Beauty You'll Never Know
I really need to tell you all about the Desk Incident, but it will have to wait for another day, or at least another blog.
Today I spent $35 and a day of vacation--and got a Japanese driver's license!!!
Last time I took the test (see my last post), I drove well but not flawlessly. This time, to the contrary, was a heart-stoppingly perfect performance. I was whipping that car around those corners at 9.8 km/h like you've never seen before! One of the "reasons" I failed last time was because the instructor didn't like my positioning in the lanes--just a little too far toward center on those right turns. This time, I was perfect. Not too close to the line, not too far, just the right trajectory before turning (after ample signaling of course), and boom!--when I hit that new road off the turn, I'm locked into perfect positioning from the get-go--like I were sitting on a German-built track. I didn't know it before today, but when you find that perfect interval-- the "ribbon of heaven," let's call it--on that unrealistic, totally fabricated Japanese course, there is a feeling of euhporia and exhilaration that can't be found anywhere else on this planet. It came upon me all of a sudden, but when I hit that interval, a noise beyond joy nearly burst forth from my lips--wooohoooggggzzzztfthj!!! I think the person in the backseat may have even fainted. On my grade sheet, the instructor's well-formed Kanji turned into a child's giddy, meaningless scribble. I feel completely confident that if Aristotle could've seen how well-positioned I was in those lanes, how perfectly balanced, he would've shouted out involuntarily--"I've seen beauty, alas! And it resides in those intervals!!!!!"--and then fallen over untimely dead (after having been untimely alive).
Yes, I'm joking. I drove fine, but it still wasn't good enough to charge an entrance fee. I was honestly a little afraid I would fail--and that with the light of my eyes crushed by the weight of the injustice, I would pulverize the instructor before coming back to my senses. But he was gracious today. And God was gracious too. I prayed for skill and good favor--and He gave it. Praise God! It really did feel good to get that license.
I also met some very interesting people, including two Catholic priests, one Japanese and one American, and a crazy Brazilian who used to drive without a license--until he got caught. I had lunch with the Brazilian. We talked about how Americans are the preferred (and often honored) minority in Japan, while other foreigners like Brazilians are discriminated against. He said life in Japan is very difficult for him for that very reason and also because it is so opposite from life in Brazil, and that his sole reason for staying longer was money. He also told me he doesn't like Japanese women because he can't figure out what's going on in their heads, and that he doesn't eat the pre-packaged meals from convenience stores, and that he likes most genres of music. He told me a lot of things. What do you expect from a Brazilian?
And that was my day.
Today I spent $35 and a day of vacation--and got a Japanese driver's license!!!
Last time I took the test (see my last post), I drove well but not flawlessly. This time, to the contrary, was a heart-stoppingly perfect performance. I was whipping that car around those corners at 9.8 km/h like you've never seen before! One of the "reasons" I failed last time was because the instructor didn't like my positioning in the lanes--just a little too far toward center on those right turns. This time, I was perfect. Not too close to the line, not too far, just the right trajectory before turning (after ample signaling of course), and boom!--when I hit that new road off the turn, I'm locked into perfect positioning from the get-go--like I were sitting on a German-built track. I didn't know it before today, but when you find that perfect interval-- the "ribbon of heaven," let's call it--on that unrealistic, totally fabricated Japanese course, there is a feeling of euhporia and exhilaration that can't be found anywhere else on this planet. It came upon me all of a sudden, but when I hit that interval, a noise beyond joy nearly burst forth from my lips--wooohoooggggzzzztfthj!!! I think the person in the backseat may have even fainted. On my grade sheet, the instructor's well-formed Kanji turned into a child's giddy, meaningless scribble. I feel completely confident that if Aristotle could've seen how well-positioned I was in those lanes, how perfectly balanced, he would've shouted out involuntarily--"I've seen beauty, alas! And it resides in those intervals!!!!!"--and then fallen over untimely dead (after having been untimely alive).
Yes, I'm joking. I drove fine, but it still wasn't good enough to charge an entrance fee. I was honestly a little afraid I would fail--and that with the light of my eyes crushed by the weight of the injustice, I would pulverize the instructor before coming back to my senses. But he was gracious today. And God was gracious too. I prayed for skill and good favor--and He gave it. Praise God! It really did feel good to get that license.
I also met some very interesting people, including two Catholic priests, one Japanese and one American, and a crazy Brazilian who used to drive without a license--until he got caught. I had lunch with the Brazilian. We talked about how Americans are the preferred (and often honored) minority in Japan, while other foreigners like Brazilians are discriminated against. He said life in Japan is very difficult for him for that very reason and also because it is so opposite from life in Brazil, and that his sole reason for staying longer was money. He also told me he doesn't like Japanese women because he can't figure out what's going on in their heads, and that he doesn't eat the pre-packaged meals from convenience stores, and that he likes most genres of music. He told me a lot of things. What do you expect from a Brazilian?
And that was my day.
posted by Peter Rice at 1:16 AM
1 Comments:
Congratulations!
jodad
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