The apartment that I live in is quiet.
For the past four years, I’ve lived in this quiet apartment. I’m on the fourth floor of this four floor apartment complex in the very far corner. My neighbor in room 406 moved out in April and the only room that I have to worry about noise coming from is 305, directly right under me. So far so good.
The main reason for choosing this apartment was because it’s close to the North 24 area. Go to my favorites bars and walk home a bit tipsy in about five minutes. Can you do that?
I’ve got only two rooms in this place and they’re basically connected. It’s enough for a single male but there are some people in this apartment complex that live together. I wonder how they manage not to choke each other from never being able to escape from each other. I think I’d go crazy after a few months.
Another good feature of my apartment is it faces south. There’s usually light flowing into the two rooms and I can see the green mountains in summer. It’s worth having a place with a view.
In my last apartment in Japan, the situation was grim for the last year of living there. I was sandwiched between two dwellings.
I still recall, in my first year, the woman next door would watch TV late into the night. She must’ve had a job working at some bar close by. I would sometimes bang on the wall and it seemed like she got the hint. But then there was that one time in summer when she decided to watch TV in the middle of the night with the balcony door wide open. I got pissed off and screamed, “Come on... cut the racket!”. The balcony door shut pretty quickly and the volume of the TV went down. Success!
A few years later, a university student moved into the apartment directly below me. Things were all right at the beginning but then this pathetic loser started to invite his buddies over to play video games all night. I was using a futon at that time and the noise couldn’t be avoided. This would sometimes go on until four a.m.!
I would frequently bang on the floor and the noise wouldn’t cease. On a few nights, I went down to his door and rang it over and over, yet he wouldn’t open the door.
At this point, what would the best solution be? Call the landlord (but I’d have to phone the real estate agency first since the tenant in Japan doesn’t contact the mighty landlord directly). Get revenge on the guy? Probably not the best idea since I’d get arrested or get deported.
I guess at this point I decided to get out of the apartment (it was too small anyway). I moved roughly four blocks away and I’ve been happy since.
I’m sure we’ve all experienced living next to nincompoops, right?
