My Experience changing my Drivers License today..

[CanuckmeetsYank 0]

I know a lot of people look to VJ for information about changing their licenses over. Just thought I would share my experice :

So I went to change my Alberta license here in Illinois, and after my experience in the Social Security Office I knew this was going to be fun. I went down there armed with all my documents required and my marriage certificate so that they could change it to my married name.

Well I got the the counter and told the young woman what I was there for and showed her my paper work. She immediatly asked her supervisor if my license was from Canada. He said to me that I didn't have a Canadian License. I said yes I do..its a Canadian license. He said no its not. I said Alberta is a province in Canada..that is my last address before here..he took off with my license to ask someone else if this was true. So while he was gone , she took my Birth Certificate and asked if Nova Scotia was in Austrailia. Then I realized these people have likey not left Chicago before now. I explained to her where Nova Scotia was to give her an idea. Finally the guys comes back with my Alberta license and says to the young woman "She's right. It's in Canada" sounding a bit surprised. I just laughted and thought to myself..wow...the majority of Americans really have no idea what is out there beyond their borders!

All in all it was not that difficult to change the license. I did have to do the Eye Exam and written exam before they would issue the Illinois one. Some states make you do the road test as well as the written.

Tick another one of a kind experience off my list, only found in America!

[Emancipation 2]

Hee hee.. that's a funny story!!! In my AOS Rant I put some of my frustrations down on the whole DL thing.. it's not easy to get a licence changed.. At least they did accept my DL as "Canadian". HOLY.. that's bad..

[raymaga 25]

I find most Americans have no clue about the provinces of Canada. Whenever I talk about having lived in Edmonton, I can tell by the look on their faces that they have never heard of it. I don't think Canada is covered in geography classes much here in the U.S.

Having been educated in Canada, I may not know exactly where every city (or even state) is situated in the U.S., but I certainly have heard of every major cities and ALL of the states.

My daughter who is attending college here in the U.S. says that her college courses are at the level she took in high school in Canada.

[lynamon 0]

Ever heard an American try to say Saskatchewan?? ... absolutely hilarious!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Not sure why it is called "united" states as each state has completely different rules when it comes to licensing. in VA was a very simple exchange of licensing, no exams whats so ever (besdies the eye exam) Glad it al went well and you had a good laugh.

[Mephys 2]

Im moving in Illinois....thats gonna be fun to exchange my Quebec's driver license..... Do they even know that some people speaks french in canada?

Edit: Ok just thought that I will definitely bring a map of canada with me where ever I go for any papers.

Edited March 7, 2007 by Mephys

[no one 0]

The ignorance is quite scary!

At lesat be glad you can convert your Alberta licence to an Illinois one I have to re-take the driving exams here in California (written & road tests) even though Ontario's G1 + G2 + G exam system is much more rigorous...

[piosenka 0]

I got a good laugh at that, but I just hate to see people like those DMV peeps ruin my educational credibility by thinking I know nothing that's going on outside of my borders. Hell, I will go as far as saying I do care what you guys think of me and the US bc I spend a lot of my time during the week reading and bonding with you guys, I can't help it!

If you're curious about growing up in the American educational system, all history and geography was extensively based on Europe, Asia and Africa. I will completely admit we never spent any time at all on Canada or Mexico except for a week or two in 7th grade, but I don't think it was necessarily put on the back burner on purpose... That definitely was not an excuse for those DMV workers, however. Most Americans know of all the provinces and major cities (including edmonton ) but maybe not the exact placement of each, just as I'm sure you view the US. (like raymaga said)

We kind of see the Canadian/US/Mexican relationship as being brothers, we like to pick on each other and make jokes, but in the end we know we're stuck with each other and we were made that way I just hope my Canadian fiance doesn't think so poorly of us and our education :/

[BelwinMills 0]

I know a lot of people look to VJ for information about changing their licenses over. Just thought I would share my experience :

So I went to change my Alberta license here in Illinois, and after my experience in the Social Security Office I knew this was going to be fun. I went down there armed with all my documents required and my marriage certificate so that they could change it to my married name.

Well I got the the counter and told the young woman what I was there for and showed her my paper work. She immediately asked her supervisor if my license was from Canada. He said to me that I didn't have a Canadian License. I said yes I do..its a Canadian license. He said no its not. I said Alberta is a province in Canada..that is my last address before here..he took off with my license to ask someone else if this was true. So while he was gone , she took my Birth Certificate and asked if Nova Scotia was in Australia. Then I realized these people have likey not left Chicago before now. I explained to her where Nova Scotia was to give her an idea. Finally the guys comes back with my Alberta license and says to the young woman "She's right. It's in Canada" sounding a bit surprised. I just laughed and thought to myself..wow...the majority of Americans really have no idea what is out there beyond their borders!

All in all it was not that difficult to change the license. I did have to do the Eye Exam and written exam before they would issue the Illinois one. Some states make you do the road test as well as the written.

Tick another one of a kind experience off my list, only found in America!

:lol:

That is very funny. We usualy in the USA just study American cities and regions. In highschool we can take geography as an elective if we want. Now that we have these state test we study towards them. That means math reading science.

So you didn't have to take the written or driving test here in IL? Wow!!! Just asking because my husband has a Jamaican licenses. How long could you drive on you CA licenses before you got your IL licenses?

Take Care

[CanuckmeetsYank 0]

I know a lot of people look to VJ for information about changing their licenses over. Just thought I would share my experience :

So I went to change my Alberta license here in Illinois, and after my experience in the Social Security Office I knew this was going to be fun. I went down there armed with all my documents required and my marriage certificate so that they could change it to my married name.

Well I got the the counter and told the young woman what I was there for and showed her my paper work. She immediately asked her supervisor if my license was from Canada. He said to me that I didn't have a Canadian License. I said yes I do..its a Canadian license. He said no its not. I said Alberta is a province in Canada..that is my last address before here..he took off with my license to ask someone else if this was true. So while he was gone , she took my Birth Certificate and asked if Nova Scotia was in Australia. Then I realized these people have likey not left Chicago before now. I explained to her where Nova Scotia was to give her an idea. Finally the guys comes back with my Alberta license and says to the young woman "She's right. It's in Canada" sounding a bit surprised. I just laughed and thought to myself..wow...the majority of Americans really have no idea what is out there beyond their borders!

All in all it was not that difficult to change the license. I did have to do the Eye Exam and written exam before they would issue the Illinois one. Some states make you do the road test as well as the written.

Tick another one of a kind experience off my list, only found in America!

That is very funny. We usualy in the USA just study American cities and regions. In highschool we can take geography as an elective if we want. Now that we have these state test we study towards them. That means math reading science.

So you didn't have to take the written or driving test here in IL? Wow!!! Just asking because my husband has a Jamaican licenses. How long could you drive on you CA licenses before you got your IL licenses?

Take Care

Well they will make you do the Eye Exam and the Written for sure..and in some cases they will have you do the Road exam. Everything I found before I went to the DMV just said they may or may not do the road exam, they don't say when they would have someone do the road test. But you could always call the DMV and ask just so your fiance can prepare when he is ready. All the best.

[Amy and Brian 1]

I took a World History course in high school when I was living in Texas. It was by far one of the most amusing classes I ever had to sit through. The entire section on Canada was literally 1/4 of a page in the textbook. Meanwhile, nearly every major event in the history of the world was somehow caused by/associated with the US in some way or another. My teacher even managed to bring up US history when teaching us about Ancient China. It was bizarre.

I had friends who were taking World Geography at the same time who were all excitied when they got to the classes where they learned about Canada. One of them came to me one day and said "we learned about Canada today in class! We know all about your providences now!" To which I, naturally, replied "You mean provinces, right?" And they assured me that, no, Canada has providences. Just like the capitol of Rhode Island! Afterwards I thought perhaps the teacher had merely used Providence, RI as tool to help the students remember the word provinces... but after further investigation it turned out that she was actually teaching people that Canada has 10 providences.

I never did have the nerve to ask what happened to the territories.

Edited March 7, 2007 by Amy and Brian

[cdancer 0]

2 months after my husband and I got married and we were still living apart jumping the K3 hoops. I was visiting one

weekend and thought I would go apply for an Oregon Drivers License at the local DMV. Read the book, did the drivers exam on a computer. The fellow next to me was doing his exam also ...but in spanish. We both finished at the same time and then did the eye exam....LOL ..the funny part he had to have an enterpriter help him with the eye exam...sorry but that just struck me as funny! maybe my canadian cents of humour!

The DMV instantly gave me an Oregon Licence (i was impressed). I then asked for my BC License back...and said no I could not have my BC License back because they hole punched it and destroyed it! &*%^ I thought you have

to be joking? I explained I had 2 residences one in Oregon and 1 in BC Canada. His attitude was...since I now

have an Oregon drivers license " I am now an OREGONIAN" ...what the faaa.......

I returned to BC and got another BC Drivers License...fooled him! LOL

[no one 0]

The DMV instantly gave me an Oregon Licence (i was impressed). I then asked for my BC License back...and said no I could not have my BC License back because they hole punched it and destroyed it! &*%^ I thought you have

to be joking? I explained I had 2 residences one in Oregon and 1 in BC Canada. His attitude was...since I now

have an Oregon drivers license " I am now an OREGONIAN" ...what the faaa.......

I returned to BC and got another BC Drivers License...fooled him! LOL

Apparently that's what many people do when the U.S. DMVs void their Canadian licences! Too bad I didn't know that beforehand (not that it matters too much), and had purposefully avoided letting the CA DMV know that I have an Ontario licence. The only difference here is that I now have a learner's permit (must be accompanied by a licenced driver) and not a temporary licence until I get my full licence.

[larrysgirl 0]

I had to take an eye exam and do a written test to get my Hawaii DL. Some of the multiple choice answers made me giggle, for example:

When is it legal to drink while driving?

1) Never

2) In the back of the pick up truck

3) Only on the highway

4) When you are a passenger

This is not surprising since nobody here wears helmets while they are on their motorcycles or scooters and there are always huge groups of people sitting in the back of pick up trucks, usually drinking.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Some of you had some real interesting experiences...

When I was in high school, we learned about World History and Geography. The World History course was barely over the U.S. at all -- it was, as stated, a World History course and covered such. The topics ranged from the ancient Sumerians to modern-day people all over the globe. But it certainly wasn't centered on the United States. We had two courses over U.S. History for that. The Geography course didn't cover a whole lot of Canada or Mexico, but it did cover some of it (I suppose the rationale was that since we're all neighbors, people probably know more about each other than the faraway countries) and mostly centered on Europe and Asia, with very little concentration given to Africa.

Most Americans, from what I've gathered, do have knowledge about the more well-known places in Canada (for instance, Vancouver, BC or Toronto, Ontario, etc), but some of the obscure places might be a bit more difficult for some Americans to nail down. As someone else said in this thread, many Americans might also not have a grasp on where exactly each province or city is, but they'll still have some basic knowledge about it.

I think the OP just ran into some morons. That's not surprising. It was the DMV, after all.