The Driver's License Saga: Post II

Yesterday I got my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn and headed down the licensing bureau.

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I was finished with this by 8:40. Then I sat down. Japan is not big on air conditioning, but this place was cooled like a meat locker. I was wearing a suit and I had goose bumps. I actually put my raincoat on to keep warm.

The other foreigners I'd queued up with were finished by 10:00 at the latest. I wasn't called again until 11:30. ( What exactly had taken so long?  )

( And then came the whopper. )

The woman sent me back to the waiting area. I gunned down two PET bottles out of sheer nervousness and frustration. Meanwhile, over fifty Japanese test takers got their results back; most of them seemed to have passed.

Finally, I was called back to the front. They'd taken pity on me and decided to let me take the paper test. Eureka!

I went upstairs for the test, which took all of three minutes and seemed to test more for basic brain function than knowledge of road rules. (Sample question out of ten: Is it okay to take sleeping pills before driving if they won't affect my performance?)

I passed, then it was on to the eye test and then to sign up for driving school.

So, the damage please:

Transport to and from the DMV: $4.80(2) = $9.60
Paper test fee: $24.00
ID photo fee: $1.50 x two pictures = $3.00
Driving school registration fee: $30.00
Cost of four hours of driving school: $235.00
Incidental beverages: $3.80
subtotal: $305.40

+ previous expenses ($43.50)


= $348.90

Driving school is an entry all of its own; more on that later.

That will be all.