thoughts

I didn't want to turn this into one of those blogs where it gets opinionated or inflated with nonsense. However, I seem to have an ongoing problem with no one here to really talk to. Throughout my adult life, I've had people I can turn to as sounding boards to check my thoughts, reactions, and behaviors. I don't have that here or, at least, not yet. I also use writing as a way to deal with stress and anxiety. I don't do well with medication, so I need to have cognitive ways of getting things out.

I want to use this blog in part to write observations that I would talk with certain people about. (Of course, I'm going to omit much, because this is a public blog.) These will be random at best. These will probably also be culturally based norms, because there are differences in every culture - some good and some not so good.

What I am think about today:

Doors, windows, space, and hunch backs

Throughout everyday, I find my peace interrupted by slamming of doors. It doesn't matter where I go. It can be in a test room. It can be the stalls of a bathroom. Doors are slammed. People of all ages slam doors here. I asked the students one time if they do the same at home and they said no. The answer I received was something like they don't care.  

Every time a program is playing on a television or I go to chapel or a church service, the volume is always elevated. I realize that this is the same in many churches in the States. Not new. What is different for me is the television blasting at a high volume. 

I know my ears are suffering with all of this volume. Fortunately, I found a way to compensate when I can't hear my students. I also have acoustic filters in case I am stuck in a situation I can't get out of.

Windows

I have seen windows stay continuously opened here. Doesn't matter what the temperature is or if there is air pollution. I'm wondering if the windows will remain open when the day time temp is freezing in the winter.

Space

Everything here is very tight spaced. Getting in and out of a car has been an extra chore for me since I drove a SUV for so many years. First, I have to push myself up and out of the car without hitting my head. I'm used to basically just sliding out. Second, I have to maneuver a back, a lunch bag, and a liter sized, metal water bottle as I performing all of this. Finally, I have to avoid hitting the car next to us. The car door is the first avoidance. Then there is myself of course. By the time I get out of the car, I look like a bumbled mess and have to collect myself. I realize this is a small country, but a few inches more space would make a lot of difference.

Hunched Backs

The broom and dust pan for the classroom look like they are for children. I would say they are maybe 2.5 or 3 feet tall. I stopped sweeping the classroom everyday, because my back was hurting. I only do Fridays before I leave. This led me to wonder about the older generation of women. Many that I see have hunched backs, so it makes me wonder about equipment they have used for their households. Is everything shorter so they wind up hunching over to do the chores of life? Is this the reason for the hunching? I'm guessing at least the hard work. My posture is not good to begin with, so I'm trying not to repeat this hunching tendency that runs in my family as well. I've already got rounded shoulders, so I am very aware when I see this tendency in others.

These are my observations for now. I'll probably write some nonsense later like about the fact that I like rice cakes. I get a bunch every week to compensate for the fact I don't eat sweets.