Drives Me Crazy
If Dementors existed in real life then mine would undoubtedly come in the form of a driving test. Nothing torments me more than the notion of doing them and invariably I wake up in the middle of the night bathed in sweat.
I have a license from Australia where I drove for over 10 years, albeit on the other side of the road, without incident or accident. I have driven successfully to and from Sydney to Melbourne, Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and New York to Boston.
If you make Aliyah and have a license from another country you do not have to do the mandatory 28 lessons but just a basic driving test which you have to take within two years of making Aliyah. This shouldn’t be a problem should it for a person who can drive?
Well I get very nervous when there is a person next to me watching my every move and driving tests and I have never exactly gotten on that well. By the time I had finished in Australia I was on first-name terms with all of the testers.
Here they have a two strikes and you’re out policy and I am behind in the count with one strike already on me. I went for the test last year and drove in conditions which I had never experienced before.
Driving in Talpiot at the best of times isn’t easy but with these doubled headed roundabouts and trucks double-parking left, right and center I was ultra cautious and this was ultimately what they said was the reason for me failing. That and me waiting to finish my turn to let a pedestrian cross the street. Apparently here they don't do that.
Then again they say everyone fails the first time.
With the baby around the corner and with that, the high probability that we would want to get a car plus time ticking away, I’ve had to banish the demons, pull my finger out and ready to face my fears.
Today I have my first lesson and hopefully this will be the first step of me getting my license. With the benefit of Janglo, have found what I think is a good instructor. Unlike the hopeless woman I had last time who spent the entire lesson trying to impart to me how to make a turn from a two-way street into a one-way street.
The irony of the system here is that they think putting someone through 28 lessons means they will be a safe, cautious and courteous driver once they emerge on the other side….
I have a license from Australia where I drove for over 10 years, albeit on the other side of the road, without incident or accident. I have driven successfully to and from Sydney to Melbourne, Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and New York to Boston.
If you make Aliyah and have a license from another country you do not have to do the mandatory 28 lessons but just a basic driving test which you have to take within two years of making Aliyah. This shouldn’t be a problem should it for a person who can drive?
Well I get very nervous when there is a person next to me watching my every move and driving tests and I have never exactly gotten on that well. By the time I had finished in Australia I was on first-name terms with all of the testers.
Here they have a two strikes and you’re out policy and I am behind in the count with one strike already on me. I went for the test last year and drove in conditions which I had never experienced before.
Driving in Talpiot at the best of times isn’t easy but with these doubled headed roundabouts and trucks double-parking left, right and center I was ultra cautious and this was ultimately what they said was the reason for me failing. That and me waiting to finish my turn to let a pedestrian cross the street. Apparently here they don't do that.
Then again they say everyone fails the first time.
With the baby around the corner and with that, the high probability that we would want to get a car plus time ticking away, I’ve had to banish the demons, pull my finger out and ready to face my fears.
Today I have my first lesson and hopefully this will be the first step of me getting my license. With the benefit of Janglo, have found what I think is a good instructor. Unlike the hopeless woman I had last time who spent the entire lesson trying to impart to me how to make a turn from a two-way street into a one-way street.
The irony of the system here is that they think putting someone through 28 lessons means they will be a safe, cautious and courteous driver once they emerge on the other side….
posted by Dot Co Dot Il at 10:10 AM
12 Comments:
Yeah, I hear you. I was lucky enough to make aliya before the rules were changed and was able to exchange my US driver's license for an Israeli one, with no tests required.
However, to get my MDA ambulance license I needed to learn everything that I would have needed to learn in the first place (plus a lot more).
Good Luck - and be self confident -- that's the key.
Your fan,
Jameel
Don't read before your test:
http://mizlizz4u.livejournal.com/67710.html
http://mizlizz4u.livejournal.com/68534.html
http://mizlizz4u.livejournal.com/69093.html
That's my experience in a nutshell. Nervewracking as well.
Jameel - Thanks for your kind words. Our prayers are with you, your family and everyone else. Hope we get out of this without further loss and that your MDA skills are not necessary.
Eliesheva - Thanks for that. You seem to escape from the whole experience in one piece. How has driving been since then?
Wow, good luck with all that : )
Going through this myself right now ... Held it off for a year, but must now proceed as the clock is ticking! Good luck with your second chance and PG one day you will be part of the rest of the nutty drivers on the Israeli streets! I hope you have been blessed patience :)
Anon - Thanks :)
Noodles - Thanks for that and good luck with your pursuit of it. What's the driving course around Tel Aviv like?
good luck!
I was SO nervous abotu this, but my tester turned out to be much more interested in me helping him out with some English translation than how I was doing.
Don't panic, you'll be fine...
Shlemiel.
Don't you mean Boggart!
Sarah - Thanks :)
PP - You just have a way with people.
Wisey - Thanks for correcting me! For some reason I confused you two. Definitely a Boggart.
how about taking the test in a small quiet town? that would solve a lot of the problems of having to do it in jerualem or tel aviv where i honestly dont understand how ANYONe passes a test out there..
Or how about putting a blindfold on the tester?
That should help you.
Post a Comment
<< Home