Driving Forward

About a week and a half ago, with mixed hesitation, excitement, pride and apprehension, exchanged a small piece of my Canadian identity for a larger, slowly rooting French one. Another official piece of the French puzzle was put in place, as I handed over my Ontario driver’s licence for a French permit… or at least one step closer toward an actual French licence, as I received in exchange a piece of paper attesting to a French licence that I should receive in the mail. Please read my post on my AngloInfo Blog for more about that day.

Temporary French Permit

Now to be completely honest, my reason for exchanging my licence was more about dreading the prospect of having to pass a French written and driving exam, and less about wanting a French licence; but the ease of the exchange was helpful, and I only had to submit missing or incomplete documents once for this particular piece of the French pie! Okay so that missing piece was ridiculous and silly and I had to prove that I lived in Canada for the first 6 months of having my licence (Why? Great question, I wish I knew?) Thank-you St. Thomas of Villanova for my school transcripts, and thank-you Sarah & Shawn for picking them up and hand delivering them to me in France! But perhaps my greatest gratitude is that I made it in before one year to exchange my licence, avoiding the mandatory French exam. Having failed my beginners once and my road test twice in Canada (okay so I am not painting a good picture of myself here ;) I was terrified of the idea of having to prove I could drive in France, in French! And as I have described the French road rules in the past, I will only say that safe driving = aggressive, defensive, assured, hyper observant and confident driving. There is no room for apprehension, confusion, braking or fear on the fierce roads of France! So a huge halleluiah for that!

 

Even though it is such a simple part of life, and it is only a card (with perhaps one of the best pictures of me on a government issued ID – I snuck in a slight smile, so I don’t look haunted and pissed off, like most official ID pictures), there is still a sense of a swapping identity, and a slight loss of my Canadian one.  A few days after the licence exchange, I saw a video that while highlighting some very renowned Canadian stereotypes made me laugh and long to preserve and maintain my Canadian sense of self and identity! While I navigate the waters of national and cultural identity and continue to paint and piece together the puzzle of my life, I know that I will always remain rooted to my upbringing, experiences and memories of Canada!

Video - Canada (by Low)