You know how sometimes you think something is going on and you ask other people “do you see that/smell that/hear that?” and they look at you like “no, I don’t, crazy person – it must be all in your head”. I have been having a bit of that since I got here, which is unsurprising, but it reached its peak this week.
After almost 4 weeks of grabbing 2-5 hours of sleep a night, I acknowledged something was amiss. I wracked my brain trying to figure out what was keeping me awake at night. MSG in the food? Mattress too hard? Aircon is too cold? Not drinking enough water? Drinking too much water? I have tried an array of Chinese herbal tea concoctions in an attempt to calm my body for bedtime and sleep. The thing is, there is no issue with me being tired. My brain is tired. My body is tired. I’ve been practicing yoga, meditating, taking my night-time vitamins and even though I desperately *want* to sleep, I can’t.
Finally, I’ve put it down to too much noise. My apartment overlooks a major road, and aside from the odd domestic between neighbours, my nights are filled with a cacophony of horns, sirens and squeaky breaks. I asked a colleague staying in the same apartment building if she had a noise problem in her apartment. Cue the “no, crazy person” look. Huh. Maybe it’s me. I mentioned it also to the office manager, who had found and secured the apartment for the duration of my stay. Again, the look. A self-deprecating smile from me, and ‘maybe I have supersonic hearing, ha’. Lame joke, I know. My colleagues suggested that before complaining to the property manager that I first check the windows weren’t open. Duh, hadn’t thought of that. What am I, a moron? Off course the bloody windows aren’t open! ‘We’ve never had a complaint about it being too noisy before’, says the property manager. I. Don’t. Care. I am NOT crazy, and I’m not making it up! Get someone onto it, pronto! They’ve since sent someone to my apartment to check what the problem is. GOOD.
Except… I got home last night to my apartment and seems that the tradesman they’d sent spent more time kicking back in front of the television than rectifying the problem, as the street sounds were loud and clear (possibly amplified!?) and I had to re-set my cable tv because someone had mucked around with it. Maybe I am going crazy? Maybe I *do* have supersonic hearing? Either way, something has to be done as no way can l last 3 months on limited sleep (or with the increasingly regular ‘crazy person’ looks). Then, finally, victory! A text message to confirm that YES the seals in my apartment windows are faulty and the apartment is not sound proof. That they will try to fix them (but the ‘engineer’ is not sure how – encouraging!). My hearing is normal. I am not going crazy. And today, acknowledgement – from the sceptical staff who suggested that maybe I should check if the windows are open – that YES I do look “very, very tired”. I know, even I am surprised that I am happy to hear that my face is looking like the crumpled seat of an old pair of trousers! But no more crazy person looks. And finally, someone is backing me to get it sorted out. I just hope it is before I look too much more old and tired!
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