Job Discussion Forums

[travelgoddess]

Hey all! I am about to leave Taiwan soon. While researching other jobs in different countries, I realized one of the things I had trouble finding before-actual prices of items in a country. Saying a place is "cheap" or "expensive" is really hard to work with.

What I did when I moved here last year was start a site that contained many things, most of all a cost page with specific prices like....

rent
scooter purchasing and rentals
food
medicine
feminine products
ARC (Alien residency card fees)
and more.

Please check it out, and email me if there is a price you want to know and I will hunt it down for you. I hope this gives you a better idea of the actual cost of living for ESL teachers in Taiwan.

http://meintaiwancosts.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
D

[Llessur]

Hi Travelgoddess, what kind of items for longer term living in Taiwan would one want to bring along from the US, in terms of comparative cost, availability, etc., this includes personal items, clothing, small house items, electric voltage converters ?, Thanks, Llessur

[WorkingVaca]

There is no need for electric voltage converters in Taiwan. They are on the 110V system, same as the U.S.

EVERYTHING else you need can be bought here, for much less than what you'd pay in the U.S. Do yourself a favor. Bring a lot of money, and travel light. You won't want to be dragging a bunch of stuff around while you get settled with a job and apartment.

[travelgoddess]

Agreed. Bring very little with you. The only things it might help to bring that are scarce or expensive are:
1. tampons (obviously, if you are a woman and use them)
2. make up (okokok, I am a woman, so this list is a bit biased)
3. comfortable shoes
4. pants/skirts if you are a woman over a US size 8 or 10

I am speaking from a Tainan, Taiwan perspective. There may be more curvy girl stores in Taipei. But the 1-3 list sticks.

Oh, and here are some of the little things I had shipped cause I couldnt find them:
5. envelopes with glue on the inside (they use a glue stick here instead)
6. medium ball point pens (ALL the pens I see are fine point)
7. English language books (found some here, but the selection in Tainan is limited and expensive. About $15 US for even the smallest book. I am a library person back home and read A LOT, so this one hit me hard. Taipei has Page One bookstore and loads of smaller new and used bookstores, so lack of selection is not an issue.)


Everything else is either the same price or much cheaper than in the US. Dont ship a lot of stuff here or bring it on the plane. There are always people leaving and selling (or giving away) their apartment stuff, so you can save money that way. Also, there are a lot of furnished apartments available.

Hope this helps! Feel free to email me here:
[email protected]


D

[Fortigurn]

A gold star to anyone who can tell me where to get a map of Taipei which has a street index.

[travelgoddess]

I got some maps of Tainan, Taichung, and Taipei to name a few that have street indexes. Careful though, the street spellings are only a suggestion even then. haha.
And they tend to stick only the central area on the map. But if you are interested, I got mine at Eslite in Tainan. They are called "Free Traveling in ******(city name here)" about 80 nt. Shan Ju Publish. Easiest maps of Taiwan I have found so far. On the maps themselves they have Chinese and English street names, helps if you have to point and look worried (my way of asking for directions from locals here).

Good luck!
D

[email protected]
http://meintaiwan.diaryland.com/

[Fortigurn]

Thanks.

[MTurton]