Oops, I did it again!

What made me happy today? Oops, I did it again.
About half a year ago I made this post about passing my theoretical driver's exam on the first try. Two months later, I finished the necessary lessons and got to drive around on my own.
So 4 months and almost 5000 km later, the time had come to take the practical exam. Man oh man, I was nervous...
Good thing the exam was scheduled in the morning, it's not too hot at that time. Off to the driving school, to pick up the supervisor. We went and practiced the turning and parking maneuvers. Turning wasn't a problem. But I just couldn't get the darn car parked. That did not help with my nerves.
Then we headed to the exam center. Handed over the papers, paid for the exam, and took a seat while trying to get my nerves under control (and failing at that). After a few minutes the examiner came over to me. Time to get started. I'll spare you the details, but I was sweating all through the exam. I got to the exam center and thought I had failed miserably.
Even more so when he said that he wanted to go over the exam with me. He started summing up what I did wrong, and after the second one I was convinced I'd failed and have to come back. But I had only two mistakes and then he told me I passed! On the first try! I stammered 'Really?' and he nodded. My face must have been priceless. Right hand clasped over my mouth, left hand against left cheek, red face and tears in my eyes because I was so relieved. I could have hugged him. It felt as if a ton of bricks just fell off my shoulders.
According to the supervisor from the driving school it really showed that I drove so much. And that really helped. I was worried I failed because I couldn't get the car turned in three moves, but I drive a large car (Ford C-max grand) and had to execute the turn in a small street. They take the size of the car into account.
I am so happy! I passed on the first try! So bye bye learner's permit and hello real driver's license! Yay!

Nervous much?

What made me happy today? Noticing that there are people out there who have the same nervous habits!
Little back-story here: I'm a nervous person. I used to be very nervous for everything, but luckily that has diminished by aging ;-) A lot of things got me nervous, and as an outlet for my nerves I bit my nails. Bit, yes, because I managed to quit. With the help of a lot of chewing gum, liquorice and willpower.
And then came the time I had to start taking driving lessons. I hadn't been that nervous in a while. But instead of biting my nails again, I got a better solution: chewing gum. Helped with the nerves, and kept my nails intact :-)
When driving home today, a car from a driving school passed me in the other direction as I was waiting at a red light. And what did I see? The student driver furiously chewing gum. Made me smile, because it's kind of nice to know you're not alone!

Time saved

What made me happy today? Saving time!
For a little longer than the past 5.5 years I took the bus to work. Environment friendly, yes. But time efficient? Not so much.
Today I drove the car to work for the first time. I reduced my morning commute by half and my evening commute by a third. Which means I'll have ti rush less and have more time for hobbies! Yay :-)

The car

What made me happy today? Driving the car by myself for the first time!
My car came today, and of course I had to take it for a drive. It took some getting used to, but after a while I got the feel for the car and it went great.
I got lucky as well, the roads opened up around nooon. Yes, we had snow again. So I was a bit worried about going for a drive, but it turned out okay.
Kind of exited, as I might drive to work tomorrow instead of taking the bus :-)
Now to figure out how the GPS works...

Ready for take-off!

What made me happy today? It was my last driving lesson!
And because I did a pretty good job I get to pick up my certificate and 'L' from the driving school tomorrow!
So I'm ready to take off on my own, albeit carefully :-)

Vroom vroom

What made me happy today? I had my first practical driving lesson!
Today, I went to the driving school to make an appointment for my first lesson. Much to my surprise they had a spot open in the early afternoon. Well, why wait? So I decided to go ahead and take it. I was there anyway. Oh boy, was I nervous...
But it went well! I had a great instructor who explained everything wery well. He gave me good tips and clearly told me what to do when. Best part was how he relieved my anxiety. I admitted that I was very nervous about learning to drive. His response? He said 'well, I can control the car from my side, so if anything goes wrong I can intervene. If it still goes wrong, you get to beat me up, because that means I didn't see it either'. Made me laugh so hard.
As it turns out, they usually do two or three lessons on the practice terrain (in this case the industrial park in Haasrode) before they take you out on the road. But at the end of the lesson he instructed me to make a left at the next crossing, and then go right. Which meant going out on the road. That's right. He thought I did a good job, so he put me on the road and made me drive home. My palms were very sweaty, but I made it without an accident! Yay!
Learning to drive might be going better than expected. Who knew? Well, I can't wait for my next lesson!

Success

What made me happy today? Passing my theoretical driver's exam. On the first try!
I never really needed a driver's license. I managed to get everywhere with public transportation, friends and/or family. I live within walking distance of the shops, doctor and all other necessary things. I can easily get to my office with the bus. So after putting it of for about 10 years, I decided that it was about time to go and get a learner's permit to learn how to drive a car.
So I found this great website: www.gratisrijbewijsonline.be and started studying. When I felt confident I had a decent grasp on the theory I made a lot of the exams, which I all passed. In order not to put all my eggs in one basket, I also made a bunch of exams on the website of the VAB: www.vab-rijschool.be I passed all of those as well. Time to bite the bullet and go for it, I figured.
I'll admit: I was nervous. I hate exams, I have performance anxiety... But once I got started, it went very well. There were 4 questions you had to answer to familiarise yourself with the system. I got all of them right. That was the moment where my anxiety started to fade and I began to feel more confident. And I passed! When those words appeared on the screen I almost jumped out of my chair with joy. Good thing nobody saw it :-) I must have looked a bit silly. Oh well...
Now all I need to do is find a driving school that feels ok and I can get out on the road. Well, once all this snow melts any way.
People living in and around the Leuven area: consider yourselves warned ;-)