Tuesday, April 5, 2005
My next something to say, is here, and it’s not far from spectacular (no, it wasn’t just a shameless Simpsons reference)!
Newest news first…wait for it…wait for it…the Mulhouse Scorpions are Champions of France!!! After making our way into the playoffs in the less than magnificent fourth place, and a couple of not-so-pleasant incidents (melting ice, and Montador, Mr. NHL, being disciplined and returning to Canada rather than facing the music here), they pulled out on top, winning the first two games of the best-of-three finals (quarters and semis were best-of-fives). Seems a nice introduction to tell you some more personal news (no, not that personal, no wedding bells).
I’ve been using my Canadian (plus an international) drivers’ license on the rare occasion I’ve driven. I was only partly oblivious to the rule that for me to change it to a French license, I would have to do it in my first year of residence. The problem with that, of course, is that I had no idea if I would be able to stay past two years. I was sort of afraid to take such a bureaucratic step without some assurance that I could (and still wanted to) stay longer. Compounding that (although I didn’t realize it at the time) is the fact that in order to exchange my Canadian license, I actually have to give it up. It truly is an exchange. This would have, however, avoided the need to re-do a license, which takes something like 20 hours of driving classes, at about 60 euros an hour. That means I couldn’t be driving for at least another year, and with a whole lot less money to do so. With plans to stay longer, and the possibility of buying a car at a really good price from my friend Nico’s mother this spring or summer, I decided to start trying. From what I had heard from Americans I know, there was no way I was going to be able to avoid doing my license over, but I had to try before I could start lessons anyway. I emailed the préfecture to find out if I had a hope. To my surprise, they told me that I would have to write a letter to explain why I missed the one-year limit, accompanied by a photocopy of my license, the translation into French (thank goodness for being Canadian), and my residence permit. That was a significantly more positive response that I had expected. On the more negative side, the letter also noted that there were certain Canadian licenses that could not be exchanged; notably “Edmonton and Vancouver,” which seems very strange to me, particularly since licenses are provincial, but it didn’t affect me, so I had hope.
I wrote out the draft of a letter, and with Nico’s help, I reworked it, and flowered it up. He suggested showing my excitement at being able to stay in France, among other things. I also, for good measure, included that fact that I had an international license in case of emergency, and that I thought that that would suffice since my time here was, officially, temporary. I also included the photocopy of that (which, of course, also had a complete French translation of my license details; much better than my license card itself). I even went to Colmar myself with the letter, rather than mailing it (it’s a 20-30 minute train ride) for extra good measure. Imagine my surprise, when a I got a letter from them only 9 days later (I love Saturday delivery). I nervously opened it, since it would decide the fate of 1200 euros of my money (that’s nearly $2000 Canadian) and a lot of time and frustration. You can imagine how thrilled I was that the letter was to inform me that in response to me “gracious” letter explaining my circumstances, they were granting me the exchange, despite having long missed the deadline. What a relief! So I went straight back to Colmar, right after my visit to the tax office in Mulhouse, where the less fun (and guaranteed loss of money) bureaucracy needed to be dealt with. Fortunately, since I only worked 4 months in 2003, I should have to pay taxes on that anyway, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble. So here I am, complete with ugly pink French license and just waiting for papers from my Canadian insurance to…buy a car! Just as soon as I have the paperwork in hand, I’m off to get myself insured, and as soon as I am insured, I’m set, since I’m buying my friend Nico’s mom’s car, and she’s already bought her new one. Just a matter of time and bureaucracy…
