Quote Originally Posted by Brontosaurus View Post
To obtain my American driver's license in the late 1970s, everything was done with an automatic transmission. Around two weeks after I received it, my father took me to a parking lot to learn how to drive his Volkswagen Beetle with a stick-shift. Took me a couple of days like this to get the hang of it. Simple as that, no new license needed. Once learned, it was hard to go back. Sort of like returning to carts after shaving with a straight. I like that in France, most cars have a standard (manual) transmission. But like in Britain, if one passes an exam with an automatic transmission one still has to pass an exam for the manual transmission. I shiver to think what would happen if I sought to obtain a French driver's license (I have an American one that is recognized in France). After some 40+ years of driving, I'd probably fail the test given all the minute conditions they would have in place. Driving schools are an incredible racket here.
Your'e lucky that you can drive forever on a US license.

When I came to Canada, I drove on my UK license for 6 months before discovering that I could only use it for 1 month.

I was panicking big time because i would need a Canadian driving test. I was psyching myself up for a driving test in a foreign country for a month before applying but as luck would have it an agreement was reached enabling me to exchange my license for a Canadian one.

I only got my car license though, I lost my PSV for buses, my HGV1 for semi's, my H for track laying vehicles (tank driver in the army), and my motorbike license. Bummer really because i had worked hard for those entitlements but I'm too old to use them anyway and at least I can drive the car legally.