My second week of work is over. It was a pretty quiet week - I had two training sessions which shortened my work day, and after that first 9-day week, it went by pretty quickly! Yesterday I taught late - from 120-9pm - and at the end of the first class, my student asked whether I was tired and told me to look after myself! So I'm being very lazy today...
I'm starting to realize what a noisy country this is. For a start, there are bells everywhere. At Nova the London Chimes are played twice at the beginning of a lesson and again at the end. Across the street is a Pachinko parlour and every time the doors open, inane music plays. Last week I went home and sat in my room quietly, only to find that the Pachinko music was still in my head and wouldn't leave!
On the station and in the train, it's never quiet. Bells announce when a train is entering or leaving the station, accompanied by a whirling yellow light on the wall under the platform. Bells let you know that the doors are opening and tell you when they're closing. Recorded messages - and the driver's own nasal repetition of same - inform passengers over and over again of where the train is going, which station is next, and of any transfers which may be made at that station. These messages are also played over the platforms a couple of times before the train actually arrives. In a station with 5 platforms, it's pretty much continuous. That's how I'm learning Japanese so far - by matching up what I hear with what I read!
Some cross walks beep to let you know when the "Walk" signal is on - it sounds like a cuckoo clock. In the pedestrian zones of some towns, banners hang from lamp posts to tell you what this area is called, and bland, syrupy music plays from loudspeakers on top of the posts. Yes, I know other countries have this too, and I know it's so that people who cannot see the "Walk" signal know when it's safe to cross. But here it's just one more noise amongst all the layers.
A new gas station opened very near my house yesterday. There was a ceremony where all the staff stood in well-formed rows beside the pumps while somebody made a speech. Along the sidewalk and in front of the garage, there are huge round floral displays, covered in plastic and mounted like easels. Whenever a vehicle enters, it sounds like the entire staff yells a big welcome to the occupants. People are already asking our landlord to talk to them about it! As I left the house today, I watched as an attendant actually stood in front of a car as it pulled in, indicating precisely where to stop beside the pump, and then bowed ceremoniously to the driver.
As I may have sometimes said before, the similarities between "developed" countries just make the differences stand out even more. As I start to settle in a bit, I'll try to tell you more about them. And today's subject was NOISE!
Copyright Ailsa Wylie 1999