- Learning to drive in a foreign country
can be pretty scary.
It's a big commitment, but it can grant you the freedom
to explore your surroundings beyond the limits
of public transportation.
I think I'm finally ready to challenge myself
and get my driver's license here in Japan.
Hey, guys, how's it going?
It's Micaela, and today's a really big day for me.
I've been looking forward to this for a really long time.
I've never driven a car in my life, even in Canada.
I came over here when I was 17, so I never had a chance
to get my license in Canada, and after years
of making excuses and being kind of afraid
of the commitment of driving, I think I'm finally ready
to take responsibility, so I'm here
at Fukuoka Prefecture Driving School.
In Canada, to get your driver's license,
it can take up to a year or so, or maybe more,
to go from a beginner learner's permit
to a full driver's license, but in Japan,
if you go to driving school and you take the proper classes,
and you graduate the school and then you go on
to take the test, you can get your driver's license
as quickly as within a month, or a month and a half.
So, I'm gonna take this opportunity to learn how to drive,
and then I can get my license when I go to Canada too.
Seems pretty convenient, right?
All right, it's time to register, let's go.
(upbeat music)
Everybody here looks way younger than me.
Me, too.
So, it's registration day, and I'm just waiting
to be called so I can do my registration.
To register you need to bring your ”Jumin-Hyo" (residence certificate)
which is a piece of paper you can get from city hall
that has your address and your status of residence,
and all that important information on it.
And then, also bring your passport or photo ID.
I think your jumin-card (I meant "zairyu card" here DONT @ me.)
card can be okay as well.
That's where I'm at right now.
I'm really excited to get started, though.
First thing you do, after you register is
get your photo taken and take a eye test.
Okay.
- Driving school is split into two parts,
the path to a learner's permit,
and the path to a full license.
In the first level, I'll need to attend 10 hours of classes
and pass a written test before I can take
my learner's permit exam.
After I pass that, I'll need to take another 16 hours
of classes before I can take the final exam.
Hi.
- Hi.
- There is a lot of studying involved.
Luckily, if you're still studying Japanese,
they do have English and Chinese textbooks,
and you can choose to take the written tests
in English or Chinese as well.
But not all classes are textbook based.
One of the mandatory lessons is a three hour
intensive CPR training course.
So, I just had my emergency CPR class,
you can probably tell because my lipstick is super smudged,
but we used these dolls, these dolls are called Jammy.
Jammy is dying, and he needs our help,
so my lipstick is super smudged because we just did
the CPR lesson, and it's really intense.
They have us doing the 30 chest compressions
and the breathing over and over and over again.
In Fukuoka prefecture apparently it takes an average
of six minutes for an ambulance, six and a half minutes,
for an ambulance to arrive, so it's important
to practice CPR and make sure that you're tough enough,
that you can keep it up for six and a half minutes
until help comes because that can make a huge difference.
I just got the results for my aptitude test,
and I'm pretty sure that they don't do this
in Canada, at least, I don't know if they do this
anywhere else, but I wanted to talk about it
and I wanted to show you for a second
'cause I think it's really cool.
It gives you a ranking based on your concentration skills,
your decision-making skills, your flexibility,
how safe you are with your answers and your thoughts.
If you read it here, it says that my moods change
very quickly, and I can have lots of confidence,
but when I have confidence I usually make mistakes.
I have to be careful not to lose my mental balance
and take care when I'm driving
or else I can cause trouble because I'll be too stuck
in my own head, which is very accurate.
So, the test is really weird.
It asks a bunch of really obscure questions
that have nothing to do with driving,
but when you read the description,
I think it is actually pretty accurate.
Finally, to obtain a learner's permit,
I'll need to log 12 hours of driving
inside the school driving course.
Once I've got my learner's permit,
it's another 19 hours of driving on public roads
and expressways until I can take my test
to get my full license.
No.
- Yes.
- All right, so I'm done, I had fun,
did a few rounds around the block,
and the teacher helped control the accel and the brake
the whole time, so I don't really know how much work I did.
I don't know how successful I was, but
you know what, for my first time it wasn't that bad.
The teacher's super nice.
He explains things really clearly, really slowly.
Today we're gonna try something a little more difficult.
We're going to enter one
of the driving courses they have here.
We'll see how it goes.
And so, for the next few weeks,
I'll be going to driving school.
I was really nervous about how it was going to go,
but thankfully each teacher is patient
and explains everything in really easy-to-understand terms.
Every day driving gets a little bit easier,
and if I study hard enough, I'm actually hoping
that I'll get my full license within one month.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Getting my driver's license would not only mean
that I'd have more freedom within Japan,
but it means that I'd get one more piece
of government ID, as well.
I'm looking forward to that, too.
So, what's driving like in your country?
How hard is it to get a driver's license?
Let me know in the comments below,
and I'll talk to you again soon.
Bye!