Cleanliness in person, cleanliness in mind

I went to a university where students don't wear uniform, which can be pretty rare in the Philippines; I loved it! It gave me a wonderful notion of being independent for once -- no more neatly pressed blouses or skirts as flat as a floorboard, and black shoes and white socks. School year usually starts in May and I could still go to school wearing summer clothes: shorts and a t-shirt; when the rainy season came, I'd avoid jeans for they can be quite heavy when they get soaked in the rain and cold on your legs; when the December chill came, I would cover myself in cardigans and the ever constant jeans (air-conditioning in the classrooms could be intolerable); when the summer heat begins to seep through your pores, then you'll thank for the air-conditioners, and bring out the shorts. I've never seen anyone wore anything weird in campus, only those wearing skimpy shorts -- way even before hotpants came around, as popularized by big-bummed JLo.

On my trip to the office this morning, I boarded the train alongside a college student whose outfit caught my attention: neon-orange peplumed shorts, black shirt, black socks covering the rest of her legs (was it a tights? I'm not sure), and sneakers with bright, green laces. I got another peeved with students here: they go to school untidy. Primary and secondary students don't wear black leather shoes, but white, unbranded sneakers, which are prone to dirt and rarely washed. Aside from the white blouses that don't look white enough, kids look like they just got out off bed -- unwashed hair and all; I guess they don't teach good grooming and decorum in school, for this fairly reflect even to some of my colleagues. Take my cubicle neighbour as a very good example: he reeks of body odour, had some patches of reddish thingies on his neck (I dare not to look for they are tell-tale evidences of poor hygiene), and he scratches himself all the time: whenever he is not typing anything on his keyboard, whichever part of his body: hair, neck, tummy, arms, legs -- even his butt (God forbid!); this scratching doesn't halt even while he is talking to his boss discussing some system issues and it will go on even after the boss is long gone; and don't let me go on about his farting. Locals have a penchant of doing gross things, which Filipinos find shouldn't be done in public view: farting (okay, if you really can't help it), picking noses.

Filipinos have this gesture whenever we have to go through the midst of people talking in the hallway or whenever we want to do an overtake: we stoop a little and place our hands (or it can be just one hand) in front and say, Excuse me. They don't do it here; they'll simply say, Ello! Ello! (Hello! Hello!) I'm sometimes tempted to say, Who do you want to speak to?