Korean Job Discussion Forums

gochubandit · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:39 pm Post subject: need strong strong earplugs

noisy place. can't sleep. 28 decibel blockers don't cut it for me. anybody find a place that has some super strong earplugs (like 50+). i'm the lightest sleeper in the world. that's all. and got a hearing sense like a bat.

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

mikekim · Joined: 11 Aug 2006

find a new apartment

gochubandit · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:06 am Post subject:

Bondgirl · Joined: 26 May 2007 Location: in my Aston Martin

Try sleeping next to my neighbours. It is hard enough to sleep in the heat , and when I finally do they wake me up banging the bed and screaming and grunting on the other side of the wall only centimetres from my face. I stare at the ceiling and imagine them. They do not just confine things to the bed. I can hear them on the other side of the room in the kitchen and in the bathroom. I've seen the guy and he is no prince, but the girl keeps coming back for more, so he must know what he is doing. Actually, they have had a quiet week, so they must be on vacation somewhere. And I have thought of banging on the wall and yelling, but they have been very gracious when I pretend my room is a Noraebang and I sing BackStreetBoys songs into my hair brush late at night. So I guess we are even.

gochubandit · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:27 am Post subject:

King Baeksu · Joined: 22 Oct 2006

Gochubandit, I live in central Seoul and have tried a variety of different earplugs. You will not find what you need in Korea. These, however, absolutely work and are worth the effort of ordering from abroad:

http://www.earplugsonline.com/

Good luck!

sojourner1 · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:44 am Post subject:

Yea, if it's that loud, the sound will just travel through and in your head regardless of earplugs. Earplugs only do so much as sound easily enters your body and head. I use white noise like a fan and movies set on a low volume so I don't have to hear late night arguments and loud speaker trucks early in the morning. If white noise and/or earplugs are not enough, you're in a terribly noisy place.

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

buy a crappy 50,000 won portable stereo.

buy 2-3 rolls of duct tape.

buy this cd. ("everyone should be killed" by anal c^^nt)

tape the crappy blaster to the wall so that it would withstand a nuclear attack.

keep the cd on repeat.

never worry again.

jlb · Joined: 18 Sep 2003

Don't put up with that. My co-worker and I live next door to each other. We had crazy people living above us. We told our boss that it was either us or them, someone had to move. The boss phoned the landlord. We called the police. Things went on the same. Finally, it kind of came down my coworker saying that if he didn't sleep at night because of them he wasn't coming into work. The people were gone within the week. Apparently other neighbors had complained as well.

simone · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: Now Mostly @ Home

If you can't want and ABSOLUTELY must buy something, go to the 'safety' stores in the hardware district along Chongyechon. (3 Ga? 4 Ga?) Don't go on a sunday - they're mostly closed.

You can find them by the reflective vests, goggles and fire extinguishers in front. They have stronger 3M earplugs, the kind that are attached to each other with string, at 500 won/pair. They feel much harder than the softy ones you find in stationery stores.

Buy the whole damn box - I wish I had last time - I only bought 6 pair and people have begged 3 off me already.

The ajoshi in the shop should understand what you're looking for if you mime a jackhammer (with sound effects) and cover your ears with an anguished look, followed by the miming of the "little twisty motion" you do when squeezing the foam rubber to fit them in your ears. No sweat!

princess · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia

Also, try turning on your stove fan when you sleep. Drowns out a lot of noise. Trust me.

dogshed · Joined: 28 Apr 2006

Working at different places over the years I noticed that many people don't use the foam ear plugs correctly.

They are designed to expand after you insert them. You have to insert
them before they expand.

First, you have to roll them between your fingers to make them smaller, but you also have to roll them evenly so they are still round. If they are not round you have to wait for them to expand and then try again.

Second, pull on your ear to make the ear canal open up.

Third, insert. If it doesn't just slide in then you have to pull them out, wait for them to expand and try again.

Troll_Bait · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: need strong strong earplugs

gochubandit:

With earplugs, the highest noise reduction you'll be able to find in Korea is about 30 decibels.
If you go to the area that simone described, you can get those special headphones that construction workers and people shooting pistols put over their ears. They reduce noise by about 20 decibels.
I can tell you, however, that sometimes even with earplugs and headphones, noise can still get through. (And anyway, you can't really sleep with the headphones on.)
What kind of noise are you dealing with, high-frequency or low-frequency? I can tell you from personal expercience that earplugs and headphones are basically ineffective against low-frequency sounds (such as the stomp-stomp-stomping of feet), as you largely "hear" them through the bones in your head.

alwaysfaithless · Joined: 22 Jun 2007

Like Princess said, the stove fan is a miracle worker!!!It really drowns out alot of that noise. If it is sleep you are trying to get go to your nearest doctor. The sleeping pills here will knock you out cold!!!!Be prepared for two strong cups of coffee in the morning though as you will end up with a hangover.