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Hey everyone! I feel like I need to post a little update on what's been going these past few months! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know I've been regularly doing driving lessons and the last update I gave was that I had booked my driving test. Well... I failed, but you know it's all a learning curve. What frustrates me though is that I failed on something so stupid. I was pulling out of a side road and there was a car approaching slowly towards me (there was plenty of space for me to pull out, and it was completely safe as I wouldn't have gone otherwise), and the invigilator slammed on the brakes and told me I wouldn't have made it out in time if I had of fully pulled out- I disagree, but they know best!! *cue sarcasm* So yeah I failed but you can't pass everything first time, and I now know what to expect the next time I do my test- I have no clue yet when that will be, due to tonnes of uni work but I'll let you know. I've settled into uni again after having some time off at Christmas! This term is definitely the most hectic out of my two years at uni so far! I have quite a few assignments left, but at least I don't have to go in for lectures after the Easter holidays- wooo start of summer!!! I also am going to be doing some volunteering at my secondary school soon which is going to be so much fun! I will helping the English department out with some linguistic things (which is what I do at uni for those who don't know, so it's worked out really well!). I am slightly nervous as it will be in front of sixth formers, but what's the worst that could happen?!! And I still have plenty of time to prepare myself so that's reassuring. If you haven't read my previous blogs, I'm off to Disneyland Paris in April to celebrate my brother's birthday!!! We are super excited and it will be lovely to spend some time with dad at my favourite place! Also, in regards to disney (yes I know I mention it A LOT on my blog) I started a little Instagram to display all my disney pictures!! I never would have thought it would be loved and supported by so many people in the Disney community, and it honestly makes me incredibly happy! They are all so supportive and kind to everyone and it's lovely to see especially in the world we live in at the moment. I get to live through everyone's pictures and videos which is great for when I've got the Disney blues!!! If you would like to have a little noisy here's my Disney Instagram: @_tangledindisney I hope everyone is doing well and I cannot believe I've been posting regularly since September!! I'm so glad I've been able to stick it- let's hope I keep it up!! Stay tuned for another post soon and make sure you keep up to date with my social medias!! Lidia xx My social medias:
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I feel like I haven’t done a driving update in so long!! Here’s another one for you.. This week’s driving lesson went really well… he said it was my best lesson so far which was a complete surprise! Whenever I drive I always think “oh I should have done that better” or “that went really badly” but he thought I did a great job this week! So watch out everyone, I'll be passing in no time ;) This week we mainly focused on manoeuvres, so I did a parallel park which went really well, and he introduced me to a new one which is on the new tests.1 I was very surprised when he told me to pull over on the other side of the road (in a residential area, not on a main road thankfully), straighten up, then reverse back so I was a good distance away from the car behind. I was thinking “surely it can’t be just that?” But it really was, and once I finished it he said that was the best he’s seen any student do it so far! I didn’t find it difficult which is good, and he said that new manoeuvre is replacing reversing around the corner which is amazing, because I found that quite challenging!! He said my driving was great as he didn’t need to tell me what to do, only to give me directions. He basically just there for an hour whilst I drove around my area. I’m so glad I’m getting the hand of it and everything is falling into place. By the time my practical test comes round I should definitely be ready! When I do pass, I will miss driving lessons seeing as I’ve been doing it on and off for two years at the moment- can’t believe it’s been that long! Lidia xx Check out my Social Media:
Now that I passed my theory, I had a mock test for driving on Wednesday and let me tell you...I did mess up a few times. Bear in mind this was my first one.
It was pretty nerve racking (still can't believe I'm nearly on my way to completing my driving) but all in all I didn't do that badly- I did pick up a few minors that I know I shouldn't do, but the thing is when I'm on a normal driving lesson I don't do most of those things so maybe it was my nerves getting the better of me? All the things he pulled me up on, are things I know are wrong and I know how to correct them! I'm so hard on myself because I know I can do better and I know most of the time I don't make those mistakes! When I got home I was so annoyed at myself for doing silly mistakes but after speaking to my mum and my friends I realised that it really didn't matter if I messed this up. It was only a practice run and the whole point of it was to see my errors and know that I can change them; not to make me feel bad and think I can't drive! As well as making me realise my mistakes and where I need to improve, it's made me realise it's okay to have mistakes and to mess up here and there because it's only a practice-it's not the real thing (it would be a completely different story if was haha)!! That's the whole point of doing mock tests!! I do feel such an idiot when I look back I see that it's really not a big deal, because it's only a practice. Why am I always hard on myself?!?
After two years of putting it off I finally did it. It was very nerve racking as I did it for the first time about a month ago, and failed by one mark (how annoying). I was upset and annoyed at myself because I knew I could it, but I dusted myself off and booked in for another one month later. And here I am!!!
I feel like the theory test this time round went a lot smoothly and I felt more relaxed and calm than the first time. I knew how everything was going to be, what I needed to do, whereas the first time I was nervous about everything- where do I go to sign in, where do I leave my stuff etc. I was worrying about little things which is probably why I failed- I was o stressed out. But that’s alright!! There’s so many people out there (on social media and in real life) who go on about failure and how it's such a bad thing, but it really isn’t- if you fail you fail, it's not the end of world. For me, failing the first time taught me that it's ok to not do everything first time around and that’s part of life- there’s no use stressing over things like theory tests when there’s worse things happening in the world!! Yes I am kicking myself that I can’t say “I passed my theory test first time”, but who cares? I did it and that’s all that matters!! Now that I’ve done it, my instructor wants me to book my driving test!! He says I’m nearly ready and because there’s about a five week wait, I will be ready to do it when the test comes around. It’s a bit scary as it is all happening so fast now. I can’t believe I’m close to completing driving. I hope it doesn’t take me ages to pass my driving test- but at the end of the day it’s not worth stressing about. I’ll post more driving updates about how I get on- especially as I’m so close to the finishing line now. Also, I’m doing my first mock test on Wednesday which will be interesting, so I’ll let you know how it goes!! -Have you started driving lessons? Have you passed your theory test and/or driving test? what was it like? Okay I know it's been crazy while since I last uploaded a post, but I wanted to give an update on how my driving lessons are going at the minute.
I've had five lessons so far, and my sixth will be on Wednesday, and I can say I am absolutely loving them! After everything that had happened last time I took to driving lessons, I am finally enjoying them (if you don't know what I'm on about read my previous post). The first lesson he wanted me getting used to the gears and roundabouts( because I dreaded them!), so he took me around where I lived as well as taking me on roads with a 40, 50 and 60mph speed limits- which was very nerve racking because I hadn't been in the drivers seat in nearly two years!!! As the lessons went on I've discovered things which I am naturally good at, like parallel parking three-point turns, roundabouts and changing up gears, as well as things I need more practice on; for example reversing round corners, bay parking, and occasionally changing down gears... oh and checking my mirrors that is a big one!!! When I say 'occasionally' changing down gears I mean when I'm coming up to a junction or roundabout, and I have to judge whether I can change from 2nd to 1st or if I can continue in 2nd slowing down my speed. This will come in time, my instructor said as I need time to adjust being behind the wheel again after so long. Bay parking I have always struggled with, which is no surprise and reversing round a corner was one I hadn't practiced before I stopped late 2015. My recent lesson was my best according to my instructor, as we practiced parallel parking again and again- every time I did it I was spot on. I always thought I wasn't good at this parking technique, but apparently I'm a natural! My confidence has definitely grown whilst pursuing lessons again, I can't believe how low it was when stopped doing lessons two years ago. I also have my theory test soon which is crazy as it seemed only yesterday since I booked it! I've been really cracking down and revising using the theory app on my phone. The mock tests I've done so far have been good, with results of 46/50 for the multiple choice which is a solid pass (43/50 is the pass rate). The hazard perception is more struggling, hopefully between now and my test I can improve. I am slightly nervous for the test but not as nervous as I thought. I will update on how I go on, if I fail I fail as long as I've tried my hardest. If I pass I'll be a happy bunny then I can concentrate on my practical test!! Yes, I've finally gathered the courage. Booked my theory test.
If you are wondering the meaning behind the two year wait, let me inform you. August 2015 was when I first started driving lessons. I was so excited plus slightly nervous to start this new challenge. However what I didn't realise was how wrong I was to use that particular driving school. I only did three hours with this particular school, and I hated it not going to lie; I felt uncomfortable being in the car with him, I didn't have confidence behind the wheel, plus he was so unreliable and kept cancelling on me at the last minute. So I decided to stop with that school and continue to look for another, I was still optimistic about driving however. A few weeks went by and I had finally found a better driving school (or what I thoughts better, yes you know what's coming). I had about 15-20 hours with this school and throughout most of the lessons it was going smoothly. However, it wasn't until the start of November I would say, that I started to not enjoy it as much. I became unwell on one of the lessons I had booked, and I could only let the woman know on the day because I hadn't known I couldn't make it until I zomited everywhere during the early hours of the morning. This didn't bow well with the instructor and she insisted I were to pay for the lesson, however I refused to as I was unaware I would be ill (she however couldn't understand). May I add on several occasions she cancelled half an hour before my lesson started, or even turning up an hour early and saying that I needed to drop previous students off home. The next lesson came and I was dreading it. She made me very uncomfortable, by constantly phoning the head office and telling them I hadn't paid whilst asking me to speak to my mum (who was at work at the time). She and the head office became quite aggressive towards myself and my mum, so we refused not to pay for the lesson further whilst saying we weren't going to continue with anymore lessons. After that they no longer contacted us, so I was longer driving. These two experiences really made me feel like I couldn't trust driving instructors again. I had no confidence to get back in the driving seat again. Plus during this time I was doing A levels so I wanted to focus more on my studies. Nearly two years later I now feel I have enough confidence to get back behind the wheel, which has made me just book another lesson today with a different school- I have had a few friends who have had good experiences with the school as well as passing tests. As well as that I have booked my theory test for the end of September!!! If you know me, you'll that I'm not worried about the driving test itself, more the theory test for some reason so this is big deal for me! My first lesson is in a few weeks and for once I'm actually excited to start driving again!! Fingers crossed everything will go smoothly this time around- third time lucky aye! I'm going to keep updates on here of how my driving journey is going so keep looking back for more posts!!! |
Hi I'm Lidia, a 21 year old English graduate from the UK. Blogger of all things lifestyle, disney, reviews and travel.let's get social:Categories
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