Pure Quiet Bliss

Having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past fourteen years, I have had the chance to travel to San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York City. However, Seoul although the 11th largest city in the world is somewhat different, for example; one night upon arriving in Seoul…I was standing on our balcony around 1 am and to my surprise it was quiet.

Now if any of you have traveled to any of the cities I have mentioned above especially NYC, around 1am you are likely to hear the sounds of; 1.)Ambulance 2.) Police sirens 3.) Cars honking or just loud people. I was surprised that a city of about 24.2 million people could be this quiet. I believe it’s a cultural thing because even on the subway no one really spoke to each other. If they did speak to each other or talk on the phone they whispered, so as to be respectful to the people near them.

Now where I come from on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). There are times when you can hear people’s loud ipods or someone singing LOUDLY lol. It was refreshing and peaceful to stand on that balcony in pure quiet bliss in the middle of one of the largest city’s.

Cecilia Ndounda