EXPATRIATE LIFE IN SAIGON: My Dear Neighbor

A view of my neighbor from the living room.

Here’s my neighbor again, chanting with a loud speaker.

Do I have a choice?

I live in one of the nice apartments in Sky Garden 3, Phu My Hung. Across our building is a small house converted into a Buddhist Temple.  Weeks after we moved in, Paul started complaining on noise coming from that house, a Buddhist chant on speaker.

Paul works only two hours during weekdays, so he won’t miss the morning chant.  I get out of the apartment early and spent most of my time at work, so I can’t understand his complaints.   I thought “oh God typical English” but in order not to whine him up, I just ride with his issue and dismiss it with a statement “they wanted to convert us into Buddhist perhaps.”

Where's the speaker? Can you help me find it? It's too loud.

Several months after, I joined the “jobless society.” Gone are the days I have to rush out of the apartment early in the morning.  Gone are the days when after work, I get to see the apartment again before midnight. In short, 90% of my time now is spent at home, opposite to my regular routine. 

It’s been few weeks now that I woke up every morning not because I have to but because my neighbor’s chant is getting into my brain, bringing my consciousness back to the world again.  I thought at first, “okay I understand you are giving praise to the Lord, so I’ll keep my grievances to myself.” 

On the couch watching BBC news in the morning, I locked the windows. For two hours, I have BBC on the right ear and the chanting on the left ear.  Time to cook lunch, close and locked the kitchen window making sure all holes that are potential entry of the noise must be covered. I have the sound of the kitchen exhaust on my left ear and the chanting on my right ear. 

Siesta time!  A pair of earphones plugged into my ears in the room without window.  Paul was in the living room watching TV. I have music in both ears with a tiny background of my Buddhist neighbor’s chant and Paul’s TV in the living room.   Great, looks like the chant is already in my brain. 
Alright, I went down hang around the walkways and practice my Vietnamese, asking around how I can petition the insensitivity of the loud speaker.

 I won’t ask them to stop praising the Lord. I will just ask a little consideration of taking the speaker off.  I cannot understand the chant, so it’s not helping at all.  If the chant only bears inspirational words I might go down, grab the microphone, make sure everybody hears me and join them chant. 

My dear neighbor, too small! Too powerful though :-(

For days now, I didn’t hear Paul utter a word about it.  Every time I look at him when our neighbor starts chanting, he would smile. Worse, I can’t smile back.  Without saying anything, Paul opens his Ipad and I open my laptop browse online for available apartments. 

Why, do we have a choice?

Wikipedia says chanting is Buddhism’s traditional means of preparing the mind for meditation. It is also use for ritualistic purposes.  I don’t know what it is for my neighbor but within a year of living here, I know that my dear neighbor would not back down and take the speaker off.  

“If you can’t beat them, join them.” If not, better yet go and leave.  Oh my dear neighbor, it’s such a limited choice, is it? L