I passed!

Earlier this week I received a call from the driving school, informing me that my driving exam was scheduled for Wednesday at 7:10. 
To which I responded, “7:10 PM?”. 
“No, 7:10 AM, and your pre-test lesson will begin at 6:30 AM.  But it’s a good time to take a test.” 

I am not a morning person, and the thought of taking a test so early in the morning was not intuitively appealing.  But I focused on the positives.  There would be much less car traffic on the road and fewer pedestrians jay-walking.  I would not have time to get nervous during the day while waiting for my test.  I still considered it a crazy system to schedule tests so early in the morning…but there were definite perks to the early time. 

So I awoke this morning at 6:00 AM sharp, met my driving instructor at 6:25 AM who had kindly offered to pick me up directly outside our apartment, and observed Jerusalem awaken while practicing driving around the neighborhoods.  7:05 AM we arrived at the driving test complex, where I met the other person who would take the test with me.  In total, my portion of the test only lasted about 12-15 minutes.  I didn’t need to parallel park!  And even though nerves resulted in a few more jerks than normal with the stick shift, I managed to not stall the car. 

I got out of the car, anxious to hear if I passed or failed.  But to my surprise and dismay, the tester just walked away!  I turned to follow him, assuming he would tell me inside the office.  But I was intercepted by Moshe, my driving instructor, who then explained that I would only find out if I had passed after 4:00 PM!  Yet another delay in the process!! 

4:00 came and went without receiving a call.  The suspense was killing me, and finally at 5:30 I called the driving school.  “Oh yes Kim, you passed the test.  You can pick up you license at the driving licensing office tomorrow.”  I’m not sure…were they planning to inform me of this news?! 

So all that remains in my saga to obtain an Israeli Driver’s license is to go back to the Licensing Authority office and pick up my driver’s license!  But there is a high probability that there might be another unknown step that awaits me.  I wouldn’t be surprised, after all I have needed to go through in the past few weeks.  I will, at least, remember to go well before the 10:30 AM break time!