Job Discussion Forums

[nateliu99]

Hello, your advice is greatly appreciated, of course in the end i have to decide where to go, but talking it out with people helps me

I have been offered a good one year English teaching position in Taipei at an elementary school (PengLai) through the Ministry of Education, salary is about 80,000 NTD with free housing or a 5000-10000 housing stipend. I'm still waiting on a possible job offer to teach science Taipei Fuhsing Private School, which I have heard is a pretty good place too. The salary is about the same.

At the same time in the next 7 days I should be hearing back from Westgate Corporation for a position in Japan. Salary is 280,000 yen, and you can rent an 81,000 yen apartment from them. I have heard people express that that is pricey, but they give you the option of finding your own place. That job would be a contract from September to December only, and if you want to you can renew it in April, but from January to March, I would have no job. As of right now, they have not told a location, and will not tell me that until mid to late August. This position could be teaching adults at University or teaching children.

My Thoughts:

Taiwan-

+'s I have lived in China for the last year, and I have been to taiwan for two summers and know it is a better version of China in regards to politeness and food.

I never learned Mandarin growing up, so my Chinese has improved a lot over the last year through study, Taiwan would let my skills continue to grow, and I find Taiwan Mandarin easier to understand

I have great memories of Taipei, I love nightmarkets, Mango Ice, and the nature is my favorite part

I have 4 friends and two family members in Taiwan.

Steady pay for a year, and if i get an afterschool side gig, the savings are even better

-'s I hate humidity. I hate mosquitoes. I hate dirty. I hate cockroaches and rats. If I end up hating the experience like i did this year in Shanghai, I cannot leave for a year

20% tax rate for foreigners if I arrive after July 1, which i will


Japan

+'s I visited once last year, I loved it. Went to Hakone, Kyoto, Tokyo. The weather was amazing

The people were amazingly friendly and in Tokyo so many of them knew English and stopped to help me without me even asking

I love sushi, amazingly fresh and can be cheap in Japan

EVERYTHING WAS SO CLEAN. Seriously, the subway, the city, almost no pollution at all and a great recycling program.

I love that every area in Tokyo is like a little city unto itself, but that being said, I may not be in Tokyo.

I remember leaving Tokyo and thinking, "Wow, I want to come back and live here or in Kyoto one day"

Whereas I actively did not want to get involved with a mainland China girl, I would not mind at all ending up married to a Japanese girl. They seem to already be exposed to Western culture and English to a degree

Ease at which an American can enter or leave the country



-'s I don't know much about the culture or being accepted by it. Many Japanese have told me that no one shows you their true feelings, that they are the worst about showing you one face and thinking something else about you

No nightmarkets

Maybe a little more expensive to live there, although i feel all the reports that traveling in japan would be expensive were a bit exaggerated

The culture seems more concentrated on appearances and fashion. Does that mean the people (and especially girls are more superficial and into looks? I've never considered myself good looking, I was surprised that quite a few mainland China girls were interested in me, i think they are less interested in looks and more interested in earning potential haha

only know 1 person who lives outside of tokyo

the contract is only for 4 months and from January to March I would have to find another job



I know this post is long, but any thoughts or advice on my specific situation you can give me would be amazing, thanks!

[creztor]

Nate, only you can really decide, but it seems like Taiwan would be the "easier" option. Mainly because the job is a year and you are already familiar with the "Chinese" way of things. If you can survive in China then I think there is no reason why you can't survive in Taiwan. Hard to say but it looks like you are an ABC. How do Japanese treat English teachers who aren't "white"? How do Japanese treat non-white foreigners in general? I only ask because I think you'd fit in much better in Taiwan and probably will be greatly sought after. ABC/BBC are considered gems due to their fluent English while still retaining some of their "Chinese" heritage. I would just ask myself a simple question, which one do I prefer?

[nateliu99]

good reply creztor, yeah i think i agree with what you are saying, i know only i can make the choice, but talking it out with friends and on online forums from people who have maybe done both helps me consider things better

as far as which i prefer, that is really hard. Over the last 3 months i have gone back and forth, there were times I would have definitely jumped at either. Up until yesterday i was completely ready for taiwan, then i felt the humidity of the summer in china and the onset of mosquitoes and thought of how dirty my taiwan apartment might be with rats and cockroaches and just started to miss the cleanliness of japan, and thought of all the cool cultural things, like Akihabara and the business men playing arcade games at the 8 story Sega building or how beautiful the kyoto area looked

But in general, i'm really bad at making up my mind about things, so just hearing your opinion helps me sort it out in my mind, thanks a lot man

[JZer]

[Solar Strength]

[nateliu99]

Don't a lot of people do the afterschool kindy job anyway?

I really want to know because I don't want to get in trouble, but if it is something illegal that everyone does and doesn't get caught then i have no problem with doing it

I'm on a working visa in Shanghai right now, and I think working even tutoring on the side is illegal isn't it? But everyone at my company does including the managers and co owner

[creztor]

Kindy is illegal period, but everyone does it. You can have more than one employer but they must provide a minimum number of hours. Nate, if you are going to be working at a public/international schools, real school, then I don't know if you would have the time to do any side work. Those jobs are normally 8-5pm, of course you would have time in the evening but the last thing I'd want to do is teach in my evenings.

[razorhideki]

I almost fell off my chair when the OP suggested that living in Japan would be a way to avoid mugginess! Mate, you've got to be kidding. Unless you're in Hokkaido or the northern 10% of Honshu, you'll sweat like a banshee for 4-5 mos. of the year.

Cockroaches? The biggest ones I've ever seen in E. Asia were in Japan(hey, they're well fed). Japan is not rat free, though the rodents are generally inconspicuous. The rats I saw in Minami-Namba(Osaka), during the wee hours, were the size of beavers.

[nateliu99]

thanks for dispelling a lot of the misconceptions I have about the place. I was only there in April so i enjoyed the weather, but from everyone is saying, it can be just as hot as in Taiwan. Plus, it sounds like rats and cockroaches will be an issue there as well

[creztor]

Would a job in Japan with at least a one year contract make a difference? What don't you like about Shanghai? Considering Shanghai is one of the better places in China, you will may find that Taipei might drive you even more up the wall depending on what you don't like about Shanghai.

[JZer]

[rmarqua2921]

I have worked for the Hsinchu Board of Education for the past 4 years. No you can't legally have a second job on your ARC if you work for the government, public school system. Your contract, at least in Hsinchu, forbids it. That does not mean that many do also work at Buxibans after school hours. If you get caught however, your ARC can be invalidated and you will be required to leave Taiwan. No more work permit! Part of the problem is that in the public school system you pay no income taxes, in buxiban is usually pay under the table and you pay no taxes unless you get caught.

I THINK A BIGGER PROBLEM IN TAIWAN IS the failure of the administration to honor the contract. In the first place the contract is very one sided. The contract requires a method for resolving disputes with foreign teachers, but my experience is that they never utilized it. I was at my present school for three years. In that time at least 5 other foreign MEN teachers were hired and fired. Most didn't make it one semester. I and only one other teacher has been there for more than one year and he was there for a little over a year. We were both fired after this semester. I was told they don't want anyone over 50 anymore here in Hsinchu. Watch out for Lisa at Ximen school in Hsinchu.

[Marconi]