Job Discussion Forums

twinkletoes · Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 76

Here are some places for you to begin your research. I hope others will add good ones that they find, as well. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but these are the ones I have saved in my computer that have been helpful to me.

http://www.tealit.com/ < apartment ads, job ads, general info and forums

http://forumosa.com/taiwan/index.php < lots of very specific forums about Taiwan, jobs, teaching, money, family, visa, legal issues, etc.

http://www.buxiban.com/ < all about schools, blacklists of schools, greenlists, etc.

http://www.gogotaiwan.com/ < ads for jobs, apartments, used stuff, etc, catagorized by region of Taiwan

http://www.taiwanstuff.com/ < community for expats in Taiwan, includes lots of legal info.

http://www.taiwanho.com/ < not the best place to begin research, but there's enough good info there to be worth a look once you've seen the others. Forums.

http://users2.ev1.net/%7Eturton/teach_intro.html#need < one of the better blogs for info about Taiwan.

http://users2.ev1.net/%7Eturton/teach_illegal.html < some info about teaching illegally, from the blog above

http://www.taiwan.alloexpat.com/ < another forum with lots of tips, jobs, legal advice, job ads, apartment ads, and general advice.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/ < The Taipei Times, Taipei's English newspaper.

That should keep you busy for a few weeks, after you've exhausted the search feature on this forum.
Wink

Be sure to add anything else interesting that you find, and happy researching![/i]

lumber Jack · Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 91 Location: UK/ROK

Thanks. I thought this was going to be a lecture! Laughing

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Yeah, nice post twinkletoes.

There are a heap of other links here:

http://www.buxiban.com/linkTW.asp

I encourage teachers to also check out personal blogs from other foreign teachers in Taiwan as these sometimes yield a great insight into life and teaching here in Taiwan at a personal level.

twinkletoes · Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 76

Yes, Blogs are invaluable, much more valuable than forums if you are looking for information on life in a specific location.

I am going to spend the next ten minutes, and only ten minutes, searching for Taiwan Blogs and posting the links I find in this post. 22:49, here we go...

http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/ < Here's about 100 Taiwan blogs, all current, organized by location

http://globeofblogs.com/?x=location&country=317 < Three pages of links to Taiwan blogs organized by location and a brief description

One minute diversion: This title caught my eye: A 19 year old Aussie losing her mind in Taiwan
Author: Gretel
Location: Taichung, China, Republic of (Taiwan)

You can see that one on the link above.

http://scottsommers.blogs.com/ < Here's a blog with links to other Taiwan blogs.

Here's a blog from a guy who claims there are 5 million blogs in Taiwan and posts links to lots of them:
http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2006/04/taiwanese-blogosphere-cafe-or-window.html

Why, just look at some of his links ( gotta) go to the link above to click on them, though.

Recent Posts and Monthly Archives
Archives by Topic
Websites of Interest
Taiwan Blogs -- Main Blogs
Taiwan Blogs -- Related Asian Blogs
Discussion Groups
Friday Taiwan Blog Roundups
Taiwan Photoblogs
Taiwan Video Blogs
Taiwan Podcasters
Topical Blogs
Taiwan Blogs -- Other blogs (100+)

Okay, Times up

I'm in edit mode now just to correct all my mistakes typing so quickly and to tell you that It's just so very easy, people!

I got all of that just by typing "Taiwan Blogs" and "Blogs in Taiwan" into Google. I think if you typed in the word "blog" along with the city of your choice, or the concern of your choice + "Taiwan" you could find just about anything you wanted. It's all there, people.

Oh, and if you think this is a lot of research, just wait until you start teaching. You'll be on the internet all the time looking for lesson plans (if you're smart, that is). Peace and happy hunting!

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

You guys are awesome!! Many thanks.

lumber Jack · Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 91 Location: UK/ROK

Yeah, but what's so great about blogs? If I want specific information, I don't like reading about what some self-obsessed twit has had for breakfast over the last few days......

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

ajinprc2000 · Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 1

Thanks everyone for your informative input.

I used www.Buxiban.com and was able post some basic information about myself there. Just a couple of days later I received an e-mail from a recruitment agency called, East Gateway whose URL is www.esl99.com. Are any of you familiar with this recruitment agency and if so have you heard good/bad reviews abou them?

Thanks for your help, in advance.

AJJ

twinkletoes · Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 76

If you are looking for info about a specific town or school, you will find much more info in a blog than anyone will bother to type for you on an internet forum. I turned down a job at a certain school because I found a blog from a teacher working there who laid out, over the period of several months, many, many stories precisely illustrating just how awful it was to work there. That's worth a lot more to me than some random poster I don't know much about saying "my buddy said it sucked."

And blogs contain pictures. Sometimes, lots and lots of them. You can see what a town looks like. You can also email the writer of the blog and ask him/her to put you in touch with more people in the town.

Especially if you are accepting a job before coming to Taiwan, it's in you best interest to collect as much info as you can about your job and your location. Don't just go thinking you can deal with whatever life dishes out. You can, but there is a world of difference between what your happiness level will be like in a place that is right for you and a place that is not. The unexpected will hit you in the face no matter where you go in Taiwan, but wouldn't you rather at least know that the place you're going to has some good points?

twinkletoes · Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 76

lumber Jack · Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 91 Location: UK/ROK

You know, every other forum has a lot of great links posted at the top. Surely it would save you guys some hassle and repetition if someone sorted that out? (Dave's journal doesn't seem to work) Then you won't have to lecture lazy question posters so much, who of course will post their questions before reading the lectures.

Some of the questions are lazy, but look, trawling the web for just the stuff you need isn't always especially fruitful, and can be time-consuming. Especially if you are dealing with blogs, a good majority of which are written by vapid souls who say things like "Asian town X has really gotten better recently - a Burger King opened"! On the other hand, if you post a question regarding just the information you need and someone is kind enough to answer, it's bound to get you somewhere, and you might even kick off a useful conversation with an expert.

Do you think that "newbies" (what a silly word that is) to Taiwan are also therefore "newbies" to the internet? To teaching in foreign lands?

twinkletoes · Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 76

lumber Jack · Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 91 Location: UK/ROK

I put in Taiwan-Blog-Baby-Apartment

First result "Casey and Molly - Serving God in Taiwan!"

Taiwan-baby-apartment-english teacher

First result - I end up reading some blog about Korea! Rolling Eyes

Korean wife - blog - Taiwan

I read a blog by a bloke who knows someone who owns a restaurant who has a Korean wife.

See what I mean?

twinkletoes · Joined: 05 Jan 2005 Posts: 76

Try again, and add "Korea" in the field for "without these words" in an advanced search. Add some more words in the "with at least one of these words" field as well. You get ten words in a google search, so use them.

Also, your searches were waaaaaaay too general. How many hundreds of thousands of irrelevant websites did those searches bring up? Use the advanced search and be more specific. You can also blog for pieces of sentences that people might write in their blogs. For example "found a good daycare center", or whatever your specific question is. If it doesn't work, try it again.

I never said the first result would hit the nail on the head for what you need to know. But I do know that doing blog searches has saved me from accepting a very, very, very, bad job working for a power-tripping boss in a school that has very few resources and treats its employees like dirt. It was not the first result, and it took more than one minute to find, but I sure am glad I found it. Sure, I could have gotten out of that crap job, but spending an hour (if it even took that long) doing multiple internet searches before I hit pay dirt beats the hell out of accepting a crap job, spending a few months living in misery, looking for a new job, and dealing with ARC transfer or a move or whatever.

If you're looking for information about having babies and children in Taiwan, I suggest you look at the marriage or parenting forums on the Forumosa.com forums. Link in first post.

lumber Jack · Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 91 Location: UK/ROK

Waaaaaay too general? Don't you know what can happen when you are too specific?

"Visa for a Korean wife" - Taiwan - blog

Zippo

"apartment suitable for baby" - taiwan - blog

Zippo

As for your "saved by the blog" story - are you sure? I have worked at 9 schools, and each has had its runaways, people who might have written a negative blog, and each its fans. Whether a place suits you is usually luck of the draw, horses for courses. The "power-tripping boss" make like you, may dislike you. Crappy conditions may mean less pressure.

Actually, Twinkles, I notice that you spend aeons of your time answering various people's individual questions, and I am spending time doing this rather than searching for info, so this is a surreal little chat. Isn't it possible to hoist some useful stickies and links (and get maybe get rid of the fairly useless one about rights in Taiwan.......)?