China's driving test

Recently, a friend of ours bought a new truck and said that we could use it for special occasions. It's nothing fancy but it is a diesel truck with a low gear ratio which makes it easy to get up and down the tough dirt roads around our city. We were very excited about this and wanted to make full use of the new truck. But first things first, I needed to get my Chinese driver's license.

Here in China, a foreigner can get a license 1 of 2 ways. If you don't have a driver's license issued from your home country, then you most go through the process a Chinese person would. You have to take classes and pass both a written and driving test. The cost could be upwards of $600. If you already have a driver's license issued from your home country, then all you need to do is get the right chops (google: chinese chops) and pass the written test. Easy enough, right? No.

The written test is notorious for being badly translated into English, lacking common sense, and downright hard to memorize. Many people here in our city have attempted to pass the test, but have come up short. For example, one of our close friends in town took it 4 times before passing it on his fifth. The test is compromised of a random 100 questions out of a possible 1300. There are about 40 true or false and 60 multiple choice. You most get a minimum of 90% to pass within a 45 minute time frame. The questions range from understanding street signs to knowing how to stop the bleeding from someone's flank (yes they use the word flank). There are two ways to study for the test. 1) get the paper study guide which consist of all 1300 questions and their answers, review, and memorize, or 2) download the ipod app (yes someone made an app) which breaks down all the questions into categories and let's you take practice tests.

I wanted to pass the test on the first try, so I downloaded the app and studied like crazy. Last Tuesday I took the test and scored a 97%. Woohoo, it's official. Now I just have to learn how to drive on these crazy Chinese roads :)

As I was studying for the test, I came across some really funny questions that I wanted to share with you. Below are pictures I took of some of the most bizarre and funniest questions I came across. I broke them up into four categories, 1) bad translation, 2) courtesy, 3) comical, and 4) just weird. Enjoy!

Weird:




































































(you would think the answer to the above question would be (D), but it is actually (A) :)

Funny:







































































Courtesy:






































Bad Translation:

sad october

This past week was the "national holiday," which means everybody gets off school the entire week; well at least the foreign students. The Chinese students here in Lijiang have to make up two days worth of the holiday on Saturday and Sunday. Why don't they just use the weekend as part of the holiday and have class two days of class during the week? No one knows why, it's just the way it is.

So what did we do for our break??? Well, Laura is currently in Indonesia. Her best friend Sheila is also on her vacation and decided to spend it in Indo and asked Laura to tag along.....so Laura did....for 12 days! Yes, I know what you must be thinking, "How is James gonna survive 12 days without Laura?" That's a great question. I've already lost 8 lbs, I can't find anymore clean clothes, and I have a mild case of pneumonia because I get too cold at night! But seriously, I miss her. I knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard! But she's having a great time in Indo. She'll tell you more about it when she gets back.

So Laura wanted me to post some pics of our finished (almost) apartment. The process of "making home" has taken forever. It's hard to find things you like and harder to get them to LJ when you do find them. But here are some pics of what we have so far. Enjoy!

James & Laura unwrapping the furniture we ordered:





























Patio, dining table, entry way:



















































Living room:

































Kitchen:

































Guest bedroom and bathroom (wet bathroom, no division):





































Master bedroom (still unfinished):



















Master bathroom: