March 16, 2007

• please just shut up

  It must be election season, because people in white vans with huge megaphones have been roaming the streets near my apartment introducing candidates to me, while simultaneously reminding me of how thin the walls of this building really are.

  I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood actually. My room doesn’t face the street or train tracks, and I’m not living above a curry shop or karaoke bar, as is the fate of some other gaijin-apartment dwellers. But to ever expect total silence would be foolish; as there is always some noise from cars, construction, or people. But nothing is more annoying than those damn vans, screaming at me to make the country better by everyone putting in their strength or some crap like that. This sort of blatant noise pollution pisses me off- mainly because it must be somewhat effective if people continue to do it. If I lived here I would start some mass movement not to vote for any candidate who utilizes the vans- the voting rate is so low that might actually make some impact. Either that or I would start a movement to throw eggs at them as they pass by.

  By the by, just within the span of writing those two paragraphs there have been 4 vans within earshot; two of them simultaneously. Update: in the span of writing that sentence there have been 2 more.

  Sometimes the inside of my head feels like I’m four feet away from one of those vans. I can be completely exhausted from 9:30, and can’t wait to go to bed. But for some reason as soon as my head hits the pillow some switch goes on in my brain. All the conversations from the day, all the things I’m worried about, all the things I have to do tomorrow: they all come at me all at once when I’m trying to sleep. Especially if someone said something that annoyed or angered me, I start arguing with them in my head, thinking about how wrong they are, coming up with all these comebacks and talking points. But unfortunately, just as I can’t say anything to the idiots in the vans, I can’t respond properly to all the voices. I just come up with all these problems and, lying in bed, there are no solutions at hand. So as my body fatigues my mind works itself into a complete frenzy, worsening still once I realize how late it is and what time I have to get up the next day.

  I get so jealous of people who can sleep well. It always takes me at least a half hour to go to sleep, no matter how tired I am. And if any little thing is on my mind it can take twice that long. And I’m fussy about my environment too; any crack of light from the door or window will torment me for at least 45 minutes, and if someone is snoring or if the room is hot I can probably forget about getting to sleep for the next 2 or 3 hours.

   

  • 10:57 pm
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