License conversion, take 5.5

After my last unsatisfying trip to Fukushima City, I decided to book an appointment at a local driving school to figure out exactly what I was doing wrong that was causing me to fail all these times. I know that the proctors are absolutely brutal, but I wanted to see for myself exactly what I was subconsciously doing that could cause me to fail. The University of Aizu is across the street from not one, but two driving schools. I booked an appointment for today at Ougimachi Driving School, which is two days before the next [and probably not final] installment of the "license conversion" series. I had 50 minutes with the instructor; it was 5400 yen for the session.

Naoki went we me earlier this week to fill out the initial documents, but was unable to come with me today. Although my Japanese is still terrible, I was able to communicate with and understand the instructor, who was very friendly and helpful. I showed him the notes that I had and explained to him my issues with "controlling the car." We walked over to the car together, which was a Nissan Tiida (Versa) and did a safety check together before he started it up. He then took me out on the course that we would run, and then we swapped seats and I gave it a go. I was pretty nervous about the whole driving test and made the occasional careless mistake, such as forgetting to shift into gear when setting off, or stalling at the light. (Fun fact, I am allowed one stall during the actual test.)

The layout here was much smaller than in Fukushima, but it still had all the proper obstacles.

As it turned out, he believed that I was doing the safety checks properly. (Wow, what a surprise. /s) However, he noticed that I have a habit of riding the clutch when slowing down or coasting. Apparently, that costs you points when you do that. I'm supposed to stay off the clutch except to shift or when I am coming to a stop. (I can, however, ride the clutch in the crank and S-curve, provided I stay in low gear.) He walked me through the process of how the downshift should be done. First, I have to pump the brakes a few times to get my speed down. (I can't use the clutch just yet.) Then, once I'm down to the right speed, I can shift into a lower gear. Other than that, stay off the clutch. Upshifts were fine as they were; just shift.

Plus, while on the track today, I went through a few turns too fast (~20-25 km/h) for the instructor's liking. He told me that taking a turn too fast is an automatic failure, so I have to be careful. Other than that, and the occasional careless mistake, there were no issues with my completion of the course. I ran the entire course four times, and finished up just as the session was over. By the end, I was nailing the downshift. I then took my feedback form (which actually said the issues that I was having) and turned it in at the front desk.

I decided after that to get a drink and a snack after the session and then practice the "proper" way of downshifting. I went up on Fukushima Prefecture Route 69 towards Hirota, turned around at the train station, and then took the side roads back to campus. The clutch in the Tiida was like the Crown in Fukushima: quite loose. It felt easier to do the proper downshifting technique in the Tiida than in Tackawanna. However, once I started do it, it felt a lot more natural and less awkward. (My leg was aching by the end, which means that it must be working.)

I now have a better idea of what to do. Let's see how this helps [or hurts] me on Tuesday.

-wp