Do you like to drive in Samoan?

After using various forms of public (VTA) and alternative means of transportation (skateboard, rollerblades and a bicycle), it was time to purchase a car. After all, Car is King in California. Highways have eight or more lanes and there is an exit every mile. Bike lanes or sidewalks on the contrary are most often non existent. Many of the people I got to know by then, owned on average two cars, and often had one permanently stalled in the driveway. Americans love their cars. They love owning them, driving them and working on them. Since there is no mandatory yearly safety checkup, you encounter some real disasters on the freeways. One car was literaly kept together by tape. You will also encounter cars of every age. And nothing could be cooler than working on your American classic muscle car.Dealerships have made it very easy to buy a new car. You don't even have to put money on the table and off you are in the new 2005 model*.

Purchasing a car first ment time to get a California Drivers' License at the Department of Motor Vehicles ("the DMV"). While often ridiculed for the long lines and bureaucracy, the California DMV is currently a very modern and computerized department. Most paperwork can now be obtained and filed online.

Obtaining a Drivers' License was a bizarre experience. First of all, the theoretical exam is a walk in the park. However it can be very tricky. One question I still remember today: "If you get caught spraying graffiti, your drivers' license will be a) suspended b) suspended/delayed till you are at least 21 years old c) not affected."** What this had to do with being a safe driver and knowing the road rules, was a mystery to me. For a flavour of the current exams, check out some of the sample tests. As I paid the $12 registration fee, the office clerk asked me in which language did I want to take the test. "Huh? In which language? .. English", I said, "but what are my choices?" "I am glad you asked", he said, and rattled of a list of languages. Besides English, the basic Class C written driver license exam is also available in the following languages:

Amharic	Arabic	Armenian	Cambodian
Chinese	Croatian	French	German
Greek	Hebrew	Hindi	Hmong
Hungarian	Indonesian	Italian	Japanese
Korean	Laotian	Persian/Farsi	Polish
Portuguese	Punjabi	Romanian	Russian
Samoan	Spanish	Tagalog/Filipino	Thai
Tongan	Turkish	Vietnamese

Besides English, the basic Class C audio driver license exam is also available in the following languages:

Armenian	Chinese/Mandarin	Hindi	Hmong
Japanese	Korean	Portuguese	Punjabi
Russian	Spanish	Vietnamese

Since I had studied the Driver's handbook in English, I opted for English. But I found it bizarre that English is not a requirement to drive a car. Will the California Highway Patrol dispatch a translator when they pull a Laotian over, unable to speak a word of English?
Give me a break! As English is the official language, English should be the only language in which you can take the Drivers' Exam. And let's save a few trees and dollars translating and printing the Driver's handbooks and exams in the various languages. (Or at least add Dutch/Flemish.)

* It's somewhat a mystery to me that the 2005 model gets delivered to the show rooms by summer 2004. The 2005 model should arrive in January 2005.
** If I remember correctly, your drivers' license will be b) delayed/suspended till at least 21 years of age.

What race are you?

Last week, our little family expanded as we celebrated the birth of our daughter. The birth certificate application and several medical files required us to categorize her heritage. Is she black, caucasian, hispanic (if so, from where), indian or asian? We didn't know how to answer this question. I am not even sure I understand the definitions of each category. I am Belgian. My wife is from Argentina. And as for many Argentineans, her family tree extends to Europe. So, is my daughter caucasian, hispanic or both? Or, will she, as many Americans I met, go through live as a "percentage person": x% caucasian and y%hispanic? I suspect she won't be a percentage person, as she isn't part of the perfect 3-I's: she is neither Irish, nor Italian, nor Indian. The American Uber-person is 45% Italian, 45% Irish and 10% Cherokee, Apachian or any other native American nomad. Sure a little German sprinkled here or there doesn't hurt either. But Belgian or Argentinean? Unless it is a world cup soccer year, or you are sitting at a bbq table drinking beer, it doesn't count for any brownie points. We decided to enroll her into the caucasian program. I can't remember what we decided for my son, more than two years ago. Opportunisticaly, he might have been categorized as being hispanic. Even though California prohibited affirmative action in 1996, many other states and universities still favour affirmative action [1] [2]. In such case, we probably wanted to keep the door at least half open for him. I can not remember. Nevertheless, I feel strongly opposed to affirmative action (or any form of discrimination). The fact that such laws are still around in many states just shows that the United States are not the perfect melting pot we were taught about in secondary school. And that race is still a huge deal in day to day life of many Americans. I hope that neither my son nor daughter will ever have to pull out the race card.

flanders.california.usa - The Beginning

Nine years ago, I left my home in Flanders for the West coast of the United States. California and the Bay Area have been my new home ever since. I couldn't have landed in a more fun and interesting area of California. Sure, Los Angeles and San Diego are very nice places. And California is just as wacky of a state as the East coasters make you believe. However, it is San Francisco that has kept me here.