The Test... Take Two...

After failing the first test, as soon as I got in front of a computer I immediately checked for available openings for when I could take the test again. There are six text centers in my general area. And when checking on September 19th, the earliest I could find an opening was one center with an October 30th slot. Otherwise if I wanted to test where I had tested and had been practicing around, there were no openings until mid-November. Seeing as how my US license is no good after October 31, that simply would not do. I took the October 30th booking, thinking I could always look for cancellations, as people reportedly do, and change my appointment to one earlier.

But desperate times call for desperate measures. I found myself looking at the poorly made website of this sketchy seeming service. http://www.shortnoticetests.com/ Pay them £30 and they find a short notice driving test for you at the center of your choice. The testimonials on the website sounded good to me. (Yeah, they very well could be fake, I don't know!) I was naive and desperate, time was running out. I called them to make sure I understood what I needed to do and to see if they sounded legit. A helpful guy with an English accent answered the phone. He asked me what test center I needed, I told him, and he says "Ok, let me see what we have here.... looking at it, I would say that we would be able to find you an appointment within the first week or two of October. It may take up to 7 working days, so while you're sitting at home, relaxing, reading the paper, drinking some tea, we'll be working for you, to get you a test date set up." Fine, I'll buy it. I went back to the website, filled out my information, submitted payment info, got confirmation of the transaction on Paypal, but no confirmation that this service was actually in the process of doing anything for me. And I waited. And two business days later, sure enough I got an email like one gets from the DVLA when you book or change a driving test, confirming my new driving test date of October 3rd, at the test center I had wanted. I still have no idea how these magical people do it. Is it fair? Probably not. Seems as shady as ticket scalpers. But whatever, I will certainly take it. I was already feeling much better, knowing I had a chance, knowing I could even probably have one more chance after this, using the service again if need be before October 31. I was still immensely stressed, but feeling slightly better.

October 3rd arrived. I was just as stressed and freaked out this time around as I was the previous time. Sure, I knew what to expect, but then again, what if my new examiner was even stricter, what if they criticize me for things the first guy didn't. It all still seemed so matter of opinion. And by this time it had been two weeks with no lessons to get used to my instructor's car again. So I had a last minute lesson with him in the hour before the test. Reverse into a parking space? Couldn't quite get it to a confident level. Parallel parking? Ok, I guess. The main thing I had to keep in mind, though, was simply *pay the heck attention*!!

At least this time the test was at noon, I got a good night's sleep before hand, and didn't overdo it on the coffee. I wait anxiously with my instructor in the waiting room, along with two or three other instructor+student driving pairs. And the examiners are released. They come into the waiting room, identify their assigned victims. This time they were wearing high visibility vests. Oh, for Pete's sake. (The country's love affair with "high viz vests" being another thing I thought Dear Hubby was simply mocking until I moved here and saw how true it was. Even *dogs* here wear high viz vests.) A small, older woman with short gray hair does her best at trying to pronounce my last name and looks around. I wave, and my instructor nervously says to her "Haha, yeah, close enough". I sign the form, and out the door we go. She seems ok, I guess. As we're walking to the car she asks me about my unusual name, I explain the ethnic origins. Already more chitchat than with the previous examiner. She asks me my two "show me/tell me" questions, seems friendly and reasonably warm enough. Ok, this might work out. She tells me we'll do the maneuver first, get that out of the way. Which is reversing into a parking space in the parking lot at the center. I manage to do it ok. Whew, part one down. We drive off, she tells me to take a left at the end of the street. I signal right (ok, so sometimes I *still* get my right and left confused... minor detail... well maybe more of a major detail... especially for things like a driving test!). She tells me "I said take a left". Right. Stomach gets butterfly-y and I correct myself, signaling left.

We drive some more, and we're making some little chit-chat. I don't even know how we got to that point, but next thing I know, she's saying, "I love America! I've been to all of the states except for Maine and Texas!". I am very pleased to hear this, thinking 'Yess! She's on my side! I might stand a chance with this one!'. She mentions being especially fond of New York. And I take this and just run with it, building the rapport, bonding over how much we both love NYC, bonding over our mutual love of travel, in general, sharing some NYC touristy tips with her, asking her all about her travels. Now I'm not always good at smalltalk and acting interested, but I knew my life pretty much depended on it! Independent driving segment (totally ok this time), some more chitchat, and next thing I know we're back at the test center. She tells me to park and turn off the engine, which I do. She scribbles some stuff on her scoresheet. I both want to look and don't want to look. "Congratulations, you've passed". I am filled with a HUGE flood of relief, my life can go back to normal! All of these other things I've been wanting to do and look forward to and plan, I can now, with a clear conscience. I no longer have to worry about when I will pass my UK driving test, or whether my car will turn into a pumpkin after Halloween. Kitty Mobile can stay on the road!!! I excitedly thank her, and she reviews with me the two minor mistakes I made (failure to look in some direction at some junction, and not letting the car coming towards me go first on one of those lousy "two way streets" with parked cars everywhere, making people take turns in the one usable car width) and gives me some silly little booklet that passers get, I guess, mainly geared for teens, about "your first car", "how to get insurance", "more safe driving tips", etc. She takes my provisional license and says she will fill out and submit the form for me to get my real UK driving license. She hands me my pass certificate, saying that it now grants me rights to drive independently (you know, like I have been all along ;P). We wish eachother well on our travels, I tell her I hope her trip to NYC works out next year (she was concerned with all of the political stuff going on. I reassured her about it, though). My instructor, who was there waiting in the parking lot congratulates me. I let him take over the driving, say farewell to my nice friendly like-minded America loving examiner and drive back home with my instructor. GO TEAM USA!

My instructor then asks me "So how was it? How was she?". I tell him about how nice she seemed, how we chitchatted, how she was pro-America, which put me at ease. We talked about travel, NYC. I tell him it was a fine old time! He then tells me, "Wow, when I saw that you got her, I was worried for you! That's the headmaster of all of the examiners at this center. She's known to be strict and stern and most of my students have complained about her or been intimidated by her! You must've caught her on a good day. I tried joking around with her when she was saying your name, I think I got a smile out of her. But she's usually not like that. I don't always agree with her ways. And she can be quick to use the brake on her side when she thinks a driver isn't braking in time [examiner braking for you = you fail the test]." He was very surprised but happy for me when he heard about my experience with her.

Well, you just never know, do you?

I'm just glad I can go back and laugh at it all now. That challenge over! Living here seriously is like a series of challenges to overcome and problems to solve.