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canadiangirlsrock
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:46 pm Post subject: Taiwan at a glance |
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| Hi everyone. I'm new to this discussion forum and quite excited I have found this site. This is my situation currently... in the process of taking the TESOL course and planning on teaching in Taiwan. I am seeking out information on current affairs that are happening right now in Taiwan, the best part of the island togo to, schools there to watch out for and any other input you can offer me. I plan on leaving Canada in June. Thanks to all who reply. |
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jason_seeburn
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2004 5:42 pm Post subject: Re: Taiwan at a glance |
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Last edited by jason_seeburn on Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Andy in Taiwan
Joined: 12 May 2003
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 3:06 am Post subject: |
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| If you are new please give Taipei a shot. It's the most modern of all Taiwan's cities. It's the best place to start your career in Taiwan, as you probably have no Chinese language skills. The costs are not as high as you would think. If you choose not to live in Taipei City you will save quite a bit on rent. I have a 4 bedroom apartment in Yung Ho city and only pay about 16000 a month. I make 96000 a month so it's great for me. Please take what Jason says with a large grain of salt. He was only here for 9 months but passes himself off as an expert about Taiwan. |
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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 4:28 am Post subject: |
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Be advised there is a travel advisory in the works for Taiwan concerning the current civil unrest. It looks to have the potential of the 2-28 incident or even the Tien A Mien square massacre.
Please hold off on you travels to Taiwan until things cool down a bit.
A. |
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trukesehammer
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
Posts: 168
Location: The Vatican
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 4:39 am Post subject: Now, Now, Boys! |
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Aw, play nicely, please!
There are advantages and disadvantages to just about EVERY place here in Taiwan. Back in the Dinosaur Days, my first gig was with HESS in Taoyuan. I will restrain myself when discussing HESS, but let's just say we had an amicable parting of ways, as I was/am an experienced teacher and HESS works best for youngsters fresh out of college.
As for the cities, Taipei was cool to me --mainly because I stayed out of the main part of the city. I lived in Shilin and Xin Beitou, right up against the mountains. In those settings, life was cool for me. I could have birds and rivers and cicadas at home and scooters and busses and taxis (oh, my!) when I wanted 'em. Later, when the MRT was completed (sorta like Vancouver's Skytrain), I could literally RISE ABOVE the fray with no prob.
I've also lived in Taichung and Zhanghua. Both cities were not bad, although a bit polluted for my taste. And I absolutely REFUSE to live in Gaoxiung, which I visit regularly. Now I'm living in Buddha's Country, AKA Hualian. But again, all of these places have their advantages and disadvantages. If you would like more specific details, I invite you to zap me a line. I am, as always, [email protected] |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:33 am Post subject: |
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Be advised there is a travel advisory in the works for Taiwan concerning the current civil unrest. It looks to have the potential of the 2-28 incident or even the Tien A Mien square massacre.
Please hold off on you travels to Taiwan until things cool down a bit. |
I think this advice is good. I was considering teaching in Taiwan after summer, but the recent political situation may change that.
The latest news is for a massive opposition protest to happen this Saturday, as more supporters join existing ranks. Meanwhile, Beijing is starting to open its mouth now after 'carefully watching' the situation last week.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/24/taiwan.recount/index.html
Steve |
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brian
Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 299
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 9:51 am Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
Be advised there is a travel advisory in the works for Taiwan concerning the current civil unrest. It looks to have the potential of the 2-28 incident or even the Tien A Mien square massacre.
Please hold off on you travels to Taiwan until things cool down a bit.
A. |
Oh, for goodness sake!!!! Just stop it will you! This is just plain ridiculous.
My advice would be to start in Taipei with a chain school. Attempting to do otherwise is often just too difficultand too uncertain. Uncertain if you are legal, will get paid, will get enough hours, will have a good progam to teach etc. etc. Taipei is the easiest place to live and the rents aren't too bad, especially when compared with the fact that you are likely to be earning more here. |
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Ilja
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Posts: 23
Location: Taichung
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:23 am Post subject: Taichung is good! |
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Hey,
Of course your situation will probably not be similar than mine was, I can still tell you about mine. I arrived here on Feb 28 from chilly Ottawa and I had a house/scooter/pt job/computer/cell phone by March 1. Though Taiwan is going through some major political rollercoasters right now, I don't think it should deter you from coming here. The job market is a little slow right now because you are arriving in the middle of the semester, but I suspect things will pick up for the summertime. My experiences here so far have been incroyable. People are friendly and helpfull. If you want any more help, just email me or pm me and I will happily give you more advice/help.
Happy travels,
I. |
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canadiangirlsrock
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Thank you for the replies. I knew Taiwan and its political situation is in chaos. When I've been doing my research, I constantly came across that China has always either threatened to or has harmed Taiwan in some way. I'm on the fence post because I realize this happens everywhere and has been going on for years between the two. But for those that are there right now, what is the air like? Tense, chaotic etc. |
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jason_seeburn
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:09 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by jason_seeburn on Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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brian
Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 299
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 4:07 am Post subject: |
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| Andy in Taiwan wrote: |
| If you choose not to live in Taipei City you will save quite a bit on rent. I have a 4 bedroom apartment in Yung Ho city and only pay about 16000 a month. I make 96000 a month so it's great for me. |
I agree with this. Of course rents in the capital are more expensive, but then you are paying for convenience amongst other things, and rent is a comparative thing. You are likely to earn a lot more here in Taipei so a higher rent is easily abosorbed with no loss to any savings you may be sending back home.
| jason_seeburn wrote: |
| 16,000 a month is quite high for rent. |
For a four bedroom place! Are you kidding yourself? This is a very reasonable price indeed.
| jason_seeburn wrote: |
| If I told you that I had a three bedroom, two bathroom, two balcony appartment, on the fifth floor of a very nice building in Fengyuang, just outside of Taichung, for 8000NT a month, would you believe me? It's true. |
If I told you that this was in a small town outside of Taichung in the centre of Taiwan, would you believe me? It's true. Of course rents are cheaper in the countryside. This would be a factor that is true all over the world. There is more to it than just the money per month. There is quality, location and personal choice. If you were happy living in the boondocks well good for you, but this doesn't mean that Taipei is overpriced and should be avoided.
I have a question though. Didn't you say on an earlier thread that you lived with your bosses family and that's how you became so proficient in Chinese? Well which was it - your own apartment, or your bosses place.
| jason_seeburn wrote: |
| I shared with two other people of course, making my monthly rent around 2700NT. |
Exactly how many places did you live in during your nine month stay here? So far it's two in Fengyuan and one in Kaoshiung.
| jason_seeburn wrote: |
| That is great, when you make 63,000 a month. |
If you were earning NTD63,000 and paying NTD8,000 per month on rent, then by my calculations you were paying about 12.7% of your wage on rent in some little town. Andy in Taiwan was paying NTD16,000 on a NTD96,000 pay check, which makes it about 16.6% of his wages to live in the big smoke. Not much in it, but when you consider the outside factors such as convenience, social life, quality of administration .... I know where I would prefer to be. I think that it is clear that life in the country suits some, whilst others are city people. There doesn't seem to be any justification however that prices are too high in Taipei.
| jason_seeburn wrote: |
| But who wants to pay for housing? A lot of schools in Taichung and Kaoshiung are now offering it for free. |
You should think very carefully before you accept school housing. The school knows where you live, may have access to your house, knows your landlord, and is likely to choose a place that is suitable for them. You're kidding yourself if you think you are getting something for nothing, and you can be sure that the cost of the accomodation has been factored into what they are paying you. I am not a conspiracy theorist, however I know that if things are going to go wrong at your school, the last thing that you want is to be living in a place rented by the school. You are far better off to negotiate an accomodation allowance and find a place of your own! |
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MTurton
Joined: 10 Mar 2004
Posts: 107
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 5:07 am Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
Be advised there is a travel advisory in the works for Taiwan concerning the current civil unrest. It looks to have the potential of the 2-28 incident or even the Tien A Mien square massacre.
Please hold off on you travels to Taiwan until things cool down a bit.
A. |
Be serious. There is no unrest anywhere here except a completely manufactured incident in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei. Everywhere else on the island is as normal as can be.
In any case, you might want to explore my Taiwan website
http://users2.ev1.net/~turton/teach_index.html
and some of the other websites listed on my links page.
Michael Turton |
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jason_seeburn
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by jason_seeburn on Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:27 am; edited 1 time in total |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Really, Jason, you never lived anywhere but Fengyuan (and then only very briefly). If you had lived in Fengyuan and Taipei, your anti-Tapei rants could be taken half-way seriously. You have no basis for the comparisons you make. You simply lack the experience necessary to make them. How the heck do you know what life is like there? I'd ask you to post only on what you know, but then I'd only be begging the question of why you continue to post here. |
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jason_seeburn
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by jason_seeburn on Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:28 am; edited 1 time in total |
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