Practical Hungarian Drivers Test
It was hot. A sweat-down-the-back, humidity-you-can-karate-chop kind of day. As nervous as I (Jenn) was about the practical driving test, I was thankful to get in the car with the examiner and my driving instructor (Janós) because at least the little VW was making an attempt at air conditioning. After dutifully jiggling the steering wheel and counting the emergency brake clicks we were off, pausing for the brake check after driving two meters of course. It wasn’t long before we were in a place I didn’t remember from my driving lessons and not long after that I made a mistake. The examiner told Janós who translated the instructions for me, “Pull over here and stop”. I was sure the next instruction would be to trade places with Janós and the Ride of Shame back to the testing place would begin. But before I could unbuckle the examiner said something to Janós and he was out of the car walking down the street. After a pause, Janós explained that we were in fact not on an official test route, the examiner needed some paperwork from a nearby office and had decided not to fail me even though he noticed my mistake. When the examiner got back in the car he directed me back to the testing center, shook my hand and said, “Congratulations”. It wasn’t until Janós handed my passport back to me that the relieved laughing and back thumping started. I’m not sure who was the most surprised. Dave was up next. He had the same examiner who Janós described as “in the middle” – not too strict, but not easy. The test is supposed to last 50 minutes, contain 3 parking and 1 turning maneuver, unless you fail which results in an immediate Ride of Shame. When I saw the examiner walk past my bench 15 minutes later I prepared my best I’m-Sorry-You-Failed face and waited for Dave. However, when he met me it was with passing paperwork in hand. Apparently Janós had convinced the examiner that Dave was an experienced driver and deserved to pass so after a leisurely drive through several roundabouts he too got a “Congratulations” hand shake. We have two more office visits before we can be issued a license. So, more than a year after we started the process we have passed all the driving tests with nary a single parking maneuver! Your prayers for an understanding, and even indulgent examiner were answered! Thank You!
Pray With Us
Thank you, thank you for praying for us and our examiner during our driving test. It was obvious that God arranged the circumstances of our test and we were able to use them to point Janós towards Christ. Please pray with us that God will draw Janós into a relationship with him. On the same note, please pray for a particular family we had over for lunch last weekend. They were very interested in why we would live here. We were able to share some our story with them -how God has called us to Hungary. Please pray with us that God will open their hearts to his Truth and that God will use us in that process as he sees fit.
