Job Discussion Forums

sousa · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 4

Hey there everyone... I'm hoping to get some advice on Taiwan from people who have lived and worked there.

I myself have been an ESL Teacher in Korea for over three years. I've had a great time here and if anyone needs any information; feel free to email me for an unbiased opinion on both the living and working conditions in Korea.

As for my question:

I would like to make the move to Taiwan later this year and will do so without a job to begin with. I plan to apply directly at schools. My main motives are:

- (new experience) Chinese Culture
- Salary is comparable to Korea or Japan
- most importantly: The climate

I want to relocate to a small or medium sized city very close to a beach. It seems the southern region is where it's warm all year round. I'm not so concerned with, how developed the area may be according to western comforts. I prefer a moderately clean, safe and off the coast town or city (perhaps even walking distance to the beach) with a fair amount of schools.

Does this seem to be a realistic approach to Taiwan? Is it possible to find such a place in the Ilha Formosa?

It seems Kaohsiung is one of the best options so far but I've also heard it is quite polluted. It also still takes about an hour to get to the beach.

Any info is much appreciated.

Tiago James

sbettinson · Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 81 Location: Taichung

Everywhere in Taiwan is polluted. Kaoshiung is apparently the worst of the lot though.

You could try Hualien or places along the east coast. The beaches there are supposed to be better. I have a friend who lives in Lu gang (I think that is how you spell it) and they are big into surfing. They love it there and live right next to the beach.

Taiwan is not overly huge to get around so hopefully you might get some other suggestions for coastal towns on this forum with decent amounts of schools and then you could travel here and visit each one for a few days to see which one suits best.

Good luck.

Shaun

Aristotle · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1388 Location: Taiwan

chi-chi- · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 194 Location: In la-la land

I heard that Taipei is much less polluted than Kaohsiung, because most of the factories, nuclear plants, etc are located in Southern Taiwan.
I also used to read the Taipei Times newspaper everyday, and while Taichung had pollution levels almost as high as Kaohsiung's (the levels were listed daily) Taipei's were generally much lower.
Taipei has a rail system, too, if you are not comfortable riding a scooter.