License to drive!

I took my driving test in 1987, a year before this movie sought to resolve for all time the burning question of which Corey was cuter (Haim or Feldman). Reagan was president. The Berlin Wall was still a scar on the face of the divided city. Jim Bakker and Gary Hart were object lessons in keeping your zipper zipped.

All in all, a long time ago, but this morning I had to do it all over again.

From the day I arrived I had a year to exchange my American license for a Norwegian one. If I didn't turn in my California license and pass the Norwegian driving test in that time, I'd have to start over again from scratch -- without my surrendered American license either. That would involve both the theoretical and practical courses and tests plus hours of obligatory driving instruction, first aid, and a special course in night driving. All in all, at $80 an hour, three grand at least. I didn't think passing the practical test would be a problem, but I was concerned that I'd only have one shot at it since the waiting list for a driving test is running two to three months right now. I got lucky with a cancellation and managed to get a test scheduled for today only six weeks after my first visit to the DOT, but if I failed today there was no reason to think I'd be able to take the test again before my year was up. No pressure, huh?

So I had a driving lesson last week and spent the entire hour plus large chunks of the weekend driving nowhere with Inki practicing the two most troublesome Norwegian traffic rules:

1. Yielding to the right. They don't use lots of traffic signs in Norway, and so if you didn't see a yellow diamond on your right sometime in the last kilometer or so and someone comes in from your right and either wants to cross or turn left in front of you, you must stop for him. Think about this for a second: yielding means having to remember a sign you ought to have seen a ways back to know whether you will have to stop for people who are just going to pull out in front of you without slowing down on the leap of faith that you know to yield to them. Trust me, managing this takes a good deal of practice and the strangling of every driving instinct you've built up over two decades behind the wheel. The other thing that's harder is to be the one pulling out in front of people and hoping they remember they're supposed to yield. I almost got hit twice last night practicing with Inki in a residential neighborhood by people who were supposed to yield to me, which didn't exactly instill me with confidence. On the bright side, if you're in an accident like that and get hit on the left side, it's the other guy's fault no matter what. Not that that's the kind of bright side you want to be thinking about when you're taking your driving test.

2. Roundabouts. There are lots and lots of them, and you yield to people who are already in the roundabout -- but this time you yield to the left! -- and signal to the right when you are on your way out of the roundabout. They're not so bad when you get used to them and spare you having to make full stops all the time, but if you're not familiar with how they work, they can be a harrowing experience as well.

The signage is different as well, and although I didn't have to take the theoretical part I spent a good bit of time reading through the 200-page textbook Andor gave me for Christmas.

The test took an hour and went pretty well. I didn't screw anything up and was pretty satisfied, as was the examiner, so now I have a temporary license while I wait for the one they should mail me next week. One more paper in order and one fewer thing to stress over.

And one more upside: this license won't expire until I turn 100, so at least it'll be a little while before I have to worry about driving tests again.