Email Service Notes 14th September (Eddie)

Original:

I finally passed the second subject of the driving license test yesterday after 2 times failure.

Now it is quite mixed feelings for me. We all know it is kind of hard to get a driver’s license in Shanghai. Because it is so strict that even your slightest mistake will be detected by computer. An accidental stop or touching the marks will shut down your chance immediately.

When I was waiting for my turn, the big screen installed in front of the room monitoring every movement examinees made and also cruelly told us that only 3 people passed out of 11. I was nervous at seeing such a low passing rate thinking about the chances that I became the minority and what I was going to do if I failed the third time. Just take a deep breathe like when you are doing Yoga, I told myself, enjoy the process.

Everything happened so quickly. I even didn’t have time to be nervous and inconfident. I was totally focusing on the steering wheel and the test subjects. When I was done, I just stepped out of the car, pushed the door of waiting room, welcomed by a group of excited people who had already known my success through the monitor. ‘Congratulations. You passed it, only with a small mistake on starting on a hill, but you still passed it. You sweat so heavily.’ ‘yeah’ I said proudly. Then I just went back to the reality and was only to find myself drenched from head to toes and my hands were shaking.

It is quite a unique experience for me. I hadn’t failed so many times on one thing before my life and hadn’t tried so many times on an underachieved goal. Despite there still will be two tests, but now I am definitely more confident.

Edit:

I finally passed the second stage of my driving license * test yesterday after having failed twice before.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. We all know it is considerably hard to get a driver’s license * in Shanghai. The test is so strict that even your slightest mistake will be detected by the computer. An accidental stop or incorrect lane change mean automatic failure.

As I was waiting for my turn, I watched / my eyes were glued to the big screen installed at the front of the room which monitored every movement the examinees made and also cruelly told us that only 3 people passed out of 11. Seeing such a low passing rate made me nervous and got me thinking about what I was going to do if I failed a third time. “Just take a deep breath like when you are doing Yoga“, I told myself, “and enjoy the process“.

Everything happened so quickly. I didn’t even have time to be nervous and hesitant. I was totally focused on the steering wheel and the test subjects. When I was done, I just stepped out of the car, pushed the door of the waiting room, and was welcomed by a group of excited people who already knew I had passed from watching the monitor. “Congratulations. You passed. You did make a small hill start mistake, but you still passed. You‘re sweating buckets.“ “Yeah“ I said proudly. Then I calmed down only to find myself drenched from head to toes, hands shaking.

It was quite a unique experience for me. I hadn’t failed at something so many times before in my life and hadn’t tried so many times on an underachieved goal (what are trying to say here?). Despite there still will be two tests, but now I am definitely more confident. (see options below **)

* Consider choosing one version and use it consistently throughout the text, i.e. either driving licence or driver’s license. Avoid using both in the same piece of writing.

*

1. Despite the fact that I still have to take two more tests, now I am definitely more confident.

2. I still have two tests / stages to pass, but now I am definitely more confident.