Job Discussion Forums

[7969]

[vikdk]

as one of the most idiotic statements of the year - this one must be close to taking the cake

[shuize]

Unscrew the rims from the backboards. Hide the bolts.

[kev7161]

Now THAT idea I like!

[No Moss]

Well, whatever you do, try to be low key about it. I've found that screaming doesn't work any better than being nice (although it sure as hell feels better!). My latest gripe is that the buses stop under my window and continue to run their engines while they're waiting to take off on their scheduled run. I go down and ask them nicely to turn their engines off, and they (to my amazement) do so with a smile. Now only a few laggard drivers don't turn their engines off.

I have been successful, by hook or crook, in getting most of my complaints paid heed to, by being consistent about the complaint. To be honest, both being nice and being an a**hole has worked for me, as long as I've been consistent. Being nice seems to work as well as the latter.

And if being nice doesn't work, there's always plan B!

[tofuman]

I feel your pain, 7969.

I was deprived of sleep for months due to a pesky little fellow upstairs. I tried normal channels of resolution to no avail. When another FT moved on, I asked to move to his flat. No response for a few weeks. No good reason to not allow me to move into an empty flat. I went to the FAO, and said, "I haven't been able to sleep, relax, or study in my flat for months. If you do not let me move into the empty flat, I am moving into a nearby hotel, where it is quieter, and I expect the school to pay the bill." He immediately got on the phone. After a screaming match with another administrator, told me to move, which I did.

Life was better after that. Sleep deprivation and the stress that goes with it is cruel.

[ke_te_si]

Since you can't beat them, join them.

Then beat them.

I mean that literally, and literally. Show up the next Saturday before the other players. Tell them how excited you are to see them. When the game starts, if you have any skills at all, you should be able to dominate the game. Overplay the right hand, no one can go left here. (I lived next to that same court, but in a different city, so I had a chance to watch how they play).

If you want to beat them the other way, pick one guy. (I'd suggest the best or biggest player). Then, let loose with an "inadvertent" flying elbow or six. Make sure you apologize profusely after each one. If you have any girth, use your hips to clear space under the boards. Everyone shoots from their chest, so when your victim goes up to shoot, block it down back into the nose you just smashed with your elbow. More profuse apologies.

When you get ready to leave, ask them if they will be back next week. Tell them Saturday morning at 6:00 is the only chance you have to play and you can't wait to see them again. Maybe recruit one of the other FT's for the next week to double the fun. It might take a few weeks to accomplish the mission, though.

If this doesn't work, I'd recommend some of those Bose noise-reduction headphones. Saw them at a new Bose store here recently.

[tofuman]

I like the plan of Ke te si； however， I suggest that you try my plan first。 Usually a school has an arrangement with a local hotel。 Find out the place， give the school notice， then go there and put it on the school�s tab。 The hotel may call the school and it would be a big �face� problem for them。

The downside is that the school might deduct the cost from your pay， so be ready to leave。 If you are not willing to play hardball， you may be drinking yourself to sleep soon。

Good luck

[Long ai gu]

In Chongqing I lived near a factory that played ear splitting music at 6:30am every morning on loud speakers. I was going crazy, even hearing the high pitch crap in my head at night while trying to sleep. One morning I snuck in through the front gate as the guard did the head in the arms Chinese sleeping routine(you know, like your students do, they never change). It was still dark then. I found the building that had the speakers on the roof and walked in. Nobody was in the building accept for a frightened looking peasant mopping the floor. I headed up the stairs to the top floor. The final door was locked, so I forced it open. I found my way to the roof and found about 8 speakers all pointing in different directions. I snipped the wires of the 2 speakers pointed at my apartment and left the others going. This worked, I heard nothing in the morning and they couldn't tell because the other speakers were still making their god-awful noise. After the May vacation they must have inspected it and rewired the speakers. I left shortly after that.

In the college I'm in now I was going nuts because it's a military college and the idiots blow their electric bugle at 6am. This is followed by random military shouting that can continue all day til 11pm at night. I bought some good ear plugs that work(the first ones didn't) and everything goes away til I remove them when I get up- Me happy now.

My neighbours below me like to open and close their very squeaky doors every 10 seconds and chop their veggies very loudly. I would bang on the floor with the butt end of my meat clever for the kitchen noise and slam my door very hard a few times for the door squeaking. A few days ago the door slamming brought a Chinese couple to my door one night. I opened the door and they began chewing on me in Chinese. Me being a little drunk on bai-jiu and pi jiu, I pushed them across the hall and pinned them to my neighbours door, another FT from OZ(so he thought it was great). There was much screaming. I didn't hold them long and they retreated down the stairs with me spitting at them. The man told the rest of the neighbours that I tried to kill him, he was close to the rail being on the top floor and thought I was trying to throw him over. If I was, he would have gone over no problem. A school FAO showed up moments later, his hair was a mess, must have been sleeping. He said something about it not being my fault etc. I just went to see him today and there is no problem, just a try to get along with your neighbours thing.

I was in Mao Tse Dung's hometown in Hunan a few years back. At 5:45am these morans in buses outside my window started honking their horns endlessly. I got out of bed, opened the window and started screaming at them. Then I threw everything I could at the buses from about the 7th floor: ashtray, glasses etc. I still remember the driver looking up and yelling at me and the scared expressions on the children's faces that were on the bus. One glass landed in front of a motorcycle taxi and I remember his laughing face as he lifted his front wheel to avoid it.

I got up a few hours later to see a police car in front of the hotel. I figured I would have to face them. When we left the place we just walked out with nothing said to us(I was with my Chinese girlfriend who thought I was nuts, no sense of humour).

Anyway, take it from an expert, get some good earplugs that work. They aren't the most comfortable things to sleep with, but it's better than listening to China every morning at 6am-and remember, it's the fight that makes it right. Good luck comrad!!

[jammish]

[jammish]

On a different note, can I add that it isn't all that easy to find earplugs in China. A friend of mine had similar problems with noise at my old school, as their particular flat was just above the school canteen and it was mega noisy, even on saturday mornings. She spent about 2 months trying to find earplugs. Every place she tried just showed her hearing aids...

[TravellingAround]

[tofuman]

Another idea, for minor irritation, is flowing water. Get yourself an aquarium pump and a couple of containers and rig up a "water fall," white noise, to filter out miscellaneous noise. Probably won't do much for the sound of the basketball, though.

Be careful about the splash or you might flood your place.

[patsy]

I can understand you. I also think chinese campus peepo very noisy. After finally moved into my promised apartment halfway through the semester, it is located literally 5 steps away from the large girls dormitory. We can wave to each other from the window and almost pass things back and forth. While it might be fun for some, i have girls giggling and screaming until early hours of the morning outside my window . Not to mention the minute I step out the door I am immediately connected with my students all the way to and past the main gate. Also we have pretty regular firecracker ceremonies right outside the building, between 6 and 7 am with weekends being the favored time.

[Bayden]