Lists

Lists.  So. Many. Lists.

In order to graduate, get married, and move to a foreign country within the space of three months, it is absolutely essential to use lists in order to maintain a state of sanity. 

Believe me, I know.  From experience.

Reflecting back on that busy summer of 2010, the two craziest weeks were the week leading up to the wedding and the week arriving back from our honeymoon.  Which was the same week Karl left for Japan.

During that week, Karl and I had four days in which to get him packed and ready to fly to Japan. 

Yikes.

One of the things we had to take care of was getting our international driving permits.  I don’t know how it is in other countries, but in Japan a US drivers license means next to nothing.  This is because they are issued per each state-not the country itself. 

But what about this international driving permit?   

A word about that: First, if you need to purchase an international drivers permit, do not go to the DMV.  You will only waste your time standing in line.  Triple A issues the permits.  You need to provide a passport-sized photo and pay $15.00.   They make the permit for you right on the spot.  It takes only a few minutes.  Easy.

But…they are unfortunately not the complete solution to legally driving in Japan.  They are valid for only one year.  After that, assuming you want to continue driving, you have to start from the bottom up with Japanese drivers ed. 

Yay.

I have been lead to believe by numerous people that earning your Japanese drivers license is one of the most difficult and annoying things one can attempt to do.  The primary reason for this is the scoring system and requirements: In order to pass the test and receive your license, you MUST get a perfect score. 

That’s right.  100%.  Perfect. A+.  Plus, the test administrators tend to be very picky.  Naturally.

*Correction*  (9/27/11) I was apparently misinformed about the test scoring requirements-there is a margin of error.  I am not sure what score is passing. 

We are fortunate enough to not need a car.  So we are choosing to ignore the whole thing.  Karl did try getting his scooter license once…but it was too much of a pain.

Here’s to biking, walking and public transportation. 

And saving money.