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[Tawa]

Hi all

Ive got a question for all you teachers currently in Taiwan.

What do you do when you are not working? Sports, drinking, romancing, relaxing, shopping, travel (domestic or International), movies, internet...........................?? I'm curious to know what life is like once the bell goes?

We are keen on the idea of travel and one of the main reasons for choosing Taiwan is to place ourselves in Sth East Asia so we can explore other countries. We also love a good drink and a jam with friends and playing sports too.

Does school holidays have an influence on your "playtime" as well? I ask that in complete ignorance of the school calender in Taiwan...haven't read that bit yet !!


Cheers

[BigWally]

What to do when you're not working? My bet is your answers will vary as much as if you asked that question living anywhere.

As for me, living in K-town there is a fairly vibrant, and active ex-pat community with plenty of different popular ex-pat bars to visit. If you're looking for food, there are tons of "western style" places, and even more "traditional Taiwanese" places, and everything in between. Basically, anything you're in the mood for you can eat. (Barring a Whopper...oh that'd be great right now!)

In the south part of the island there is a lot of cool cultural places in and outside of town, and within an 2 hr scooter radius you have the beautiful beaches of Kenting, the majestic mountains in Maolin, the serenity of buddhism in Fo Guan Shan.

In town you can spend the day on CiJin Island, or cruise down the coast near the harbor, or shop the day away at the newly built "Dream Mall" (the largest mall in Asia I believe). Not to mention Wufu Road, which is slowly becoming a shopping mecca for Taiwanese.

Travel in and from Taiwan is relatively cheap, in the past year, I've made the trip to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and have seen up and down both coasts of Taiwan. All the while, still saving enough to be paying off student loans, credit cards, and putting money away.

Outdoor sports are available, I've seen biking, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, tennis, frisbee, surfing, kitesurfing, baseball, running, etc...and there are plenty of gyms if pumping iron or doing some cardio is your thing.

Movies are usually released in theatre here before they release in many places around the world, including the US. For example, I saw the new Transformers on the 28th of June, while my buddies back home had to wait till just yesterday (4th of July) to finally check it out. Theatres are uber-cheap here too, and some even offer whats called VIP (think Lay-Z-Boys, and waitresses) seating for a couple bucks extra (still cheapers than a normal seat back home).

As for romance, well my long time gf gives me all that I need in that department, but I do have a friend who has had several Taiwanese girlfriends and he seems to have a lot of fun with them. Obivously, some cultural differences pop up, but hey thats part of the fun right?

Hope all this helps ya out!

Ganbei!