Noise

Every so often, I think of some ordinary bit of daily life here and how I should blog about it. Just b/c I'm used to it and think it's normal doesn't mean it's something I ever experienced in the US.

So, noise and the lack of is today's topic. It's probably boring, and I'll probably ramble, but I'm writing it anyway.

Japan is both the quietest and loudest place I've been to (well, not Bangkok type loud). All at the same time. When we first arrived here, nearly a year ago, our introduction to Japan was the library-like quiet of Narita airport. It was spooky almost. And, we were jet lagged so that added quiet the surreal feeling to it all. It was also that quiet when, 6 months later, I went to pick up Casey and Justin. My dog of course went kind of nuts in her crate upon seeing me for the first time in 6 months, so I had to greet her and calm her down first. And, the Japanese aren't really into PDA, so I had to quietly greet the husband I hadn't seen in 3 months. My parents still give me grief for greeting the dog first (which they just had to ask about which shows you they actually do know me), but they would have understood had they been there. I couldn't let her bark in a library!

So, what's loud? Akihabara, the tech district in Japan, for one. All the vendors stand outside their store hollering into megaphones. But, that's unique, so it doesn't really count. Grocery stores are loud. People don't talk, but they have these TVs playing 30 second loops set up around the store (drives me crazy, and I don't even know what they're saying!). Our sports store has a 2 minute loop that plays constantly over the store's loudspeaker. Takeda Spoooorts! It's loud, obnoxious, and everything else in the store is silent. Oh, and usually these ads consist of J-pop type music with a woman with a high pitched voice just talking talking talking. Really high pitched voice. Also loud; vans. I posted about the vans driving around campaigning during election time, but that's not the only time they do that. I still have no idea what they're saying, but I'm assuming they're advertising something.

And then there are the bells. They play at 6am, noon, 6pm and 8pm. These aren't church bells. They're town bells, and I've heard them in other towns, too, although not in big cities like Tokyo. The noon bell is what I most often hear, and it blasts Edelweiss. Our house is too far from the center of town to hear the bells from home, so I only hear the other ones if I happen to be driving around at those times. Therefore, I've probably never heard the 6am one. I heard When You Wish Upon A Star last night at 6pm, but that's not the normal song. Apparently, they're to encourage community unity and signal the times to wake up, eat lunch, eat dinner, and go to bed. Here, unlike in America, individuality is not a virtue. I've gotten used to them and think nothing of it other than, oh, it must be noon now, but when I actually think about it, it's a really good symbol of how subtly different it is living here.

The last thing I notice isn't really unique to Japan. It just occurs to me every now and again that I never hear city noises. I'm not in a city, so that shouldn't be surprising, but on rare occasions, I'll be on base and hear a fire engine, and then it occurs to me that I hadn't heard one in literally months. The local fire engines have a bell that they clang instead of a siren. I hear them occasionally, but they're not intrusive in the way a siren is. I don't hear police sirens or car alarms or house alarms or any of the other noises that I'd acclimated to in my city life prior to moving here. It's amazing how peaceful life can be without them. It's one of those things I don't consciously notice until it's interrupted. Going on base is a completely different feeling, especially when the fighter jets are taking off. I haaaate them. So loud. That's why we chose to live where we did; we can't hear them out here (and we're only a 10 minute drive away, but we're not in the flight path). So, it further encourages me to stay off base as much as possible, a difficult proposition when that's where my mail and class are located, but I try.

There, I filled paragraphs on a mundane topic like noise. All my teachers who hated me being so succinct would be proud.