Re-learning how to drive a car – part 1
Hya!!! I’ve been driving for the first time in 15 years or so today!
A lady instructor in her late 40ties or early 50ties came to my house with a white Toyota Corona (I don’t know if they are sold outside of Japan, there ain’t a big difference to the Corolla though = a sedan) and after a short interview of how long not driving etc. and p inside the car, she took me down to the main road in my area: a 4 lane street with the long name of Shittekurokawa that goes from Kawasaki station 15 km away to I don’t know yet where and she parked at the side of the road. She said, okay, let’s change seats.
What??? HERE??? I thought we start at a more quiet place! She shrugged and said it’s better to start here, daijoubu da yo (it’s all right).
So we changed seats and she explained mirrors and “bure-ki” (brake) and “akuseru” (short for acceleration) and “aizu” (eyes = blinker/signal) to me and then said drive! I’ll take care of left and right and will watch our backs, I have a brake here and I’ll lunge into your steering wheel if something goes wrong, you watch ahead and go!
Kyaaaaa! And so I went off in the midst of heavy traffic. Holy crap! I got a feel for the brake and gas quite quickly though and she was lauding my smooth stopping and going.
Handling the steering wheel was a bit more challenging for me and I have the tendency to turn it either too much or not enough! lol. For working on that, we left the scary big road and hit the smaller side streets and she made me go around a small park in circles (= four corners) several times to give me a feel for the steering wheel, then back onto the big road and I drove myself home eventually.
I am starting to believe her that actually the big roads are less scary than the small ones, since on the big roads you can go mostly straight or have only soft curves, there is hardly a threat of children jumping into the road and other surprises, etc. In the side streets you have to watch out for “everything”.
My radar is yet very limited and mostly directed forward, I’m not looking at mirrors etc. enough yet, but hey, this was my first time behind the wheel in 15 years or so. I also have a tendency to hang out too much to the left, since that’s the far side of the car for us here and I am lacking overview over the vehicle’s dimensions.
I bought now the “master plan” and we’ll do the whole show, parking in small spaces, parking in a park-house somewhere, gasoline station, highway, driving at night etc. I’ll have two instructors, the lady and also a guy, but it was good for my nerves that the first lesson was with a lady, I must say 
From now on, I don’t mind and next lesson will probably be next Saturday, awaiting confirmation.
It was pretty cool though to drive over the big, fat Shittekurokawa road, I really had not thought I would do that in my first lesson and that it would actually go reasonably well.
But after those two hours of driving – man! I’m exhausted and slowly coming down from the adrenaline here
If all goes well my course will be finished by the end of November and then the plan is to buy a Japanese mini-car!
Go, go, go!
