It’s almost 7 pm and I’m sitting at my desk quietly studying while picking up an hour or two of overtime. It’s so peaceful here now, but not just an hour earlier the hustle and bustle of Japanese workers rushing out the door made this same very place sound like a zoo… thus I give you “an end to a day at the city hall:”

4:30pm- you would never know which part of the day it was at this time… whether it was morning or afternoon. Windows here are scarce and where I sit it might as well be 2am all the same. People here busily work on their assignments, but some glance slightly at the clock being mindful that whatever it is they’re working on needs to be at a point of finish soon.

The sound of city hall buzzes, phones ring, and people scurry about (even run) like ant’s building a fortress. The atmosphere is one of classic machinery. The gears of the Japanese government working tirelessly to accomplish some task or goal efficiently.

5:00pm- People are beginning to move. Sounds of machines shutting down, cellphones chirping with texts and calls from family, and papers being neatly tucked away. The secretaries rush around checking the work area for trash and carefully maneuver the burnable trash bin and un-burnable trash bin around so that each piece goes where it should.

There are few who are putting on their coats, snapping their brief cases, getting ready to roll. Some even sit at their desk waiting for the 5:15 chime to sound the end of the day. The atmosphere is of movement, the exodus that’s about to happen.

5:15pm- A loud chime sounds as if London’s Big Ben were stationed on top of this building. People switch from working mode to leave mode in an instant.

The air conditioner above my turns off and people flow out the door taking all the cold air that was building up it with them. The air is moving, but slowly turns stuffy and thick. The Japanese humidity and thick dense hot air moves into the building, but no one cares because in the period of just 5-10 minutes nearly 90% of the building has evacuated into the parking lot– clogging up the exit, and jamming the street. It was as if someone had gone into the back and pulled down the big metal lever with the shiny red ball titled “Work” from “on” to “off.”

5:45pm- The building quiets quickly. I can hear the sound of heals from across the building. A trash can gets knocked and the sound roars across the vacant workspace. A few remain, but slowly they sift out one by one and the lights flicker off just you’d see in a slow running end of a movie….

The atmosphere is as if credits to the movie Wednesday July 21st, 2010 are about to roll.

6:30pm- It’s eerily quiet now. The copy machine has even winded down and the sound of it’s roaring fan now ceased.  In the distance I can hear a drop fall into a bucket, and a conversation from way across the building. Even the sound of the automatic doors are audible. It’s peaceful, but maybe too peaceful. Lights are going off now all over and I can see the janitor locking the doors.

6:50- I get the feeling of “good enough” why push it? The building that was icy cold just an hour or so ago is hot and muggy. A single bead of sweat just rolled down my forehead and I can’t take another.  Lights from all over have gone off and now I too am packing up. The sound of my bag’s rustling is loud and the long sound of my zipper has caught the notice of one straggler from two desks ahead of me. I bow slightly and silently apologize.

I got to get outta here..

6:55… I’m sitting at my desk now… watching the clock tick to 7pm. I should leave but someone might notice, they might call the boss, ugh…it’s hot.

I think I’m turning Japanese? who knows… ok maybe I’ll sneak out that door…

o saki ni shitsure shimasu… Good night.

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