It's been a few weeks since I started going to driving school here in Japan.

I'm definitely getting more confident,

and today, I finally get to head out on the public roads for the first time.

- Hey guys.

Good news!

I got my Learner's Permit in just under two weeks.

It was really intense.

I came to school for four hours a day everyday

and then I took the test and I passed.

I'm really excited.

With this, I can actually go on the road

which is great.

I'm really happy to get outside of the school

because after 12 hours of going around in circles,

you start to go a little bit steer crazy.

So today, with Yamaguchi-sensei,

we're gonna head out on the road

and we're going to encounter the dangers

of everyday life driving.

I'm so nervous.

I'm so excited.

(speaking in foreign language)

Okay!

(upbeat rock music)

(speaking in foreign language)

So before I can graduate, I have to take a driving test

and one more written test

and the driving test will be one of four courses.

There are four courses throughout the city

that we have to practice and then on the day of the test,

one of those courses, I don't get to choose which one,

will be chosen at random and then I'll have to drive it.

So today, we're gonna practice one of the driving courses

that I need to be able to know

for the graduation exam and I'm really nervous

'cause we're all just scary.

People are scary.

You can't predict what other people are thinking

or what they're gonna do so,

I don't know, I'm gonna try my best

and hope that we don't die.

(upbeat rock music)

(speaking in foreign language)

(relaxing music)

Hey guys, how's it going?

So a few people had some questions in the last video

and they wanted to know if I was taking courses

in English or Japanese and if I'm going to take

the test in English or Japanese.

And I've decided to take them in English.

I would love to challenge myself.

I would love to challenge myself in this setting

and try to do everything completely in Japanese

but the problem is, and I think that this is universal,

I think that this is the problem with every driving test

all over the world.

The wording in some of these questions

is just so convoluted and strange that I feel like

this isn't about proving my Japanese language ability,

it's about proving my ability to drive.

And instead of studying grammar and struggling to understand

these questions that are meant

to be really hard to understand,

I'd rather just focus on the driving.

I don't have time for this, I'm getting old.

Now to explain why it's tricky,

I think you kinda have to have a understanding

of both languages.

For example, the very first thing that we learned

in the school is that a kuruma and a jidousha

are different things which is hard for me

because as a foreigner, I was taught that kuruma equals car.

How do you say car in Japanese?

Oh, you say kuruma.

It's been ingrained in my mind that kuruma is car

and like, that's the word.

But actually, the correct word for a car is jidousha.

A jidousha is like an automobile.

A kuruma can actually be anything with wheels that move.

So it could be a bicycle, it could be a tractor,

it could be a motorcycle.

Any of those are technically a vehicle, kuruma.

So, for example, to give you an idea

of how difficult these questions can be,

say they give you a photo of this sign

and underneath is a true of false statement that says,

(speaking in foreign language)

This would actually be wrong

with the correct statement being,

(speaking in foreign language)

and the difference here is that a kuruma

can be any vehicle where a jidousha is definitely

100% only a car.

The other thing I have trouble with

and I don't think this will apply to everyone

but I have always had trouble figuring out

my lefts and my rights.

And in English, I can say, oh, left is the L hand

and right is the hand that you write with.

Now I might just be really stupid

but whenever someone shouts to me to turn left

or turn right, I always take a few seconds

to confirm with myself, okay, left, right.

Hidari, migi.

But when it comes to driving,

and this is kind of frustrating,

they don't use left and right,

they use the words usetsu and sasetsu.

Usetsu and sasetsu.

It's just I have a hard enough time

determining my lefts and my rights as it is

so when we throw in a completely different word

just for driving it's,

I can't do it.

The good news is I do find this super helpful.

At school, they have English tests.

These are all questions I've gotten wrong by the way.

These are all questions that I've gotten wrong.

I write notes everywhere.

I write notes everywhere because I don't wanna fail.

I don't handle failure well

and a lot of you guys talked about

how driving gives you extreme anxiety

and am also one of those people

who can cry really, really easily

I really don't wanna put myself in a situation

where I am gonna cry in front of everyone

and it's gonna get embarrassing

so I really wanna pass.

I'll be taking actually my final pretty soon

and I am really nervous so my plan is just

until that day, until the final test,

I am going to study meticulously.

I don't know man, I hope it goes well.

Okay guys,

wish me luck.

Pretty sure when test time comes around,

I'm gonna forget everything.

I hope I studied enough.

(relaxed music)

Okay, we just finished the test

and it was a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be.

There are a lot of questions I wasn't prepared for

and I'm not confident that I passed this time.

We're just waiting for the results now.

(bell rings)

I hope my number will be called but if not,

I mean, it's not the end of the world.

There are a few questions I should've brushed up on anyways.

I left this whole week open so I can come back

just in case I did fail so it's not a big deal.

(announcing in foreign language)

(upbeat music)