Tuesday, September 22, 2015

LEE Joo Hyun/When I first learned to drive/ Thursday 1pm

     "Great! I lost about 10 kg. So, my next goal will be to take the driver's license test". Actually, after my admission to college, I had to wait about two to three months until I turned 20 on the New Year in order to apply for the driver's license test. As I had gained a lot of wait especially during my last year at high school, I spent my time dieting. As soon as I sensed that I had lost some weight, I decided with a loudly throbbing heart to find out a private institute in the neighborhood of the test course. Both the teaching experience and the price were the main criteria helping me for choosing an academy.

 

     Once I made the decision, they made me know how the test system was composed of and how it was going to work. So, I first had to go to the examination site to take an hour long traffic safety education course and then get a physical checkup. After that, I had to choose a date in order to take a written test. Unlike many Koreans who, in fact, pass the test immediately after the safety education as it's easy, I wanted to read at least once the workbook about the traffic laws that the institute had previously given me. So, I decided to come over one or two days later taking this procedure seriously, as driving is asking the driver's attention and responsibilities. When I got a perfect score on the first test, then, I signed up for the next step which was the driving test. With the automated machine in the academy, I could practice for basic handling. As soon as I passed that in a fixed driving course near the Han River, I planned to take the road test. There were in total two courses to memorize which were quite short and not that difficult. So, with the help of the institute's teacher and car, I get used to them quickly. As I also wanted to win high praise from my parents beside my driving teacher, I asked them especially my father to teach me and advise me how to drive better.

 

     However, this was the start of the disaster. My father couldn't stop pointing out the slightest flaws like "You should take your right turn tightly to the corner in order to not disturb others" and I completely lost my temper getting more and more furious and yelling at him "I did that. You didn't see it well". The atmosphere was catastrophic and my mother who sat on the back, stopped listening to us but music. As a novice driver, I didn't need the perfect skill of a master, though a single compliment about the progress I had made. I imagined that my parents would be proud of me and encouraging me by saying "That's great! You'll definitely make it!". As my concentration sharply fell at close of day, when making my last turn, we could have had a terrific accident with a bus. I didn't see it arriving being in a dead zone. Not only I but my parents were really stunned at this possible event. Fortunately, my father wheeled on time while I was completely paralyzed.

 

     I came to know that driving is a very difficult cooperative activity that demands all the drivers' attention and responsibilities. In addition, at the instant of concentration decrease, anything could happen. So, when a driver feels tired, he or she should immediately stop in a resting area to get some rest like in highways in Europe which ceaselessly put great emphasis on that point to prevent from possible traffic accident. Even though I was highly praised about my driving skills "You did way better than I thought you would do! Your cornering and your speed were great!" by the driving superintendent who was actually really conservative, thinking that all women were incapable of driving, I am always trying to watch out carefully and keep my composure.

3 comments:

  1. Hello, This is Shim Min Jung. I read your post very well and want to leave a comment on it using the feedback format on textbook. I like the way you wrote the details of the test process as it makes me feel real. And your first dialogue sentence was great for drawing my attention. I think you changed verb tense properly. Since I'm not good at English, I cannot advise you much but I suggest checking the length of the writing. The second paragraph is longer than others. Thank U :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Great! I lost about 10 kg. So, my next goal will be to take the driver's license test". Actually, after my admission to college, I had to wait about two to three months until I turned 20 on the New Year in order to apply for the driver's license test. As I had gained a lot of wait especially during my last year at high school, I spent my time dieting. As soon as I sensed that I had lost some weight, I decided with a loudly throbbing heart to find out a private institute in the neighborhood of the test course. Both the teaching experience and the price were the main criteria helping me for choosing an academy.

     

         Once I made the decision, they made me know how the test system was composed of and how it was going to work. So, I first had to go to the examination site to take an hour long traffic safety education course and then get a physical checkup. After that, I had to choose a date in order to take a written test. Unlike many Koreans who, in fact, pass the test immediately after the safety education as it's easy, I wanted to read at least once the workbook about the traffic laws that the institute had previously given me. So, I decided to come over one or two days later taking this procedure seriously, as driving is asking the driver's attention and responsibilities. When I got a perfect score on the first test, then, I signed up for the next step which was the driving test. With the automated machine in the academy, I could practice for basic handling. As soon as I passed that in a fixed driving course near the Han River, I planned to take the road test. There were in total two courses to memorize which were quite short and not that difficult. So, with the help of the institute's teacher and car, I get used to them quickly. As I also wanted to win high praise from my parents beside my driving teacher, I asked them especially my father to teach me and advise me how to drive better.

     
    However, this was the start of the disaster. My father couldn't stop pointing out the slightest flaws like "You should take your right turn tightly to the corner in order to not disturb others" and I completely lost my temper getting more and more furious and yelling at him "I did that. You didn't see it well". The atmosphere was catastrophic and my mother who sat on the back, stopped listening to us but music. As a novice driver, I didn't need the perfect skill of a master, though a single compliment about the progress I had made. I imagined that my parents would be proud of me and encourage me by saying "That's great! You'll definitely make it in the final test!". As my concentration sharply fell at close of day, when making my last turn, we could have had a terrific accident with a bus. I didn't see it arriving being in a dead zone. Not only I but my parents were really stunned at this possible event. Fortunately, my father wheeled on time while I was completely paralyzed.

     

         I came to know that driving is a very difficult cooperative activity that demands all the drivers' attention and responsibilities. In addition, at the instant of concentration decrease, anything could happen. So, when a driver feels tired, he or she should immediately stop in a resting area to get some rest like in highways in Europe which ceaselessly put great emphasis on that point to prevent from possible traffic accident. Even though I was highly praised about my driving skills "You did way better than I thought you would do! Your cornering and your speed were great!" by the driving superintendent who was actually really conservative, thinking that all women were incapable of driving, I am always trying to watch out carefully and keep my composure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello, This is Chun Young Ho. I read your post very well and want to leave a comment on it using the feedback format on textbook. I think this writing's genre is kind of anecdote and it follows in chronological order. Your choice of words are very realistic. And your hook was great for drawing my attention. You cared about verb tense and it was quite proper. I think you are using adjectives too much in last paragraph. How about using more concise and simple words? Bye.

    ReplyDelete