Our final leg of our Kyushu road trip was to Kumamoto City, Takachiho Gorge, and Mt. Aso. We woke up and left Hondo by 8AM on Monday morning as to have enough time to drive to the city and be at the Menkyo Center (Kumamoto’s DMV) by 11:30AM so that Ian could check in and take his test. (HA! HA! You all probably thought that I was done bitching about the driving test since I got my license….well….brace yourselves….) Ian was still able to drive up until August 15th since the International Driving Permit is good for exactly one year from the day that you entered the country. That Monday was the 13th. He knew that he needed to get it by the 15th, but we knew that we’d be close to the Menkyo Center these three days and surely….SURELY he could get it within those three days, right???
Before I get too far along, I need to give a little back story. We have alien registration cards since we are Japanese residents but not CITIZENS. However, the Japanese government changed in July the process for what foreigners living in Japan now need to some silly piece of paper. The nice office lady who works at the Menkyo Center told me that when my husband comes back in August to take his test, he would need the new piece of paper. We were under the impression that we would receive it at the airport when we flew in, but the man at customs had NO idea what we were talking about. Before Ian went to take the test, I confirmed with two separate people about this resident paper. One was a friend who JUST passed his license test at the beginning of August. I asked if he needed the resident paper. He had no idea what I was talking about but said that he didn’t need it at the Menkyo Center. I asked my supervisor if there was anything that we needed to change regarding our alien registration cards. She said no. OK.
Our first stop was the Menkyo Center. We all got out, and I showed Mommy around the place, explaining how to check in, where to buy the little stamps that allow you to take the test, the actual driving course, and the ridiculousness of it all. Ian went to check in and came back out a few minutes later saying “NOPE!” I asked him what he meant by that. He said that they wouldn’t let him take the test because he didn’t have the new resident paper which can ONLY be obtained at Yunomae’s town hall. 
Anger did not express the level of pissed off I was. Here was our decision: drive scrap the day’s plans and drive two hours back to Yunomae and then another two hours back to the city with paper in hand so that Ian could take the test on Tuesday, have him take the train back to Yunomae, get the paper, and return, or wait until we go home on Wednesday and get it then, leaving Ian without the ability to legally drive anywhere.
We dropped our stuff off at Joel’s (another friend) house in nearby Mashiki and decided to go with the second option. If Ian hopped on a train by 2PM, he’d be back in Yunomae by 5PM, get the stupid paper, and come back to the city all in one day. Mommy and I dropped him off at the station and wished him luck. In the mean time we drove back into the city center to visit Kumamoto Castle, the Kotsu Center shopping area (where Mommy finished her souvenir shopping!), and Suizenji Park (a Japanese style garden pictured below).
After walking around most of the day, Mommy’s feet were killing her, and we enjoyed just sitting down in Suizenji Park. She couldn’t believe the size of some of the koi swimming in the lake there. They are indeed some of the biggest koi I’ve ever seen—some nearly two feet in length and probably as thick as my thigh. Let’s just say that if I fell into that water, I’d be a little scared of those fish! 
We were both getting tired and decided to head back to Joel’s house. Joel was at that time visiting family in the States, so we had his house to ourselves. I had forgotten to pin the location in my phone when we were there earlier in the day. I knew how to get back to Mashiki and assumed I could find it from there. NOPE. I tried calling Ian, who not only had it pinned but had the address as well, but his phone kept going straight to voicemail. 
After driving aimlessly for a bit and losing hope, I finally had the idea to call Ian on Skype. Calling on Skype through 3G instead of Wi-Fi is a crap shoot, but he finally realized that I was trying to get ahold of him and called me back on his computer. He said he went home because his phone was dying and was trying to get a quick charge. HOWEVER, he couldn’t find any chargers because I had packed both of them. He had actually already emailed me the pin to Joel’s. (I hadn’t thought to check my email. Usually Ian imessages me, but since his phone was dead….)
To make matters worse, in the time that it took to reach Ian and have him tell me that, and him make sure that we got to Joel’s ok, he missed his train……as in the LAST train that would bring him back to the city in time that night. He said that he pedaled as quickly as possible to the station, and as he pulled up, the train pulled away. UUUUGGGHHHHH!!!! He had to spend the night in Yunomae, and to make matters EVEN WORSE, the first train he could get back to Kumamoto City put him in the city at 11:33AM…..you have to be at the Menkyo Center BY 11:30AM in order to check in for the driving test. Therefore, Tuesday was a wash for taking the test. Plus, once he left Yunomae, we would have no form of communication since his phone was dead. We really couldn’t win for losing that Monday!
Mommy and I were both frustrated by the end of that night and went to bed early hoping that Tuesday would be a little brighter…..
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