i should have realised that yesterday's lesson was much too good to be true and mentally prepared myself for driving today. of course there were so many indicators that today was going to be a bad day that i don't understand how i managed to keep optimistic.

1st sign:
having decided to take a bus from the red house bus stop instead of the playground one (since red house has 2 buses i can take), i end up walking right smack into the middle of a funeral procession. the dearly departed one was the judge at the huang na case i think. i forget how to spell his name and shall not try to, since i have respect for the dead. i desperately try to avert my gaze from the hearse parked right next to my footpath. it is bad luck to look isn't it?

2nd sign:
i am late for driving and end up taking a cab :(

3rd sign:
my driving instructor wears round gold-rimmed glasses. there is something incredibly creepy about round gold-rimmed glasses on middle-aged men. i immediately think of mr harvey, the hum-sup rapist/murderer in 'the lovely bones' (though i'm not sure whether mr harvey was actually described as wearing such glasses. it's just something i associate with the character).

4th sign:
i get into the car and the first thing mr harvey says is: 你会讲华语吗？

oh dear.

so i say: um, 一点点. (can you imagine him asking me to change gears, filter etc in mandarin???)
mr harvey: 你是什么人？(i was so afraid he was going to preach about knowing your mother tongue)
me: 华人......可是讲英语比较好。:S

thankfully the lesson proceeds in english.

5th sign:
guess what??? we pass a funeral procession.