Good day, fellow blog readers. I haven’t written a post this week because (as I’m sure most of you know) Ian and I have been in the city attempting to get our Japanese driver’s license. I’ve still got to write about last week and this past weekend (both of which were great!) but now I want to write about something that is fresh on my mind. Also, writing it down is cathartic. Even though I want to cry/scream/set the Menkyo Center (Japanese DMV) on fire/take the next flight home, etc when I think about the driver’s license process, writing about it is a way for me to deal with the ridiculousness of it all. 
I burned through two days of vacation on Monday and Tuesday attempting to get my license (yep, VACATION DAYS). Ian and I drove up on Sunday night and stayed at Rebeca’s house. She lives in Nishihara, a very easy twenty minute drive from the Menkyo Center. We had to be there by 9:30 that morning so that Ian could do his paperwork and take the written test since he couldn’t last time. This time for his proof of residency, he had one of his previous employers write a letter stating the dates that he worked there. They ALMOST didn’t accept it, though. 
Once he got through the paperwork, he took his vision and written test. After he came back from the testing rooms, he told me “You’d seriously have to be blind and just stupid to not pass either of those tests.” I agree!!! 
The course that day was course one. We both walked the course during the lunch break, memorizing it, mentally telling ourselves where we should turn on blinkers, remembering the procedures for the crank and S-curve. I felt less nervous that day but still pretty anxious. There were three other people taking it with us, one other ALT, Joel, a young Japanese girl, and some Vietnamese guy. The driving instructors split Ian and I up to avoid the confusion of there being two Reed-sans. In my car was Joel, the Vietnamese guy, and me. The guys went first, and I had to wait and watch. That period of waiting was really stressful. Even now as I’m reflecting on my emotions at the time, I’m feeling anxiety. First up was the Vietnamese guy in my car and the Japanese girl in Ian’s car. My gosh……to watch both of them take the test was PAINFUL. I’ve learned to notice the ridiculous things that the instructors pay attention to, like not hugging the curb and could tell that they weren’t going to pass. The girl curbed it going into the S-curve (automatic failure), and the guy ran the red light. They let me ride in the car when Joel took his test and then we switched seats. My palms started sweating at this part. I thought that I had done a decent job with the test and feeling pretty good once I got out of the car.
Ian was already waiting for us back in the cubical area where they tell you the results. He knew that he hadn’t passed because he had crossed the center line. He said that all was going well, but then he had a brain fart and tried to drive on the right side of the road like we do in the States. (This is how stressful it is! You forget silly common sense stuff like driving on LEFT side of the road!)
The Vietnamese guy got his results first: failure. Joel was second: even though he messed up once or twice, he passed. Good for him! I was last: failure. This time the guy told me that I checked my mirrors TOO much and wasn’t hugging the curb enough. I didn’t think I would cry again, but I did. It’s just so disappointing to think that you did a good job on something only to have someone come back and tell you that you failed! 
It was even more embarrassing this time because the other two guys were sitting there watching me bawl like a baby. The Vietnamese guy was sweet and offered me a piece of gum. We had to fill out a bit more paperwork and then got the heck out of there. (I’m pretty sure that there is a perpetual cloud that hangs over the Menkyo Center. Each time I’ve been there, the weather has been crappy. I don’t believe that the sun EVER shines there.)
Our bad luck wasn’t quite over yet. Last week we found out that Ian didn’t have the proper paperwork for his job, so we had to go to the Immigration Office in the city to sort it out. Since Ian is here on a dependent visa, he’s allowed to work up to twenty-eight hours per week without a work permit. That’s no big deal because he works less than that, so we thought he was okay. His employer didn’t say anything about additional paperwork, so we assumed all was right in the world. Nope. Ian has to get “permission” from the Japanese government to work. After waiting in cross-town traffic for an hour, we were told at Immigration that the paperwork wasn’t complete and that he needed to go to his employer and get a contract stating the dates that he would work. Luckily Ian’s employer’s office is just a block away from the Immigration Office, so we walked there.
His boss, who is a very nice guy, said something like “Oops. Yeah, we should have made you fill out that paperwork. Our bad.” 
He printed off a contract and gave Ian another paper to take back to Immigration. The bright spot of all of this was that I got to meet Ian’s co-workers. His boss is very nice, and the other two co-workers seemed so incredibly happy to have Ian working with them. Nishiki would be quite a distance for them to drive to teach these classes, and Ian is always willing to do more work when they ask him to. One of the ladies in the office spoke fluent English AND Spanish and tried to speak with me in Spanish. It was a COMPLETE brain scramble for me to speak SPANISH to a JAPANESE lady. 
The words coming out of my mouth were this hybrid Spanish/Japanese/English combination. It seriously hurt my brain.
We drove to the mall to do a little aimless wandering/souvenir shopping to kill time before dinner. We found a great tea shop and were browsing through the teas when the clerk asked us if we wanted to try some of the tea. Most of it was green tea (which I think tastes like boiled grass ), but she offered us this green tea that was cold and sweet. It was actually really good!! Without giving away too many details, I will say that we bought a few things in that store for one lucky member of our family. 
Our plans that night were to meet Rebeca and Yuusuke at Reef Burger, but our bad luck seemed to follow us even there. It was closed. The owner had left a note on the door saying that he was taking a catering delivery that night. I felt bad for Rebeca and Yuusuke because they drove about forty-five minutes out of their way to get there only for it to be closed. We went to a sushi conveyer belt restaurant close to Reef Burger. While I’m not a big fan of sushi, the restaurant was pretty cool. If you ordered something, it was delivered on this express conveyer belt by a sliding horse thing. It was awesome.
Day two at the Menkyo Center didn’t prove to be much better. This is how much stress is placed on me to get my license: I’m finding gray hairs in my head, several pimples have formed little red dots on my face, and (bonus!) I have a fever blister. Ugh. We didn’t have to be there until 11:30 since all of our paperwork was taken care of. Before we walked the course at lunch, I went to the bathroom where I got a total and complete stare down by some lady. I’m not sure who she was or if she was slow, but she was STARING at me like the little kids do. I wanted to tell her to take a picture so that it would last longer.
The Vietnamese guy from the previous day was back again, and we talked to him a bit, saying how ridiculous this whole process is and what we’d have to do to pass. He told us that that day was his SIXTH attempt and that if he doesn’t pass by the end of this week, his job would make him move.
It was just the three of us taking the test that day, and I was first. I really thought that everything was going well. I was putting on my blinker in the right spots, checking my blind spots, and everything else….until I curbed it ever so slightly coming out of the crank. I felt the car go up on the curb, and before I could stop and back up off the curb, the car was already off. It was barely even on the curb. However, that was automatic failure. It was like my world crumbled at that moment. I KNEW I had failed, and it was COMPLETELY my fault. Once again, I couldn’t control it, and started bawling in the car. I think the instructor felt bad, but he killed the engine and told me to return to the parking area. I was in tears when I got out of the car. I was angry at myself. It’s one thing to do a good job and then be told that you failed, but to know that I actually DID screw up devastated me.
Back in the cubical area, the guy was nice but politely told us the results of all three driving tests today: failure. Ian and the Vietnamese guy weren’t close enough to the curb, but I, of course, was. All of us were emotionally wrecked. I was crying, Ian was angry, and the Vietnamese guy hung his head in disappointment. I know that it was immature, but I felt very justified in doing it. On one of the papers I had to fill out, in tiny little letters at the top of the page I wrote: FU. I doubt anyone will notice it, but it definitely made me feel better. Ian later confessed to me that while walking the course, he dropped a booger there. It’s the little things that allow us to get back at the Menkyo Center…….
After that, we went to the Immigration Office again with the new paperwork where we got MORE bad news. The office will send us a post card within two weeks time to confirm our address. Once we get that, Ian needs to return with the post card, more papers, and his passport to the Immigration Office to confirm his employment. That would totally be fine IF IAN WASN’T LEAVING THE COUNTRY NEXT FRIDAY. Hopefully the post card will come early and Ian will have time to go back up to the city, but if not, I’m not sure what we’ll do.
After alllll of that, we were just angry/disappointed/sad/resentful/pissed at the current situations and hardly talked at all on the way home. Neither of us wanted to say anything and just wanted to get home. We made plans to eat dinner with some friends that night, knowing that hanging out with them would definitely comfort us. Being able to complain about Japan, this process, and all of the ridiculousness of it with people who are going through the same thing and understand our frustrations was exactly what we needed.
Anyway, I know this was a long post, but there are was a lot that I needed to say. Ian’s going back to try again next Tuesday with Melissa B, and I’m going next Friday for my final attempt. That will be my last vacation day for the year, so if I don’t get it then, I have to wait until I have new days in August. I could use a prayer right now, so if you think of me, please say one!
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