Korean Job Discussion Forums

[3DR]

I don't know what to do anymore. There are two little runts who love to wrestle, stomp, run, etc everyday.

It wasn't so bad until they started waking up at 6am (continuing on until 11am or so) doing this. I can't understand why they are up this early especially with school being out.

I work at a hagwon so the nice perk of being able to sleep in is virtually useless. I'm usually in bed by 2am so if I'm being awaken at 6-7am every morning, it equates to about 4-5 hours of sleep.

It's affecting my sleep now and pissing me off.

I have

- asked my director to call the maintenance people to tell them off....no change
- banged on the ceiling with my bamboo stick...no change
- had my director write a note politely asking them to keep it quiet during the hours I am trying to sleep...no change
- This morning I personally went up there at 6am, knocked on the door and conveyed to them that they need to be quieter...the mom said "oh so sorry...ok we stop...sorry", and a half hour later they are doing it again

Any ideas? I can't just ignore it because as soon as I fall back asleep after 3-5 minutes, they are at it again. This is my second contract in Korea and I'm pretty laid back and don't get annoyed very easily, but this is %^$ing ridiculous.

[Zackback]

Some options among others would be:

1. Tell your boss that you can not function with that small amount of sleep due to the racket upstairs. Call in sick etc.

2. When you get home or are up until 2am start banging on the ceiling...continuously.

3. Just wait it out until the little brats go back to school in February.

Hey I ain't no expert on these matters but sometimes in life you have to take matters into your own hands.
I'm so gald that I live on the 4th floor of a 4 story building. People are just insensitive everywhere.

[thomas pars]

after direct confrontation and they continue to make noise all bets are off. tie their door shut and play death metal outside their door at 4 am. they'll get the message.

[chellovek]

It could be a long drawn-out war of attrition to get them to pipe-down, especially given the semi-feral nature of some young Korean kids.

Possible short-term solutions-

1. Ear-plugs.
2. Move.

[eperdue4ad]

I had the same problem at a previous apartment and while I can't offer any good solutions (approaching the mother fell flat-- she acted snobbish and affronted, like she thought she was a drama actress), the kid was noisiest during school breaks.

When break was over, he started going to bed earlier and being more quiet in general... guess school and hagwon-hopping tires them out

Hang in there~~

[Lastrova]

My neighbour to the right has a crying baby, but she screams louder than the baby when he's crying. My neighbour above has a problem with dropping heavy objects on the floor, hammering at all hours of the night and day. Pounding on the ceiling with a pot did work, although I dented the pot. The hammering and dropping are still there, but they're more muted and of shorter duration. Really, the only thing that has saved my bacon are ear plugs and a fan. Keep the fan humming and it should drown out any noises. You'll get used to the humming eventually as it is a constant, unchanging sound. I'm leaving in a month, so I just grin and bear it.

I swear some people are not made for apartment living. Everything they touch turns into a loud, cracking noise--walking, opening a cupboard, cleaning, talking, watching TV, listening to music. It's like a herd of elephants. Totally oblivious and self-absorbed.

[Charon]

[3DR]

[depth]

im in the same situation and have done all the things mentioned. it's a vigilant combination of methods that helps to reduce the problem. my upstairs neighbours still make noise but it has improved alot- i guess they needed t o be contantly reminded of thier loud noises. let them know as soon as they're making noise so that they can retrain themselves to be quieter. they dont want to always have an angry neighbour, so f you persist, they should improve.

i got the hagwon director to call the building maintenance. i got the director to write a letter in korean, so i hand this to the building maintenance. i wear ear plugs to bed. i've also tried listening to "white noise" which is a constant noise.

i've found that banging on the ceiling doesn't help for me becase i have a false ceiling. one thing that worked well is when you are really feeling super angry, then that is the time to make a visit to the neighbour upstairs. i banged on the door as loud as i could and waited for them to answer. they didnt, so i shouted in a voilent voice telling them that i could hear them inside and told them to shut up. i meant business and was ready for a fist fight. it was 2am. it must have scared the little kids (voilent angry monster at the door ready to kick some ass). so things have quietened down since then.

[methdxman]

[Troglodyte]

Do you have a stereo? If so, put the speakers on your wardrobe or fridge or whatever else you have that's close to the ceiling. Face them upwards and play your favorite tunes until you go to bed. Make sure it's something with a lot of bass. If they're willing to wake you up in the early hours and don't care, then keep them up until the early hours. At least you'll both be deprived of sleep and they might eventually be willing to negotiate.

[offtheoche]

Install a karaoke machine and blast out the tunes between 12am-2am.

Go to school and leave your music blasting out as loud as possible whilst you are at work (7-8 hours). Go and download some Japanese songs, so that will maximise the noise and annoyance levels.

Go into your classroom full of students and put your head down and sleep on the table. Do this every day until your boss sorts out the problem.

[IncheonTOEFL]

Noise cancelling earphones.....

[Steelrails]

Get a neighborhood posse together. Either someone else is equally perturbed by the noise or someone else is a late night drinker who'd add to your retaliation efforts.

Fumigation.

[IncheonTOEFL]

Apartment living.

6AM/8AM- kids making noise= normal.

3AM/5AM-drunk making noise= abnormal behavior.

Good luck finding a posse' to back up the latter over the former.

Noise cancellation headphones or move to a house. Country mouse, welcome to city life.