Settled

It looks as if life has finally developed a degree of a routine around here. Personally I like it like that. I mean...I like having a good idea of what I am going to do each day, a plan, ideals...whatever.

And now that school has "officially" started I can start this whole education gig.

I've actually only had one class so far, Room Divisions Management. So I'm going to keep those comments until I've had more classes and can go off on how different everything is, the teachers, yada yada yada.

What I really want to talk about is Magnus. Magnus the crazy Swede.

This guy is a character. He's either going to go really far or go down in a ball of fire. Oddly enough he reminds me a bit of me in the past...making foolish mistakes, getting fired up over silly things, and not adjusting to rules very well.

Magnus came here with very little money...so he has to live a very frugal life. Now that is certainly something I can understand and appreciate. It's tough hanging around people that have money when you don't. But he makes the best of it...by borrowing lots of things.

But man does this guy struggle with the rules. For some rather strange reason his girlfriend is here. Now the school rules say you can't have any guests in your room after 10 pm. Of course people do, and of course they accept that they are breaking the rules. It's not a big deal...unless you get caught. And just having other students in the room isn't really a big deal. But this is not a student, she doesn't speak English, and our rooms get cleaned every day and we have random room checks starting next week (we've got to keep our rooms neat and tidy, and can't have illegal stuff in 'em). Yeah...that is a bit of an annoyance but hey...rules are rules. It doesn't bother me much.

She can't eat at the campus restaurants...even if she borrowed someones uniform as we all have to sign in for meals. She can't be seen around our rooms after 10 pm...and it will be a bit hard to explain to the room cleaners what she is doing there (will they report it? I dunno). Foolish.

And this guy just freaks out about all kinds of things. He borrowed a bunch of DVDs from people so his girlfriend can watch them during the day. As you may or may not know different countries DVDs are coded different ways...and the school laptops only allow you to switch codes 4 times before the program is permanently set. Sadly he switched back and forth too many times...tried a US DVD and the computer won't play it. He went nuts...bitching about how the school is screwing him etc etc. Dude! Deal with it! Blame the school...bah!

Oh I could go on and on about this...his girlfriend appears to be a very picky eater...so he went and bought all this salad stuff...a giant bag of mixed greens, dressing, tuna, tomatos, and other things. I asked him what he was going to do with the leftovers...considering that yesterday it was in the mid to high 80s and our rooms don't have AC. He didn't know. Luckily it rained today and kept everything cool...but we are getting hot weather again soon. That lettuce...that giant bag...is going to be AWFUL in a couple days...and don't even think about the tuna, ugh.

The funny thing is...this is not a unique situation. OK, it is to a degree...I've yet to meet someone else that is making these sort of lunatic mistakes. But there are a lot of people here that just can't seem to hang with the rules...and especially with the consequences. A lot of people tell me that all the rules in America are outrageous. The whole "warning: coffee served hot!" thing blows peoples minds. So perhaps I am a bit more comfortable with the regulations involved here. But some...wow, they simply can't handle it. They argue, they fight, they blatantly break them. Why? Civil disobediance is a good thing...when the rules are unjust. But come on...bitching and moaning 'cause you have to shave your goatee...not shaving...getting in trouble...shaving it off...then grumbling all the time about it...I'm sorry but tough shit kid. You can grow all the hair you want later. Hell...you want some of mine?

There are lots of differences (duh) between all the countries in the world. There are things Country X does better than Country Y. I could go on and on about all that. But we are all, of course, very similar in a lot of ways. Things here...although different...aren't exactly what I'd call "foreign". They are simply "different". And yeah some of those differences are a pain in the ass. But it isn't too hard to adapt, deal, and move on...is it? Perhaps I am just more mature. That is actually the case, and it sorta freaks me out. Sorta.