Korean Job Discussion Forums

[TECO]

Taiwan:

[buddy bradley]

[Joe Thanks]

The Taiwanese are more in tune with privacy and accepting of foreigners - juxtapose to Koreans. Interracial/internatinal relationships are rarely frowned upon and you will not receive harassment from drunken Taiwanese men about this.


The further south you go the less Chinese is spoken and hte more hokklo (or, as loclas call it, "Taiwanese) is spoken.

Food and electronics are cheap. Rent is cheap. No housing descrimnation like South Korea. Foreigners have more rights there, so long as you are not east Asian.

The Taiwanese are not known for efficientcy but they get things done.

You will need to drive outide of Taipei. Traffic there makes Korean traffic look heavenly.

Taiwanese are timid and easy to get along with. They are also not a gracious becasue they accept you asis. The uniqueness and occasional benefits of it in SK occur seldomly in Taiwan. In that respect it's very cosopolitain.

In Korea - small cities have pubs and Koreans enjoy partying.

In Taiwan: good luck. You'll be trekking to the nearest medium-to-large city for a good time.

Alcohol was more expensive in SK but beer was more expensive in Taiwan.

Korean is easier to read and communicate in though Chinese grammar is easy. The problem is most people won't listen to you and the Taiwanese don't adhear to their 4 tones like China does.

It's easier to switch jobs in most of the country (Save Hsinchu - which makes you leave the country and come back).

You are treated as a teacher and less as an indentured servant by most schools.

I liked Taiwan but it is not a safe place outside of Taipei. Traffic is isnanely inhuman, it's dirtier than most of SK, and the government does little for the people. The SARS situation was a great example of that. Lots of finger pointng and little action until it got pretty harsh. It made me reconsider because if there was a big emergency it's every man for himself and god against all - and I don't dig that kind of environment that a government fosters. Koreans have a bigger sense of unity and I think there are more good semaritans there (and, inversely, more evil bastaards too.).


I missed being able to form great freindships outside of the romantic kind. In Taiwan love is easy to find and basically it's very very easy to have as close a life as possible to the one you had in your home while till residing abroad, but "I get by with a little help from my friends."

If i wanted to go drinkin' or runnin' with "the boys" it was almost exclusively fellow expats. That's cool, but a bit sad in a way. In SK you can run with some decent locals too and paint the town red.

I'm back for a year in SK anyway. If Taiwan had a more stable government and civic pride I'd say it was a perfect little place and I would have stayed. I could overlook the corrupt phone company, poor ADSL service and pollution if locals stuck together more and showed cmpassion to each other. It still has a place in my heart though.
Public transit outside of Taipei is pi s s poor. In Korea it's quite good. Same with trains. In Taiwan they feel old and unsafe. In Korea it's rather nice.


Taiwan has better cable.

Oh - travel from Taiwan was easier and cheaper. It's a nice travel hub and it's cheap to fly to Hong KOng and have a great time. Just don't fly China Airlines. It's the kiss of death. It has an atrocious safety record.

Good luck,

Joe

[TECO]

[jajdude]

I think there are at least as many crooks and crooked operations in the EFl scene as in Korea. Many part-time jobs; sometimes not easy to get more than 10-15 hours per week, and not always easy to work two jobs, though some people do two or three. It's almost impossible not to be working illegally in the beginning. And it is crowded, and Taipei is a concrete jungle, and not as many good-looking girls as Korea. And rent can be expensive if you want a place to yourself in Taipei.

But, generally more friendly and accepting of foreigners. I heard the women there like white guys more than Korea. Some jobs are real, and you may have some respect. But some jobs have you as no more than a monkey playing stupid games with spoiled kids. The kids I taught in Taipei for one year were pretty sharp though. Some of them learn a good bit of English in a bilingual kindergarten. And I met a few lovely women, and generally everyone was nice to me. The beer was the worst I ever had along with the Thai crap. And I was bored a lot, didn't even drink for an 8 or 9 month span, so didn't spend a lot. Internet is a bit more expensive. Some good food, some not so good.

[shawner88]

What about the babes? That's what I want to know about. Are they into foreigners? Are they prettier? What are they like?

[Joe Thanks]

[TECO]

Heavy Japanese influence in all these countries, my friend.

Japan is the big boy on the block and they all aim to emulate.

[Joe Thanks]

[Tiger Beer]

[rapier]

I was in tW for 3 weeks. The women seemed less stunning than the average korean but a lot more natural and normal. Definitely a higher getting jiggy potential happening there, they actually respect/ look up to westerners a bit more.
But God help me, korean girls are just too hot....

[Joe Thanks]

[TECO]

You know, I was walking around NTU university today here in Taipei and I saw a ton of fine looking girls.

Plenty of hot Chinese girls here.

Not as fashionable as the Japanese but very pretty nevertheless.

[Joe Thanks]

[rapier]

I noticed in TW a proportion of girls have some sort of skin rashes or infections, I guess from the polluted air, or the sheer humidity wreaking havoc with their make up. I even developed a fungal infection during my steamy days on the island.