Driving (and Other Stories)

I promised to be back here so I guess tonight I might as well just let the world know what I'm up to. 

July seems like a good month so far because I've just discovered that the human body can do remarkable things. Before you start thinking of some weird stuffs please let me clarify lol that I am talking about the ability to learn certain things and get the hang of it after some time. I'm not saying that we can turn skilful immediately but it just amazes me that some proper teaching can actually assist a process of learning new skills.

If this is true and can be applied in other areas of knowledge and skills, wouldn't it be magnificent that we can all actually play cello, or speak Spanish, or read Korean, or draw portraits, or become a better ice-skater? And of course the list can go on and on.

So a few days after I learnt how to swim, I began my driving lessons with an instructor named Mr. Sim. Mr. Sim owns two pairs of spectacles, one that tints itself into a very blue shade when it's sunny, and another one that has not much special thing to talk about. He smokes Dunhill. On my second lesson he greeted me with something in between hello and bello which I did not answer to because I was dumbstruck by the possibility of having a real life minion greeting. His ringtone is a the chipmunk's version of Flo Rida's song Low which shocked me so much. Why am I talking about all these? No reasons actually. I just want to apply what I've read in award-winning fictions. The persona always observes insignificant things. This amazes me. 

So far it has been a pleasant learning experience. I can drive, but I still make mistakes, so I won't say I can drive properly. In fact, I am still scared of the real test day. This morning, I almost scraped the car while doing some zigzag turns at the place where I practised. Mr. Sim says my moves are exaggerated, which is so true in many other things I do apart from turning the steering wheel. My list of exaggerated moves include impressing my sister by imitating Kwang-soo's dance moves, crossing the road (I'd normally run when approaching the other side), playing the guitar (I secretly set a mindset that I'm actually performing in front of others), reacting towards disaster (I'll always think that the problem is bigger than it really is) and as usual, the list can go on and on.

Apart from that, I've discovered that my left leg and foot are rebellious and normally won't listen to my brain. 

Other things are fine, except for one tiny bit of scene that could fit into a low-budget comedy show this morning when I dropped my hands in frustration (another exaggerated move) on the steering wheel after failing to do something (which I now have forgotten).

You should see how both of my hands accidentally dropped on the signal light handle andddd windscreen wiper handle. You should see how my instructor cringed and said I could've scratched the windscreen. Me? I cringed, and then I laughed. 

The perfectionist inside of me wouldn't have laughed when making mistakes while learning but lately I find myself laughing at every mistake. And the more I laugh, the more I seem to learn. I might as well write a self-help book about how much you can achieve by laughing at your mistakes.

That's all for the driving story. Unless you want me to also add on some insignificant things like how on the first or second lesson, I failed to follow some instructions because my brain was so confused. So it went like this-

First/Second Lesson

"Don't do anything unless I tell you to do so! Follow my instructions! *exasperated tone*

Fourth Lesson

"Don't wait until I give instructions!" *another exasperated tone*

Despite all this, despite all of the exasperated tones, everything else is good. When I laugh, my instructor laughs and makes silly jokes which I approve, according to my standard of lameness. He's so chill. I like teachers who are so chill, hence this special blog entry which is 70% about the teacher and only 30% about the driving experience itself. 

I am also amazed that I am not as socially awkward as I think I am. Proof number 1 is that in the absence of other people, I can actually hold up a conversation with an adult man. This amazes me (so much actually, till the point that I remember I once did a silly quiz online and it said that my mental age is 46 ugh thanks). We talked about the coming Kuching Foodfest, my old school, why did I wait until I am 22 to start learning how to drive, the recent Low Yat Plaza incident, weird (but clean, don't worry) jokes, how my sister was a fast learner when she learned how to drive with him 4 years ago (I feel pressured), and I am actually amazed that he remembers my sister's name despite omitting the last syllable of her name, making it a guy's name instead.

You see another thing that makes me ponder about life is that our teachers aren't just the ones who teach us ABCs or the IUPAC nomenclature in Organic Chemistry or annoying Maths formulas. Some of them are our friends who teach us how to swim and dance and be chill, or normal guys on YouTube who in real life are factory workers but make guitar tutorial videos for free, or driving instructors who may sound exasperated at times but laugh together at your mistakes, or most important of all, parents who taught us how to poop and pee in a civilised manner, for lack of a better word.

In fact, it's funny how easy it is to detect a good teacher but it's so hard to become one. Like seriously now I'm worried after seeing how mad the level of patience a 'real teacher' portrays. I suddenly realise that being adult means you need a mad level of patience so you can earn more money or live a better life or positively impact a person's life through your actions. And what is the ultimate goal of a life-long learning process of acquiring patience? I don't know, son. Maybe patience is the only way we all can live a bearable life together on earth as human beings.