駕照 Driving License (III)

我的步調並沒有因為筆試過關而快了起來。報名當初的錯，就是馬上要求駕訓班幫忙代辦學習駕照，原本以為自己會馬上開始努力練車，卻沒想到那時看來遙遙無期的理論考試，讓我有了「反正沒有那麼快要考路考」的心態，車子也是愛練不練的…
I didn’t speed up after I passed the written exam. The “original mistake” I made was to ask the driving school to get my driving permit done, thinking that I would start to practice immediately. However, by that time I didn’t really know when I’d pass the theory exam and I always thought “it’s anyway not yet time for driving exam”, so I wasn’t really too enthusiastic about my practice.

筆試一過，我緊張了起來。算起來學習駕照大概還有兩個月左右的效期，不過中間又卡個匈牙利旅行，又遇上大家開始陸續度假的時間，炎炎夏日也讓人發懶，兩個月的時間就這麼一溜煙地過去了。
After I passed the exam, I started to get a bit nervous. The driving permit would be expired in about two months. But we’ve got a trip to Hungary in the middle and it’s also vacation time, which means everything is slowing down. I was also feeling lazy due to the hot weather. Time flied. Two months were gone.

學習駕照到期，我硬著頭皮去駕訓班又繳了一百多歐元，辦了第二張。那時辦事人員本來有問我，要不要試著考一次看看？試考？開什麼玩笑，我連換檔都還不太順呢！筆試通過以後只有兩次路考機會，我可不想為了練習就這麼浪費掉一次。
The driving permit was expired and I just had to go to the driving school to get my second driving permit, which cost me more than a hundred bucks! I was asked if I would like to “try” to take the exam and see if I’d pass. She must be kidding! I was still having problem changing from one gear to another. Every person will have only two chances after she/he passes the theory exam, and I wouldn’t waste it just for “practice”!

辦了第二張學習駕照，我就開始認真的嗎？答案當然是沒有。稿子趕得如火如荼，炎夏熱得我寧可在家看電腦也不願意出去頂著大太陽練車。等到天氣宜人了些，我卻又回了台灣一趟，這拖功可是了得。
So, I started to get more serious after I got the second driving permit? Of course not! I was busy with my work, and the weather was so hot that I’d rather stay home in front of the computer. When the weather started to get more agreeable, I went back to Taiwan for a month. Guess I just didn’t want to do it and tried my best to postpone it as much as possible.

不過話說回來，這期間練車次數雖少，卻也讓我逐漸意識到之前在台灣用駕訓班的爛車子練車所留下的後遺症。駕訓班的老爺車，讓我習慣了換檔時得快速把離合器放開（不然會熄火），等到我開始開「一般的正常車」，換檔時也理所當然地迅速把離合器放開，車子自然也就一頓一頓地走。一開始我還沒有意識到問題到底在哪裡，等到過了幾個月上手以後，逐漸抓到了離合器和油門踩放的時間點，才猛然發現問題之所在。
In any case, even though I didn’t practice too much, I still got to realize what kind of strange habits I’ve picked up when I was driving the old car in the driving school in Taiwan. The very car I used in Taiwan is really an old one. When I change the gear, I have to let go the clutch really fast otherwise it would die. So when I started to drive “normal car”, I automatically let go the clutch soon after I change the gear. You just imagine how it’s like if you’re the one in the car. At the beginning I didn’t really realize where the problem was, but after a few months I gradually got to feel the balance between the clutch and accelerator and the timing of it. Thinking back, I then discovered what the problem was.