driver's licence...

it's a real shame that the ministry of transport here in taiwan no longer acknowledges new zealand driver's licences (for that matter, driver's licences from all those countries that drive on the "wrong" side of the road i think). this means that i now need to take all the regular tests before i can get myself a taiwanese driver's licence. bugger! it's not a big hassle but it's just that before they made the change i could have got the licence simply by doing a quick and easy physical check-up. oh well...

the first thing to do now is to take the written test. i thought that all you need is boldness and a touch of local common sense to drive on the road here, but the road regulations booklet that i got for the written test stipulates a great deal more. apart from all the do's and don'ts that nobody actually gives a crap about in reality, it also goes on about things like fines and penalties, car mechanics, and ethics in driving. now, the latter two sections really make me cringe and are a bit of a joke i'd say. god only knows why someone has to learn what the compression ratio of a diesel engine is at the end of a compression stroke as part of the course to get a driver's licence, and the section on ethics in driving is just insane, to say the least. here are some sample test questions straight out of the booklet...




























no matter how absurd these sample test questions may be, i guess i'll just try and memorize the stuff in the booklet as much as possible, take the written test, and then quickly forget about all the rubbish. there is not much of a choice, is there?