Job Discussion Forums

[gabbo]

A friend and I are planning on landing in Taiwan in a few weeks, looking for jobs teaching English, and all the rest of it. We've heard good things about Tainan and Taichung, so figured we might head there? Basically, location is our prime concern (somewhere relatively scenic, preferably coastal, not as big as Taipei but not absent of foreigners all-together). Second priority, money and job demand (where it would be easiest for two young, inexperienced-in terms of teaching-guys to find decent jobs). Any tips or suggestions would really help (i.e., newspapers to look in, etc).

Also, I was sort of curious about the music scene in Taiwan? What's it like? Are there any fellow travelling guitarists/musicians looking to jam? Providing we land decent enough jobs/work, we hope to get in a fair bit of travel along the country side, excursions to neighboring countries, and general (good-hearted) blarney if anyone is game.

Cheers,
Gabriel

[lagerlout2006]

So you want to be in a scenic area where you can play guitar???

Will you be teaching geetar or English/ ? In the old days (I;m getting old alas ) people would look for employment as opposed to a place to play the GEETAR. Are these your only demands. ?. How about a star on your door?

Try Thailand.

[gabbo]

Yeah i know it sounds a bit cheesy, but hell I just got out of uni right? All I really wanted to know was basically where is the best place to live in Taiwan, that still affords reasonable job opportunities. Perhaps a little bit less harsh in terms of air pollution than Taipei.

And yeah, I play (or try to play) the guitar. I drag the damned thing everywhere. Just wanted to know if there were any other wanna-be musicians out there. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

I'll save the stars for people with talent, or those who go into more lucrative positions than teaching English. Thailand sounds nice, but I'm going to Taiwan.

Cheers,

Gabriel

[lagerlout2006]

Sorry gabbo--I get a bit snarky sometimes late at night. Haha! I am actually in mainland China and I'm thinking of Taiwan myself...I have agents offering me jobs but I dont really trust them...Also I would prefer adults to small kids..College job is out as you need an MA for that..

So I'll wait until I have 1000 bucks (minimum) to just go and look around..Actually I think I'll go there first for a few days and see if I even like it...I suspect if I can handle China proper I will like Taiwan. Although tropical heat worries me a bit...Good luck.

[Aristotle]

When you say coastal area I presume you are looking for a beach and some nice sea views. You will not find anything like that on the East coast of Taiwan. Every major city on the East coast of Taiwan is basically an industrial waste land from Taipei to Kaohsiung. You may be able to find some nice scenic areas in the mountains but that is about it.
The music scene in Taiwan is pretty much limited to Taipei and Taichung. There was a growing artist community on the West coast but recent high profile, race oriented (ie no whites or blacks allowed) deportations have put an end to that.
You may also want to seriously consider Japan or Hong Kong.
Please read this,
http://www.geocities.com/taiwanteacher2002/Success.html
Good luck
A.

[Xenophobe]

Socrates,

Don't you mean the west coast of Taiwan ? Hualien and Taitung hardly qualify as industrial cess pits, or at least by Taiwanese standards they don't.

[somanyroads]

hey, I'll be travelling with my Djembe when my wife and I come next month. Wouldn't exactly call myself a musician yet though. If we're in the same area would be nice to hook up though. Let us know where you end up. Cheers,

Pete