The rules of life

Culture shock comes from the most unexpected places.

One would expect to find culture shock in places like crowded markets, public bathrooms, church etc. I failed to find culture shock in those places, and it was rather dissapointing. I did, however, find more than I had ever wanted when I read through the teachers's policy manual.
I suppose a basic assumption of my life has been that as one grows older jobs take more and more time. This assumption goes unchanged. However, I had thought that the limits placed on one's personal time would become something one simply assumed. The policy manual doesn't let you assume anything. In the first few pages it struts about like a Nazi general, smacking people with a riding crop and telling them to be happy Christians on pain of death. The next few pages are spent explaining how all teachers must go to every church and school event, period. I had expected both of these rules, but I hadn't expected them to be layed out with such venemous clarity.

On the upside, if I stay here for more than a year I am, in fact, allowed to date the locals. Oh boy.

My appartment has no hot water. Thus far this has not proved to be much of a problem, since the heat is so oppressive. The stove has no gas. This would be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that there are no pots or pans anyway. Fortunately I have free meals at the cafe, but that luck will run out over the weekend because of a national holiday. I'll figure something out though.

Something that I noticed about Seoul the first time I came here was that the trafic was constant and noisy pretty much 24/7. It's gotten worse since then. It's still about as thick all through the day, but now it's noisier around five in the morning. Apperantly this is the time when all the yahoo's like to go out for a ride, pealing out on their motorcycles as they weave back and forth between the lumbering busses. It also became apperant that 5:00 am is the officially designated time for all jackhammering to be done. Honestly, I never heard it during the day.

The t-shirts around here give one a feeling of home. That is, of course, assuming that one's home is an asian country full of odd t-shirts. Yesterday I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said

He has a feeling of great roughness
Full of many close allys
Musicallness unlike any other
David Beckham

No doubt Mr. Beckham would have been pleased to learn about his great musicallness. Oddly enough, no mention was made of his soccer skills. Maybe there are two Beckhams, one playing for L.A. Galaxy and one composing beautiful "musicallness" as a creative outlet for his "great roughness". This still doesn't answer the question of how one can be crammed full of a bunch of side streets.

Sounds painful. I for one would like to avoid it.

Email me people, I'm bored.