White Noise

When I arrived in China, one of the biggest adjustments I unexpectedly had to make was getting use to the noise pollution. If you thought New York City was loud, come take a walk through Jingzhou.

Cars and motor bikes honk obsessively. Even if there is nothing in their way, they still continue to honk as if asserting their authority. Chinese talk louder than the average American and, if there's no one to converse with, people boast their singing voice. (Although, I do find the love of song endearing.) Most shout into their cell phone as oftentimes the reception is horrible. My conversation with friends has been drowned out by the loud, one-end phone conversation of the passenger sitting behind us on the bus. When shopping, every store blares it's own music at top-volume, seemingly unaware that their playlist can't be distinguished while it just adds to the chaos of sound bombarding the sidewalks - which also includes street vendors shouting at you. Everywhere you go there seems to be construction so the clinking and clanking of large machinery rings in your ears. Currently, they are repaving the road near my apartment. (China is certainly changing and developing quickly.) At night, you can hear the barking of stray dogs and an occasional shout from local folk walking through campus.

Admitedly, I still have not adapted to all this noise. But just when I think I have managed to ignore the constant humdrum of life in China, allowing it to fade into white noise in the background, I hear the firecrackers. The local residents here LOVE firecrackers! They set them off daily for no apparent celebratory reason. On more than one occasion, I have awoken early in the morning to the echoing blasts somewhere outside my window. The first time it happened, I jumped out of bed alarmed at the racket. Just today in class, I had to stop teaching for five minutes as we waited for the boom of firecrackers to cease!