sometimes my blog is all seriousness. it's about time for a funny story (of which, by the way, i have many).
tessa and i have been learning to drive stick. i've been driving for about 10 years now (but oh, i remember the agonizing days of being 16 and i was, "like, one of the laaaast ones in our class to get my license!"). but i'd just never caught on to driving stick.
but when jimmie and hulda offered us the opportunity to use their stick car for six months while they would be away in america, we couldn't resist. jimmie kindly took us driving a few times, and after ruining the clutch, stalling out about a hundred times, and a quick trip to see the mechanic (oops!), we're driving by ourselves.
ten years of driving and i felt like my 16 year-old self just learning to drive again. i was nervous and clumsy. whenever i approached a red light or roundabout, my stomach would turn a bit.
but, we've been driving well. sure, i occasionally stall out still because i put the car in third gear instead of first, but that's a problem that's easily fixed!
in fact, i've grown so confident that two weeks ago i offered to drive one of my students home. we found out that we're both in Hradec Kralove on wednesdays nights because we missed the same train a few months ago (i missed it because i was too busy buying food at the train station; he missed it because his bus was late). now that i have the car, i drive to and from hradec, and i offered to drive him home too. so after i finished teaching, i went to pick him up. no problems...after he got in the car i put the car in reverse to back out of my spot. i backed up like a pro. and then i put it into first gear, and....i stalled out. i turned off the engine and tried again, and....i stalled out. i put on my 4-ways and in the meantime, i bumped the windsheild wipers. and so the windshield wipers were swinging away crazily as i continued to start and stall out the car. upon what was probably my fourth attempt, my dear student said calmly, "do you want me to drive?" i just nodded my head in shame.
but i can drive...really i can!
1 comment:
Haha... switching to stick can be such a chore! I don't know about driving in Europe, but it's pretty crazy here. Thankfully my dad made us learn to drive on stick so we could transition wherever we were, but it still took me a year to drive back in the Philippines because of the traffic "rules" (of which there are two -- don't hit anyone and do anything you want as long as there isn't a cop).
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