Driving in Japan, pt 2

We last left off with the uncertainty of why exactly my American driver's license was good for only 3 years and roughly 7 months, when the Michigan driver's license rule book translated into Japanese CLEARLY states that Michigan driver's licenses are good for 4 years. Apparently, they decided I wasn't lying about my license or decided they just didn't care anymore, because they called my company and told them I passed my interview. Hooray! They made an appointment for me to take my written and practical driving exams, and that special day was today! The driving center only gives driving tests on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, or maybe only foreigners can test on those days, I don't know. I do know I had to leave my school halfway through to go take this test.

I arrived at the center to find my fellow ALT Ryan and our IC (i.e. translator, helper, all things awesome) Inoue-san. We went up to the second floor where we waited until it was exactly 1pm, when the office windows opened. We were informed we didn't have what we needed after all, so we got to go back down to the first floor and pay 2200 yen for the test,  and get our pictures taken in a little photobooth for 700yen. With our new papers and our tiny photos in hand, we got to go back upstairs and hand everything over. Then we were told to wait and they would give us our written tests in English.

Ryan and Inoue-san

Ryan and I got to take the test at the same time, at the same little table I had had my fun filled interview at the week before. The test was 10 maru batsu (O X, or true false) questions. Ryan had test booklet A and I had test booklet E, so we couldn't cheat. The English was a little special, and I felt like some of the questions were trick questions. For example, one question I had was: "It's illegal to go over 60 KMH on all roads other than expressways unless clearly marked by a maximum speed limit sign." Personally, I was thinking, well, yeah, you should go the speed limit, and I high doubt the speed limit is higher than 60 KMH unless you are on a highway... So I was thinking true. But then I thought, what if they want me to say "false, BECAUSE you should go the speed limit, not just under 60." These are the kind of problems I have, I second guess myself. I finished first and got sent back out into the hall to wait. Ryan came out a few minutes later and we waited for our results talking about the questions. To pass the written exam, you must get at least 7 answers correct. Neither Ryan or I were feel particularly secure. However, when they called us up to tell us our scores, we both got perfect 10s. Hooray!

After successfully passing our written tests, we got to take an eye test. The first part was which way does the C open, and then what color is showing. Ryan's color blind, so I was a little worried for him, but it was just red, yellow, and blue. (They have blue lights here, not green lights. Don't even get me started.) After we passed those, we were given maps of the course we were going to drive. On the course, there are 4 different routes to take, and today's route was the D route. The instructor told us that our packets had all the routes, so if we failed, we could take them home and study them all.

D course. We're gonna be all over that course

Let me interject here that no one I know of passes the driving test on the first try. Most people are either 2nd or 3rd. Sometimes it's 6. Apparently, when one of my fellow ALTs took theirs, there was a Chinese person there for their 18th try. So yeah, I wasn't really expecting to pass, but you can never stop that little blind hope that maybe it could happen to you, you'll be the one person to pass in 1 go! If and when you fail, you can set up an appointment to take the test again the following week. Only 1 driving test per week allowed.

Anyhoo, we got our maps and were told our driving order, and then got to go look out over the course to see what we were in for and to try and memorize the course. (Hah!)

The actual course

A Brazilian woman was driving first, and this was her second attempt to pass. Ryan was driving second, and I was driving third. Ryan got to sit in the backseat while the Brazilian woman drove, and I sat in the back while he drove. When I drove, the Brazilian woman sat in the back, just in case she didn't pass.

The course has different sections, a working traffic light, construction areas, and the crank and s turn section. Lots of places to turn, changes lanes, get confused, fail. Excellent.

Ryan went first and seemed to be doing really well, until he rolled through a stop sign. Instant fail, but the instructor let him finish the course to see what it was like for next time. Then it was my turn. I was super nervous, especially due to the lack of Japanese knowledge I have. I feel like I started off fine, and was going along, when the instructor gave me the next set of instructions it had a word I didn't know. I was thinking to myself what does that mean, and try to figure out when he stopped me and told me I just failed. I was like "say wha?" I had just turned into oncoming traffic. Woops! I'm pretty good about driving on the left side of the road when there's other cars and people around. It's really obvious to me what side of the road I should be on. But, then the road is completely empty with no signs, no people, and 5 lanes, I just reverted back to my American instincts. Sigh. He let me finish the course anyway, but I have to try again.

Afterward, he told us all how we did. The Brazilian woman passed, Ryan did perfect except for his stop sign, and I need to stay farther left or right depending on which direction I'm turning, make tighter turns, and not turn so fast. Although I must say, for that last part, the Japanese driving system is totally crazy. In America, I was taught to accelerate midterm, so the back of my car doesn't get slammed into by the people behind me. Makes sense, get out of the way. Here, it seems to be a contest of who can turn the slowest. I have almost rear ended ridiculously slow turners numerous times. It's just plain wrong. However, I want to pass and get my driver's license so I guess next time I'll be going at a snails pace. >.<  We'll see how that goes.