The swedish silence

Anis Albasha

The farther north you go in Europe, the paler skin you will see as well as the lower voices you will hear. But if you head south towards the Mediterranean countries or the Arabic Peninsula, you will notice that the skin gets darker and the voices get louder. During my travels in different eastern and western countries, the different vocal capacities of people who live in different places of the world never cease to amaze me.   

Yemenis, for example, have very strong vocal cords which can produce unbelievable noise and disturbance that have become an inseparable part of the Yemenis' daily life.  For example, when you walk down an average street in any Yemeni city, you will immediately be surrounded by the loud sounds, shouts and screams that make your ears ringing and clicking. If you decide to walk into a restaurant to have a meal, you will get the impression that you just walked into a battlefield, not into a place where people are supposed to sit and eat in peace. In Yemeni restaurants, screeching and squawking are common and the moment you go through the restaurant door, you will hear a mixture of noisy sounds and uproar and you will also see the waiters rushing and scrambling from a corner to another.

Even if you stay at home, it wouldn’t get better because you will be disturbed by different kind of noise such as children’s screams, adults’ yells, the ongoing construction work and of course, weddings’ noise which is so common in every Yemeni neighborhood where there is a wedding every week! In addition, in each Yemeni neighborhood there must be a person named 'Hamood' and people are always looking for him and calling his name in a very loud and provocative tone. So, sitting between four walls in Yemen won't be enough to protect you from the noise and disturbance.

When it comes to the noise and disturbance, it was almost the same in both Egypt and India where I heard people yelling and screaming and producing big noise, the only difference was the different languages and accents which produced that noise.   

Like Arabic people, Italians also have a vociferously nature and they also enjoy a distinguished vocal capacity. There was a restaurant under the building where we lived in a town near Milan and we were able to hear the loud humming and buzzing of Italians who eat at that restaurant, especially during the weekends. We also had to ring the doorbell of our Italian neighbor many times to ask her to lower the music that comes out of her apartment throughout the night. Besides, if you ride a bus in Italy, while sitting at the back of the bus, you would be able to hear a full conversation among people sitting in the front of that bus!

Ironically, Italians also have their own version of Yemeni 'Hamood', but it is called 'Simone' in Italy and if you live in Italy, you will hear people calling for that Simone in a very loud tone. One time we were sitting near a train station and on the same chair there was an Italian delicate teenager girl, and out of the blue- she cried out 'Simoneeeeeeeee'. Though the intensity of the sound produced by that girl was no less than 85 decibels, the girl didn't lift a finger nor bat an eyelash! We then realized that when it comes to the vocal capacity, no one can defeat Italians. No wonder that the most famous opera singers are from Italy!

If we leave Italy and head north, we will notice that Germans- especially in northern Germany- are mostly calm and tend to be reserved. Usually, German people are quiet in streets, buses, restaurants and markets. Fortunately, there is no German version of 'Hamood' which makes it quieter in Germany!

When it comes to public tranquility, German civil code states that a home-owner should enjoy his property in such a way as not to have any excessive deleterious effects on the neighbors. For example, you are allowed to make noise outside until 10 pm, the Night quite hours 'Ruheziet' are from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am and no Sunday afternoon lawn mowing. Besides, you may have bigger parties in your house up to four times a year.         

If we keep heading north, we will find out that Swedes are so quiet and so reserved. Most Swedes speak with each other by using the minimum level of the sound (0 decibel) and they tend to be calm and quiet even in the events or the situations that require some noise or yelling. One time I saw a Swedish wedding near a church and there was a congregation of men, women and children as well as balloons and bubbles, but I didn't notice that gathering until I was 2 or 3 meters close when I turned right and saw it! Once we saw a celebration in a Swedish city where a number of men, women and kids made a loop by holding hands and they all were dancing in a circle but quietly and with no noise. The view was like a three-dimension scene which was displayed on a giant screen and someone pressed the mute bottom!

However, when they get drunk, Swedes liberate themselves from that reserved and serene nature and tend to be noisy and chatty.

What made us believe that Swedes may be the quietest people in Europe was what happened one day in the small Swedish city we lived in. We woke up in the morning and opened the windows for some fresh air when we found out that the long street near the house -which was always quiet and empty - turned on to a big and crowded bazaar which was full of vehicles, goods and people!

We wondered how this happened and when? Surely, the cars and the trucks came earlier in the morning and all the tents, shelves and goods were installed and arranged then, but all the work was done quietly so we didn't hear anything though our windows directly overlooked the street.  We then remembered the small market near our house in Sana’a where people sell Qat, though it was so small, the noise that market produced was bigger than a noise that could be produced by a giant factory!

Back to that Swedish market, we wandered into it and knew that it is held once a year, same time and same place. While roaming in that quiet bazaar, we noticed that even the animals which were put in different kind of fences and cages were also quiet and produced no sound. But one of the unforgettable moments was when we saw a little Swedish baby laying in his stroller and crying but on the Swedish way where we hardly could hear its polite cry! At around 15:30, all cars and trucks left and the street became empty and calm again and we noticed that the street was cleaned carefully.

         I have read that environment affects human behavior in countless ways, and I am wondering if the different vocal capacities I’ve seen in different lands have something to do with the environment and geography. But I think that striking the balance between the extreme raucous nature and the excessive calm one is so important. As it is said, we can be serene even in the midst of calamities, and by our serenity, make others more tranquil.