Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

DAMN! I am THIS CLOSE to taking a baseball bat to the GD speaker in my apt. Announcements are made almost on an hourly basis, and it's the same topic repeated throughout the day (for the most part). Why the lazy workers can't just type up a notice and stick it in the elevators of each building is beyond me. It's even starting to irritate my Korean fiance.

They make an announcement every damn Sat. am at 9:00 on the dot. They make announcements during the week beginning at 8am. Had one at 7:15 once. They continue until 8:30 at night, and the speaker is LOUD. Lately the announcements are along the lines of, "Let's try to reduce waste. Do your part to help the environment!" , or "Please separate your food waste from the general trash" (there is nowhere close by to buy these food waste bags, which is why no one is separating, btw), or "Don't forget to recycle!" (Half the time there aren't any bags in the recycle separators, and I don't want to leave my recyclables there, cuz they'll know it's a foreigner's junk~ a can of green beans? Koreans don't eat these... Must be that yellow-haired woman!).

So. Anybody hire an electrician to cut the wires in their speaker? If so, how much was the service? Anybody know how to disconnect the speaker (I'm not sure which wires to cut)? Can I get electrocuted by cutting the wrong wires, or by cutting the wires? Please help! They make announcements EVERY HOUR and they are SO LOUD I can't carry on a conversation when Big Brother's raspy voice is shaking the walls in my apt... Arrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!

[Hyeon Een]

Do you have a frozen chicken in your freezer? or a spare brick on your balcony? or a chair in your apartment? or a volume control on the side of your speaker?

If the answer to any of those questions is "Yes, why yes my dear fellow indeed I do!" then the solution is simple. Beat the speaker to death, trash it, destroy it, then claim ignorance at moving out time.. or turn the volume down. If the answer was the former (as per the beating the speaker to death option, then carry on for further tactical advice when the landlord comes for the final rent inspection).

"Speaking speaker? why.. we never had a speaker that spoke in this apartment, in fact this apartment has been quite speechless due to its lack of a speaking speaker in the entire time we have been living, and indeed speaking [ha ha] in this delightful apartment! If only we'd HAD a speaking speaker, I dare say we might have known about that special offer on watermelons 7 months ago my neighbours told me about, and the unfortunate 3 days without water we sadly experienced this year. Although I hesitate to say it, I think it just might be time you fixed my speechless speaking speaker and restored its speech giving qualities, so that the next tenant of this fine (speech enabled!) apartment could enjoy them."

I imagine your (Korean) Landlord might be quite speechless at such an outburst. He'll probably spend years wondering why the speech facilitating device (aka "speaker") failed. And had its grilled smacked in. Sucks to be him.. but "them's the breaks" as they don't say, anywhere.

The Guru is a landlord isn't he.. did the guru experience any distressing Big Brother speaking-speaker destruction incidents from his tenants?

-HE

PS Yes, there is a reason I like to say "speaking-speaker"

[Col.Brandon]

A screwdriver and a set of pliers will set you right. I dealt with the speaker in my elementary school classroom the same way.

Just snick one of the wires and you're set. There shouldn't be much current going through it. Just do it one-handed if you're worried; then any charge will only arc across your hand and not your chest!

Good luck. Just say "no" to noise pollution.

[crazykiwi]

I was gonna suggest cutting the wires too. I did it at summer camp when the blasted thing woke us all up at 6.30am to tell the kids it was excercise time! Then proceeded to drum out happy house music for the rest of the hour! had only to reconnect the wires when camp was done. sweet as!

[FUBAR]

I get those things alot too... seems that there must be a rule that any message in this country must be at least 2 mins in length, be it at the school or my apt. Why can't they just say the message and STFU? At least I am not home during the day to hear them speak. At my next place if they have the speaker, it will be coming out the very first day!

[just because]

I've cut the wires as well.....

The sound quality was terrible so even if it was something i understood it just came out as a loud crackle...

[captain kirk]

The poster 'The Evil Penguin' took it upon himself to simply cut the speaker wires and the building manager just walked in his place, saw the wires had been cut, and made a big tempest in a teapot.

Isn't that weird, the speaker thing? Do Korean people like to be announced to regularly when living in apartments? I trust, for your own good, you're conforming to the proper degree, where suitable conformity is implicitly required. Including not commiting the thought-crime of thinking about cutting those speaker wires; do we have an understanding?

[crazykiwi]

[djsmnc]

I stuffed toilet paper into the cone of the speaker, enough to be able to block the vibration and muffle it. Then I screwed the cover back on over it (it's on the ceiling) and voila, I can just barely hear it anymore and it doesn't wake me up. I wanted to cut the wires too, but I didn't want to have to pay for damages later.

[captain kirk]

The Evil Penguin said that it was something to do with blinds which were flapping disturbing the neighbouring tennant(s). That's why the manager just walked in. His blinds were flapping too much. Where'd he grow up, Antarctica?

[dogbert]

I love it when they wake you up at 7 a.m. on a holiday to tell you it's a holiday.

[crazykiwi]

[Captain Corea]

I wouldn't mind if they were important reminders suc has;

-the water will be turned off at 10:00 today so make sure to use it now!

-we will be cleaning the parking lot tomorrow so please move your car.




but usually I find the majority of them are advertising for the stupid little trucks that park in the parkinglot

[thekingofdisco]

[babtangee]

There's masking tape over mine. It's sweet and silent.

One of the maintainence dudes gave me a funny look when he saw it while they were fixing a cupboard. I gave him a wink and a thumbs up.

I just bet he went home and did the same to his.