The Last Box Ticked
As many of you know, my true integration into British life has been an uphill battle. I've fought over various visa issues; have been given a bit of the run-around over my job and schooling; ran into lack of credit problems when we were trying to get a mortgage; and more. The latest, and supposedly last in this little war has been my driver's license.As a Canadian, things are comparatively easier than they could have been. Americans, for instance, have to do the complete driver's training and testing from scratch; including the theory test and the required lessons. Canadians, on the other hand, can have their licenses transferred over to British versions... kind of. Unless we can provide proof (from ICBC) that we completed our original driver's test on a manual transmission vehicle (which, as it happens, ICBC does not keep track of), our Canadian licenses are transferable only to 'automatic' British licenses.
This posed rather a problem for me, as the car we got me just half a year ago is a manual. Oops, suddenly not allowed to drive my own vehicle. Well, technically, I had until mid-July before it was 100% illegal because you're allowed to use your international driver's license for the first year of residency. But the additional problem was that the DVLA here was booking practical tests into mid-July. No room for error there.
Thursday I received my automatic license in the mail, which opened up the capability of my scheduling the manual test. With dread, yesterday I called up the DVLA to schedule my midsummer appointment. On a casual inquiry, however, I found out that a cancellation had occurred and there was an appointment available for the following morning - at 9:17am.
OMG! I was so not ready. They needed an instant decision and payment, securing my appointment. I quickly asked the opinions of two friends/colleagues at work who looked at me with apprehension and tried to get a-hold of Riki on his mobile, to no avail.
Aw, what the hell!? What have a got to lose? If I failed I'd be no worse off waiting until July to re-do and taking some lessons in the meantime; if I passed then I'd save myself the stress and the cost of the lessons. So £67 later, I was committed.
I asked around for advice. Even the young lady who booked my appointment shared 20-minutes of tidbits with me. I spent the evening researching the test. Riccardo and I got up extra early Saturday morning so that we could run-through some bits under the 'bonnet' (aka 'hood' - haha!). By 9:25 my Driving Tester and I were off; the test lasted just under an hour!
Miracle of miracles, I passed! I was fairly confident of this when, about 20 minutes into the test, my Tester still hadn't written anything on his clipboard. I remembered how to signal through a round-about; I remembered to handbrake at every stop; I remembered (most) of my shoulder-checks. Amazingly, I did way better than I'd done as a teen - though I was just as nervous. I mean, I didn't do perfectly: I still got 8 demerits (out of 16). But I passed!
And I didn't end the test in hysterics, having the Tester ask, 'Are you done?' as in my first driver's test. So I'm on the road again! ...or still. :D
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