Job Discussion Forums

jungleboy · Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 3

I am new to Taiwan, and have been checking out some small towns. The only apartments I have seen so far have been a great disappointment. The bathrooms leave much to be desired, and the kitchen is often absent or of a similar state to the bathrooms! Yuch!
With the amount of money that is in Taipei, I expected far higher standards. But, I am told that many people (at least in small towns) do not even have kitchens. While a small fridge, a TV and A/C are often present, (and I have seen washing machines, too) there is no kitchen whatsoever.

Taipei is a modern metropolis with extreme wealth (and a substantial amount of poverty.) It seems to me that that's where I have to head if I want even half of what a Western apartment offers. These small towns clearly have the wealthy populace to support multiple language schools; how come the corresponding apartments are missing?

What surprises me the most is that I read no reference to this in the many many posts I read here. While I can stay in these places as a traveler, I would not have left my home to live here for a year!

markholmes · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 661 Location: Wengehua

I had nice modern apartments in Taipei and Kaohsiung. I tutored a few kids at their (quite wealthy) homes and came to the conclusion that most Taiwanese aren't that interested in interior design and would rather spend the money on a big fancy car. Mind you they all had kitchens.

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

Welcome to a different culture! When I lived in Taipei I visted numerous houses. Some expensive ones had kitchens, some didn't but had rice cooker spaces, and some cheaper ones didn't too. One reason for this is that most people in Taiwan don't need kitchens as the street markets and vendors sell food for such a cheap price. Of course Taiwanese families also prefer to use potential space for a infrequently used kitchen for other purposes, so making general living areas bigger in size. As for smelly bathrooms then basic hygiene is not excusable regardless of cultural traits. As the previous posted said, interior design is not a big deal in Taiwan because it's a thing which most people outside the family can't see. Instead having a nice car (e.g. BMW), lovely gold watch, etc., is a much more efficient way of establishing a public face and stating your social class, and in Taiwan matters of face are very significant.

foreignertobe · Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 24

I lived in "the countryside" for a year in an apartment similar to the ones you described. I now live in KHH in a place that I would actually live in in the US, with a few style changes....

Taiwan is "cheap" people say, and it is true. You can find a NT$6000 apartment. But no one ever said that you get what you'd get in the West for much more for only NT$6000 here. Food is "cheap" here as well, but not Western-style food. A "non-crappy" apartment IS Western-style. I think some people who haven't travelled much in the developing world don't realize what can be considered housing.

That being said, when you do find a Western-style apartment, they are cheaper than most places in the West.

As for style choices, it will almost always leave much to be desired. I was SHOCKED when I saw how people chose to decorate their places while I was apartment hunting. I chose an apartment that had very little furniture in it so I could do it my own way. I agree with the previous poster somewhat... it's kinda like in the "ghetto" in the US. People live in squalor, but they HAVE TO HAVE A LEXUS...

jotham · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 77

I have seen a smallish room with it's own nice bathroom and shared kitchen for $20,000 a month---the other similarly sized room was for $30,000. (The bathroom had Italian marble.) If interested, I can give anyone a number. These places exist.
It does seem that clean, spacious living area just isn't so easily accessible to the common people in Taiwan as it is in the West. Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore seem like they may be, no?

markholmes · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 661 Location: Wengehua

forest1979 · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 507 Location: SE Asia

Nt$30,000 a month is I think beyond the financial means of most TEFLers unless they are on full professor contracts and doing extra teaching hours. Even Nt$20,000 for a shared place is pricey and probably too much for the average bushiban worker on, what Nt$65,000 pre-tax, although in Taipei that sort of price for accommodation is not too unheard of especially if it's in Tienmu.