IN A NUTSHELL: I PASSED!
Sinister Soccer Ball
I was early, so I decided to walk the course, just for fun, even though
I can do the course in my sleep and even though it was a bit hot outside.
I saw the funniest thing! Next to the crosswalk (among the fake people statues)
was a funny metal box with an antennae on top.
I couldn't figure out what it was, so I took a closer look. Through a slit,
I could see that a soccer ball was inside. Why would there be a soccer ball
inside a metal box with an antennae next to a crosswalk in the middle
of a closed driving course? Ah ha! I bet a tester could press a secret button
and make the soccer ball roll right out onto the crosswalk and
thereby proving the driver is going too fast. Evil, but clever! I know
where I'm hitting the brakes this time around.
A Line? There was a line at the gaijin window
when I got back. A LINE! I mean, they can only take three foreigners and it
kind of looked like there were already three. I got a bit nervous wondering if,
even though I had a reservation, was it still first-come first-serve?
However, I had no problems when I reached the window. This time I "asked" if they needed
this random sheet that one of the driving schools gave me. Mostly I just
wanted to show them I had one. They did not need it. The guy told me to wait on the course. I did, but
no one came down after me. None of the other foreigners. I was a little worried.
When the tester came, however, he said that it was only me today. All the
others must have been turned away, or maybe they did not need to take the practical
test and just needed to convert their licenses.
The Test My tester was the same one who processed
my application and he (gasp) tried to speak English
to me. English! That's a first. I suspect that he was too busy trying to
speak English to notice my mistakes. However, I could not say I had any mistakes.
I drove a bit rough with the unfamiliar clutch (I don't know why I drove so smooth
last time) but I made no mistakes that I knew of even though I noticed him make
two marks that looked like Xs during my trip, one in the same place as another tester.
At the end, I waited, but he said nothing to improve. He just said "Go-kuro-sama deshita"
which doesn't translate, but it is something you say to someone if they are leaving,
especally coworkers. I then forgot to look both ways before I opened the door,
but sort of did after that. Then I slowly walked back up to the waiting area.
Could It Be? Could it be?
Woo hoo! When he called me in for an eye test, I
knew I'd passed. Woo hoo, said I. The eye test was funny as we were both using both
English and Japanese and I had to make sure I did not get my left and right mixed up.
After some waiting, he made sure of the katakana of my name then I waited some more.
While I was waiting, I saw a mother with a cute kid. I think she had a foreign husband. She
was speaking to the kid in alternate English and Japanese. I think that will just
confuse the kid, but it was still cute.
He took my photo then I waited. I saw the Japanese testers come out and they
had to wait for their number to appear on a board to know if they passed. Then
they all lined up in front of the photo machine one after another.
Wow, I'm getting special treatment here. He's doing my license special.
Then I paid 1,750 yen then I waited.
THEN I GOT MY LICENSE!
Official License!
Dorama I was watching a Japanese drama (after
mailing and calling every person I know in the universe to tell them about
my license - including Nishida and Tomomi) and there was a surprise party. After saying surprise, there was
immediately an opening speech. That's just boring. Surprise parties are chaos
and that's why they're fun.
