Japanese Drivers License, Check

This isn't going to be the longest of posts but because it's a milestone I thought it'd be good to do so.

So...

WE GOT OUR JAPANESE DRIVERS LICENSE!!!!

I wish I knew what it said!

Before we moved here Carmon and I had the sense to go and get an international drivers permit at our local tag agency. It's good for up to a year in a ton of different countries and it only costs us $15 each. Come to find out, that permit was only good for foreigners without residency in Japan, and after three months it became invalid.

Well, you all know how much we love riding our bikes through frigid Japanese winters or scorching 100 degree summers wearing that good ol' breathable suit and tie, but we went ahead and decided to make our future travel endeavors a bit more comfortable.

Gonna miss that fresh air. 

The process for foreigners getting a Japanese license might sound overwhelming (and it can be). However, we've had a very fortunate experience. For Japanese people, they get their license after a very long, exhaustive and expansive process that can end up costing three months time and easily over a thousand dollars. Yikes!

Thankfully for us, the process is much less taxing. 

First we had to get our Oklahoma License translated into Japanese. That took the better half of the morning waiting at the Japanese equivalent to a DMV. This was only possible for us to manage because we had a good friend (Sasha) from Mito Church help with the whole ordeal. 

Thank You Sasha!

Once finished with that we had to go to a separate place to get proof of our residency in Mito. Again, only possible with Sasha's help.

Thank You Sasha!

One week later, after the paper work had been processed, Carmon and I made our way to the place where we actually would take three tests - A written test (in English), the actual driving exam (not so much English), and then the super difficult eye exam where I struggle to recall the Japanese words for green, blue, red and yellow. Once more, all this was possible with the help of our super-awesome, servant-hearted, bilingual friend. 

Thank You Sasha!

It was an all day process but we got all the paper work turned in in the morning, took the written test, ate a bento, then took the drivers exam. I don't know how it was for you but in Oklahoma we take the actual driving exam on actual roads. In Mito, there's a meticulous course that is already made up and you must memorize it. Here's the layout:

Jyu & Ni!

Thankfully for us, we had spent a good amount of time practicing on Japan roads prior to the test.
First off, you drive on the complete opposite side of the street and on the opposite side of the car as well. I'd always wondered how difficult that would be to do, but really once you spend some time in the car and on the roads the switch comes naturally. Three of our friends took Carmon and I out to get some experience with driving and practice for the test. (Thank you Seth, Mary Margaret, & Annalisa!!!) Apparently, most AET's have to take the test two or three times before they pass so we were fortunate to get it on our first try.

Now that the hard part is out of the way we can look forward to buying a car!

Choices, choices, choices...

More adventures to come...