Mrs.Burns number ( I had lost it at the D.M.V's) and left him a message to call me back, he never did. I called a couple more times and when he never returned my calls, I assumed they wouldn't cash the check. Low-and-Behold they cashed it anyway so Dad calls teacher #1 to get Mrs.Burns number and to ask why it had been cashed. The D.M.V. calls back and explains why...So now I HAVE TO TAKE B-T-W with this person even though I didn't want to and could get free training from my uncle (he's a licensed driving instructor)...Bull. Also, my father says " You don't have to if you don't want to go with her...But I'm not paying $125 for nothing. If your not going to, I'll take it outta your account"... Screw that. I might as well learn from some old lady about how to make left-hand turns and parallel parking...According to my uncle though, I'm doing pretty good, got stuff to work on like using only one foot and some turns...but other than that, I'm fine...Dad says I'll never pass if I don't get B-T-W...what does he know, he doesn't even have HIS LICENSE....
Other news: Daniel hasn't called or came over which means he either worked late and Mike was at his house playing PS2 (mike is his 30-something yr. old uncle with no job and lives in his mom's basement) or dan couldn't get to sleep because he's such a night owl...either or, he shouldn't be sleeping til 2:30pm....
Got some juice to tell...
Dan went over to his aunt's where his bro, sis, and EX GF was and he hung out there for 6 hours talking to them...He usually doesn't talk to his siblings but I guess that night was an exception... Bullshit. I still think he was talking to her that whole night, he says they were talking about the good ol' times when they were little...BTW dan and his Ex gf used to live in the same house when they went out...and I made his tell me everything they did together, which was disturbing and I asked for it....But anyways, Arthur (dan's bro.) pulls him aside and asks dan if he can date Amanda (dan's ex)...Dan said sure but for some reason I think he was a little jealous or something...Plus, Amanda is only 14(maybe 15) and arthur is going on 17...and he's a perverted prick. We suspect that he stole Dan's condoms before he went back up to Buffalo (where she lives to) because outta about 10 there are only 4. Dan's concerned that Arthur's going to try stuff with her...WHY DOES HE CARE ANYWAYS! Just asking.... Also, Arthur is dating my best friend Jackie and I don't know if I should tell her that Arthur is trying to play her...Dan swore me to secrecy about arthur and his talk...Should I tell her? I feel like I should since she would do the same for me....And I hate seeing her go through this shit with him constantly...But sometimes, she just deserves it for the people she picks out. She tends to pick guys that are in gangs and her last bf was in prison(or juve.) and he has a 1+ yr old girl...I don't understand why she wants those guys. There are plenty of hotties in the MN...But she's also a cheater so she gets what is coming to her in a sense....too much for me...
Jackie and her mom were talking about how I and Danny are inseparable and how they will now be abducting me wherever I am, whether I am with him or not. The thing is, which I told Jackie, I don't come over because she is constantly smoking in that damn basement and she knows damn well I am asthmatic and am allergic to dogs...Also, whenever I am over or spend the night, she always wants to hang out with her brother who I find annoying as hell...He's such a hypocrite and I cannot stand people that are like that...it angers me. So Lisa (jackie's mom) calls my dad to talk about it and I told my dad why. He then left her a message and told her to call back...that was about 2 days ago...she hasn't called back.
Anyways, I am hoping she'll call back so I can talk to her about the situation because it's been boggling my mind. Also, I am going to talk to dan about Arthur and whether I can tell Jackie without being on a hit list....
Well, should go, getting tired and lazy...
TTYL
BAIBAI
Ok! Finals are all done... THANK THE BLOODY GODS! English was exceptionally easy. I had it done in half an hour. Total cake. So now all I'm worried about are my Regents. Marlaina and I are going all day monday for Math B review with Janeski. I love that woman. :) I know she'll be able to help me out.
Tomorrow and friday are my english Regents. My hellishly long english Regents. *sigh* At least I'm getting it done A.S.A.P. This week and next week will be hell...
- Thursday & friday: english Regents for half the day.
- Saturday: getting the dog groomed and Big Flats Community Days parade.
- Sunday: Father's Day and flea-marketing FOR MEDIEVAL WEAPONRY!
- Monday: math review all bloody day.
- Tuesday: global Regents for half a day.
- Wednesday: earth science Regents for half a day.
- Thursday: math B Regents for half a day, Dad's birthday, and singing at baccalaureate.
- Friday: graduation
- Saturday: getting my hair done and my eyebrows waxed.
- Sunday: Sasha's grad party
What a bloody ridiculous schedule! Two weeks I'm bloody well booked, then I get maybe a week, then Albertfest, and finally Driver's Ed for a month! Yes, I am glad I got into Driver's Ed, but I'm also a bit angry because it's eating up most of my summer. This is my writing time we're talking about! AUGH! *sighs and rubs forehead*
In other, better news, I went to Mar's after math review today. *laughs maniacally* We started out eating breakfast for dinner and watching Blazing Saddles, then we got über bored and went outside and played around in the hay near the rope swing with Timmy and a goose. :P To top that off, we had to dodge a BITING horse to get back out of the pen near the barn, then we went to the pond and got in the paddle boat. MUAHAHA! We went around there, poking the bullfrogs to make them jump, then we both got sticks and started our pirate thing again (EVIL!) and touched a REALLY icky inchworm that was AUGHNESS to the max. Then we ran the paddle boat aground and got it out of the water, then went walking around the pond, trying to figure out if we were going to take over one of the ports and build a city up on the ridge, but gave up. I even outlined a pretty detailed map in the mud of a SWAMP ('twas not a bog...). :P Finally, Twigg (Mar) and I had a swordfight with sticks. I think I lost my hand...
In short, total and utter childish FUN!
What a good day. :)
Random song quote: "Adie-adie-adiemus."
~Shadowmaster~
P.S. If you want to listen to a cool piano piece, download The Promise by Michael Nyman. It's completely awesome.
By the time I was 16 and a half years old, I was ready to take my driving test. I had been driving with my permit for about five months, and couldn't wait to trade it in for the permanent thing. With 20 hours of Driver's Ed in my mind and my permit in hand, I walked into the DMV on the day of my first test with confidence. This was going to be easy.
The man who was testing me got into the passenger seat and instructed me to pull around to the back of the building where I was going to have to parallel park. "You have three back-ups," he warned me.
One...Two...Three...I didn't make it into the spot. It was over. I was done. No license.
I cried when my mom got back into the car. She reassured me I would practice more and get my license the next time. Little did she know, the next time around my test-giver would be THE DRAGON LADY.
THE DRAGON LADY was the evilest person that existed in the driving license testing world. She was 107-years-old with thick glasses and a curly, white mop on her head that kids swore were snakes camouflaged as hair. She was notorious for failing everyone that came her way and even more notorious for being an evil bitch. Right before I took my test, she had been quoted in the newspaper as saying, "I try to fail every driver that is taking his or her test for the first time. I'm trying to keep the quota of bad drivers down."
One of my close friends, Erin, had taken her test just a few months before. It was a beautiful, warm, summer day out, a day you roll down your windows when you have no air conditioning in your car, and parallel parking had not yet been added to the driving test (They joyfully added it right before I took my test). It would be a piece of cake to pass.
Erin sat in her car and waited for her driving test examiner to come out of the DMV and replace her older sister's spot into the passenger seat.
"Oh, look!" Erin said, pointing to the little, old lady who had just come through the DMV's door. "That must be who is giving me my test." Erin was happy because this woman reminded her of her grandmother. Little did she know this grandmother-like woman was the evil, wretched DRAGON LADY.
With the wind tickling her face, Erin followed THE DRAGON LADY'S instructions. Step by step she drove perfectly around the testing center.
She was almost finished when the wind blew her hair into her eyes. She removed one hand from the steering wheel and pushed her hair out of her sight.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" screamed THE DRAGON LADY. "YOU CANNOT TAKE YOUR HAND OFF OF THE WHEEL!"
Erin was confused. "But my hair blew in my eyes and I couldn't see anything," she tried to explain to THE DRAGON LADY. Would THE DRAGON LADY have rather she crashed?
"IT DOES NOT MATTER! IT IS ILLEGAL TO DRIVE WITH ONE HAND! YOU FAIL!" She stamped Erin's permit with the FAILED mark.
I thought about this story as I sat, waiting to take my second stab at the big license test.
“GET OUT OF THE CAR MOM!” My mom looked up to see whose voice had screeched the name only two girls in the world called her by. An old face was peering into the passenger window. RAP, RAP, RAP. THE DRAGON LADY banged on my door.
My mother got out of the car and THE DRAGON LADY got in. Needless to say, I was so nervous, I couldn’t parallel park once again. After she screamed at me for gripping the steering wheel incorrectly, I was lost…
The third time, I actually passed the parallel parking section of the test. I was thrilled! Here I was, on my way to becoming a licensed driver!
I followed the driving tester’s instructions to make a right at a red light with a yield sign. I slowed down at the yield to make sure no oncoming traffic was coming.
“What are you doing?” the examiner asked me.
“Slowing down at this yield,” I explained.
“Don’t slow down! Go!!”
I was pretty confused considering my 20 hours of Driver’s Ed had taught me you’re supposed to slow down at a yield sign.
He made me turn around and go through the yield again. This time I was nervous and didn’t hit my break once as I went around the turn.
“I’m sorry but your wheel touched the white line of the shoulder of the yield. I have to fail you.”
I had apparently been concentrating on not slowing down that I had made too much of a sharp turn. I hadn’t realized touching the white line was illegal, especially when making a turn. The white line was a good two feet away from the curb, leaving a lot of room. Years later, they repaved the road and now no white line even exists.
I wasn’t even upset I didn’t pass. I was more excited I passed parallel parking.
“That’s it!” my mom said when I told her I had failed once again. “We are never coming back to this DMV again!!” I had been taking my test at the closest DMV, which was located a mile from Philadelphia. The people who worked there had become tainted from all the rough city people who came through the DMV, day in and day out.
Weeks later, I was yet again, behind the wheel taking the driving test. This time, I went to a driving center 20 miles away, up in the country.
“You’re 17 already. Why haven’t you gotten your license yet?” the driving test examiner asked me when he looked at my driving test rap sheet.
I told him I had trouble parallel parking.
“Well, let’s go get your license!!” he said excitedly.
While walking to my car, he stopped suddenly. “Look!” he pointed with a huge smile on my face. “A butterfly!” There on the black pavement, was a butterfly. “How beautiful…” he added, his voice trailing off as if in an environmental trance.
We got in my car and he pointed to a pile of logs on the side of the building. “That’s where you’ll be parallel parking.”
Instead of the normal, city-standard, bright orange cones I had failed to park between before, I had no problem parking between two logs.
After the test was over, the examiner asked me to pull on the side of the building and park. He spouted out a few tips and handed me my permit.
“Did I pass?” I asked.
“What does your permit say?” the man said.
I looked.
PASSED.
One fender bender and a major accident later, I’m a perfect driver!
