körkort (drivers license)

Speaking of goals for 2008, one I have been working on is getting a Swedish driver's license. Unlike a number of other countries in Europe and Japan, Sweden won't simply accept a U.S. drivers license in exchange for a Swedish one. I am permitted to drive on my U.S. drivers license(Ohio, really) for a year but since it expires in March, it's time to get the Swedish one going. The process, like many other things undertaken in Sweden, has had many, sometimes expensive steps.

Step 1: Apply for a Swedish driver's license. Cost: 180 SEK or $30 USD (Check)

Step 2: Get an official eye exam. I wear glasses or contacts. Because it came up on my application they asked me to pass an eye exam before I could proceed. Cost 175 SEK or $25 USD (find an eye exam in the States for $25) (Check)

Step 3: Get a national Swedish I.D. card in order to sign up for Swedish drivers training and testing. Although I've been driving for nearly 25 years in the U.S., I will have to be tested on theory and driving to get a Swedish license. National I.D. card requirements: A note from Swedish tax authority stating my current permanent residency status and address, a Swedish family witness stating who I am and a current photo. Cost: 300 SEK or $50 USD plus 3-4 week waiting period. (Check)

Step 4: Hazardous road condition training. This was actually kind of fun. All new drivers have to undergo this training. They basically have an ordinary car that looks like it is sitting in a piano dolly. The instructor can raise or lower any of the wheels of the 'dolly' to simulate different driving conditions. In a nutshell, he'd tell us to brake for the moose in the road and we'd have to brake and keep control. It was really an opportunity to spin the car. It was a lot of fun but I was at least twice as old as anybody else in my training session. I can't prove it but I think the instructor also took my age as a go ahead to make it tougher on me. No sweat though, it was not pass or fail. Just training. Cost: 1400 SEK or $230 USD (Check)

Step 5: Theory test. Get 54 out of 64 and you move on to the next square. Things to remember: NO right on red. STOP means stop. Whoever gets to the rondollen first has the right of way, not necessarily who has the momentum. Swedes also teach about the environmental impact of cars; the chemicals they produce, the hazards they create, the amount of fuel they consume and how best to save it. That was all just from the chapter Mon and I read through last night. Seven or eight other chapters in addition. My test is scheduled for the ninth of January. Cost for test 180 SEK or $30 USD. Cost for study materials: circa 600 SEK or $100 USD. Fortunately we were able to borrow the 2003 Swedish version from a co-worker. They come in at least English and Arabic also. (Results pending.)

Step 6: Driving test. I'll drive a car not my own with a tester. He or she will converse with me while I drive through changing speed limits and merging on to the expressway. Cost: 700 SEK or $120 USD. (To be scheduled.)

If everything goes okay they'll issue a license that will be good for 10 years. Luckily they give you a window of two years to get everything done. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, my Ohio DL expires in March so my window is about three months. I need to get this done so as not to mess up our m.o. since I am family taxi driver. Recently it's been suggested by some other expatriates that it would be good to renew my Ohio DL if I can. I hadn't considered it prior to the conversation. Whenever I go back to the States on vacation I'll be able to drive on my Swedish DL. If I'd been thinking back in May when I turned my plates in I should have renewed it then. Tricky thing now is that I'm no longer a resident of Ohio. I can vote in the Ohio primary but I may not be able to renew my license. I have an email into the registrar for further clarification. We shall see.

If anybody has any words of wisdom on renewing the Ohio license minus the snail, I am all ears.

Wish me luck.