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Stories from Sendai, Issue #14, March 9, 2003

We're back again with a few more stories - as the weather gets warmer, we hope to get out a little bit more before the baby is born.

The last few doctor's visits have been routine.  The baby is growing at a normal rate, and there haven't been any unusual symptoms or complications.  The biggest question has been...what gender?  The doctor wasn't able to tell at 21 weeks, nor at 26.  So finally, at 30 weeks, we asked again, "Can you tell if it is a boy or a girl?"  So, just like the last few times, he poked around with the ultrasound wand until he was able to get a good angle.  He pointed out that if the baby was a boy, we would be able to see some genitalia in a certain spot.  But nothing is visible!  For weeks, we were pretty sure that we had a girl, but the doctor wasn't.  Now he agrees with us.  So sometime between May 5-12, we will welcome a little baby girl into our home.  We still plan to ask the doctor to continue checking at each visit.

So how is Barbara feeling?  Well, she is having many of the usual complaints.  Every day, she has a lot of heartburn, which gets worse at night.  She is finally showing a bit, and the maternity pants don't fall off anymore.  She is carrying pretty high, so if she wears a loose sweater, the budge is still not very noticeable.  She also has some itchy pimple-type things on her thighs.  They are a little bothersome, but nothing that bad.  It is getting harder and harder to sleep well at night with her belly filling out.  She ordered a body pillow from Lands' End (our salvation here!) and it helps quite a lot.  However, it takes up so much room, that Nigel, our cat, is feeling displaced!  He used to sleep at the foot of the bed, then moved to the crook of Barbara's body, and now has taken up residence on Barbara's pillow!  She is using two pillows under her head to help with the heartburn, and he seems to like the extra padding.  He doesn't even complain when she shifts her head and turns over.  Believe it or not, she rarely wakes up to a face full of cat fur.  We can just imagine what ingenuity he will display when the baby comes to take up residence as well!

Nigel's position during a recent nap.  What is not visible is a carpet of white fur on the pillowcase!

The annual ski trip that our elementary school provides for its teachers, students and their parents was just as fun this year as last -- and maybe more so! Barbara, pregnant as she is, wisely opted to ditch the slopes for a seat in the warm common room and watch Todd going down the bunny hill. Todd, for his part, did a little bit better job of skiing than last year. But when his thighs began to ache, he decided to watch some of his students navigate themselves down the hill. At one point, when Todd had just about seen enough, a student called out that skiing "is easy!" This seemed like a challenge. Todd then got the student to teach him some techniques and show him how to place his feet so that he could do a better job of skiing. The student explained away, with Todd paying close attention. One or two more tries up the slope produced better result, but his thighs were still painfully sore. At about 11 am, Barbara took her 4-year-olds to the sledding area to make snowmen and do some sledding. After a lunch with Barbara, Todd assisted our headmaster in organizing some sledding races. These races, for some of our non-skiers, were received with much enthusiasm. And who should decide to give it a go again, but Barbara! We must admit that at this stage, Barbara was not as round as she is now -- so could manage seating herself onto the small plastic sled...barely. Todd couldn't resist the chance to race with her, along with some of their students, so off we went! The race seemed to have been rigged from the beginning. The extra weight of a baby, the forward weight, all pointed to disaster...for Todd! Sure enough, on his way down the sledding hill, Barbara passed him by as he wiped out and slid into a sloped gully. A rematch was in the making! But he should have known that winning against his wife (and a few of his students) was a fantasy unlikely to be fulfilled. Sure enough, Todd's races against Barbara were not to be winning ones -- his sled at one point deciding to steer itself toward the edge of a steep, snowy cliff! Lucky for him the sled stopped short. Despite the cold and wet, there was a lot of fun to be had on that sledding hill.         

Barbara and one of her K4 students sledding madly down the slope.

For Barbara's birthday, we went to the nearby town of Yamagata, in Yamagata Prefecture. Knowing Barbara's stamina (or lack thereof), the day's wanderings were cut short. The shortened birthday tour began with the Bunshokan -- the old prefectural administration building and assembly hall. Built in the style of the English Renaissance, it looked from the outside like a Japanese version of Independence Hall in Pennsylvania. The inside, however, brought back vivid architectural reminders to Todd of the House and Senate areas of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. During our tour of the Bunshokan, we stumbled across an art show featuring the works of students from Yamagata Prefecture. Lovely paintings in all styles met us -- and as with all art, some of it appealed, and some of it didn't. We walked a few blocks to a shop in which traditional Yamagata fare was sold. Though we didn't buy anything then, we likely will on a return trip. Around noon time, Barbara opted for lunch at a Bangladeshi Restaurant. Todd warned her that she might have a bout of acid reflux afterward. But the promise of Nan and curry was too much for her to pass up. Besides...it was her birthday. To cool our tongues afterward, we stopped at a Baskin Robbins counter nearby and ordered a scoop or two of ice cream. Happy Birthday, Barbara!    

The Bunshokan in Yamagata.

So far, the biggest official ordeal we have had to deal with is getting a Japanese drivers license.  Last year, we heard stories about foreigners trying to pass the exam and failing several times.  We thought, whew!  Glad we don't have to deal with that - we can just keep renewing our international drivers' licenses.  Unfortunately for us, in June of 2002, the law changed.  After a foreigner has been resident here for one year, he/she must apply for and possibly test for a Japanese drivers license in order to drive here legally.  Those caught without are subject to heavy fines. We learned this fact during the fall of 2002.  Citizens of England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand only have to make a written application, and their licenses are automatically converted to a Japanese one.  Citizens of the U.S. are required to take a written AND driving test.  Why?  Because in those other countries, Japanese nationals are not required to take a driving test to convert their licenses.  Whereas some states in the U.S. require this.  So turnabout is fair play.  The other countries whose citizens are required to take the driving test also have different driving laws than Japan.  So groaningly, we began the process.  Here begins our months-long trial...

First we had to get our U.S. drivers licenses translated at the Japan Auto Federation (JAF) office.  Seemed easy enough, but wait!  Each of us had a difficulty.  Todd had renewed his Maryland license less than three months before coming to Japan, so the issue date on his license was too recent.  The law states that, in order to transfer to a Japanese license without enrolling in driving school, one must have had the license in his/her home country for at least three months.  They will add up all the days in the home country - but even with two summers, Todd was 10 days short of the legal amount.  Going home for Christmas this year finally put him over the three-month mark.  For Barbara's license, the state of Texas did not print the date of issue on the license.  So after several calls late at night (for us) and several weeks, the DPS faxed a letter stating when the license was issued.

It was now January, five months of illegal driving in Japan.  We had met all legal requirements, and got our translations done.  The first date we could go in for our application and tests was the last week of January.  There was a terrible snowstorm, and the tests were cancelled for the day.  So we tried again, the next week.  We arrived, presented our translations, and were told thank you, please make an appointment for your test.  What?  We couldn't take them the same day?  This was another change.  So many foreigners were now required to take the test that they must schedule everyone for a separate day.  So we scheduled ourselves for the next Friday.

If you are lucky enough to pass the test on your first try (only about 30% of applicants) - this is the process.  You arrive at 1:00pm on your scheduled day.  You go to the back room, and tell them you have arrived.  Then you go to a counter in the main room, pay 3500 yen, return to the back room, wait a while, then get your eyes checked.  Wait a little more, then you take a written test of 10 questions in English.  The questions are pretty simple and logical.  We both received a score of 100%.  Then you wait for another hour or more in the main room, which is unbearably smoky, until 2:30-3:00pm.  An official comes out from the back, gives the 10 applicants a number, and leads you to the driving course.  There are 3 or 4 cars, provided by the center - you cannot use your own car.  The adjudicators then call the numbers of the applicants for their vehicle.  Everyone gets in, and the tester takes the car for a test run through the course.  All in Japanese, of course.  Our first time (you can guess where this is going), we didn't understand a word he was saying, so we asked if our translator, Mr. Takashima from school, could ride along to explain.  After driving through the course once, he calls the first person to begin.  You must adjust your seat, and the mirrors, and check both sides.  There is one circle where you get to try out the car (very short, not enough to get used to it by any stretch) and then you're off!

In Sendai, the course is like this: 1) drive down a straightaway, increasing to 50 kph. 2) curve to the right, then turn right.  3) at the light, turn left, and head for the "cranks." 4) at the cranks, you drive on a narrow S-curve, with little hanging barriers on the sides.  One must not touch the barriers, or go off into the gutter.  5) after leaving the cranks, you drive a short block to a left turn.  Go through the signal, and stop at a stop sign.  6) Turn left and go around a parked car.  7) Turn left again, and head into the S-curves.  Again, don't go into the gutter.  After leaving the S-curves, turn right again and drive toward the signal, to make a right turn.  8) Turn right again, and head for the exit driveway.  9) Stop at whichever numbered pole the tester calls, aligning your bumper exactly.  10) Turn off the car, pull the emergency brake, and put the car into reverse.  End of test.

[We include this information so that other hapless foreigners might get a foretaste we never had.]

Sounds not too bad, right?  Well, there are several picky details that are never explained in the run-through.  Both of us failed our first try, and because the adjudicator was very abrupt and unfriendly, we never really learned why, even with Mr. Takashima translating.  He only mentioned a few points, and never told us any kind of score.  His points were: incorrect gear shifting, not looking to the sides enough, Todd keeping only one hand on the wheel after shifting.  You see, we were required to take the manual test, as we drive a manual car.

We made another appointment for the next week.  The day arrived, we paid another 3500 yen each, and we waited nervously.  Our second tester was much more friendly.  He even spoke a little English when telling us where to turn ("number 3 turn left"). However, during Todd's test, he went off into the gutter during the S-curve.  During Barbara's test, she stopped a little in front of the white line at the stop sign.  Both of these are automatic failures.  This tester very kindly explained all of the things we did incorrectly, with Mr. Takashima's help.

The next two weeks were impossible to go back to the testing center, so now it was March 7th.  Rain was pouring down in sheets, wind was gusting, but the test was still on.  Another 3500 yen.  We waited even longer to take our tests because they were only using one or two cars on the course at a time, due to the weather.  When we finally got out there, the tester started us off without even running through the course once.  Barbara was first.  She was overly careful and slow about everything except the 50 kph stretch.  Afterward, the tester said, "Barbara-san, testo okay desu."  She replied "I passed?"  He said "Hai!"  Great!  But now Todd had to take his test with that knowledge.  He was even more nervous, and his driving showed it.  At one point, he almost crashed into the cranks barrier, while trying to keep the car from stalling.  So, Todd did not pass.

Afterward, Barbara had to wait yet longer to get more forms filled out, paid another 1750 yen, got her photo taken, and then she received her license.  At 5:00pm, we could all finally go home.  We plan to go back during our Spring Break, so that we don't have to miss any more school.

Here are a few picky things we learned from our 3-plus tries to pass the Japanese driving test:

Even if you think you did all these things, you still might not pass.  But Barbara was lucky on her third try, and we are praying that Todd will be lucky next time.  Some people have taken fifteen tries to pass!

The driving course as viewed from the starting area.

Barbara passes on the third try!

Well, that's all for now.  We are hoping that spring weather comes soon around here.  We keep having light snow at least once a week.  It will be nice to see some green again, not to mention the flowers!

Barbara and Todd Thomas