한ñol: Acute Culture Shock

Acute Culture shock is something that is a little hard to understand. It doesn't really make a mention in the dictionary, but for lack of a lexical example, let me define it as encountering a situation that in direct contradiction of your cultural value set, but considered normal by those around you. Learning to deal with these acute shocks is a part of handling culture shock and the process of cultural acclimatization.
I have had some interesting experiences with differing culture each of which leave me a little more able to deal with the world and its complexity.
From the first time you saw the road between your feet in a taxi, which didn't stop for red lights, to the time the airliner had rust on the inside and all of the safety instructions were in a language that no one understood.
From seeing a group of rats in the street bigger and happier than hamsters in a yard, to the time you ate a hamster with potato and red wine.
From seeing people letting their children pee and defecate in the street and leaving it there to seeing a dead puppy left in the street all day.
From seeing people let their children run around in the street at all hours of the night to seeing gangs of young children that fend for themselves because their parents either don't care for them or have abandoned them.

Every time this acute shock happens you have to move the outer limits of your ideas on what is possible within human society and everything you know is likewise readjusted to reflect the new scale. Something that was previously the worst that could happen is now further towards acceptable practice.
It seems to happen a lot in Korea due to the lack of extenuating circumstance. Korea is a wealthy nation with a well educated populace. Experiencing things of that nature here can't really be tempered with the justification of the lack of alternatives.

I noticed a few months ago that a student of mine, 6 years of age was playing with a syringe. The syringe had a blunt point, but was still a dangerous item. I quizzed him on where it came from, thinking it was probably from some science class or something. Students here seem to use equipment that is not really given to small children in Australia, cutting knives, normal (not safety scissors) etc. He said that he bought it and I assumed that it was meant for some purpose. Part of an experiment or for applying lubricant to robot parts etc.

From School syringe

Over the next few months I saw a few more of them, and worryingly children running around outside using them as water pistols. I asked another teacher about them and they seemed not to understand the issue that I was pointing out.

I recently found that one of the street shops at the front of the school sells these needles for 300won, less than 30 cents each. I told Sumin about it and she didn't seem shocked and said that people used the same thing as water pistols when she went to school.
I am amazed that something that would be considered a deadly weapon in my country would be sold to children in Korea. I have even read about syringes being used as a weapon in china, not far from here. It seems that Koreans refuse to believe that children aren't capable of hurting each other deliberately, as they are all angels and they don't seem to think that they could have a lethal accident with such a thing. I think it is irresponsible to sell such a thing to children, as they pose a very real risk of grievous injury that the children don't understand. These are children that have no compunctions about shooting each other with BB guns and hitting each other with play swords. To think that they wouldn't hurt themselves with such a thing is negligent in my opinion. They are blunt, in that they aren't razor sharp like the hypodermic needles, but they are still sharp and they still are very capable of taking out an eye, or injecting a clumsy child or a playmate with septic water or air.