Monday, July 6, 2009

I seriously love the public announcement/intercom speaker in my apartment in South Korea--really, LOVE IT!



I've had a couple of apartments now in Korea with the 'lovely' and infamous ceiling intercom speaker.

There are about 3 different voices that come onto the speaker. Two ajusshi-aged men, and a woman's voice too.

You hear a musical chime warning, usually twice, and then they come on to make their announcement, and then musical chimes signal the ending of the announcement.

In my last apartment there was a volume switch on it that I turned down to its lowest setting--otherwise the speaker would have had a date with my screwdriver and a wire cutter.

The earliest I've ever heard the speaker was around 8am on a Saturday (it might have been a Sunday, don't know don't care, it was bad bad bad) . . . yeah, sleeping in days!!! Not the best time to be woken up to hear announcements that you only understand one in six words if you're lucky, and that generally have nothing to do with you or your apartment.

Anyways, if you're new and on your way to teach and live in Korea--beware the apartment intercom speaker--BEWARE!!!! Moowahahahaha!

J

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nobody warned me about those things, AND, my hearing is a little strange in that I can't tell directions. So when I suddenly thought I heard a Korean man in my apartment, I freaked out. I kept trying to talk to it, saying "who is there? who is talking?".

It doesn't come on too often, and eventually I asked someone what it was. I heard the loudspeakers outside more often.

not-so-quiet mom said...

I disconnected mine:

http://domesticblissinsouthkorea.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-killed-voices.html

Life is better without the voices.

JIW said...

I would like to add the note that these speakers are at best found in modern office tell buildings. My crappy and normal office tell doesn't have such fancy warnings. We got the old yelling ahjusshi in the hallway to tell us to fix our ways.