The speed of life in America

I love America. There are rules. People follow the rules. People enforce the rules. Some of the rules we know. Some of them are just culturally implicit. The speed one drives a car is an explicit rule. We know it. Sometimes we don't see the signs… sometimes we just don't obey them. At the end of the month, the cops are out and watching to catch speeding drivers and I got stopped. 3 days I've been back in America and I've been stopped by the police. She was unmerciful. I was all of 10 feet into the zone were the speed changed from 35 to 30 and she had me clocked at 37. So I now have to pay a ticket.

I'm in enough culture shock that milk is nearly $4 a gallon, but a speeding ticket at $120 is about to break the bank. I couldn't believe it was so expensive. Gas has increased $0.70 / gallon since I left. I know that I'll get used to it, but I do want to hold on to my new awareness and my bi-culturality.

I'm also reeling a bit at the busyness of our lives here. We go from one task to the next without much resting and relaxation. Amy and I are literally discussing creating a calendar to make sure we SCHEDULE our relaxing time… I know that I’m not always spontaneous, but whoa.