laperla,
I have lived in Taichung. It is smaller and quieter than Taipei. It’s easier to make friends in Taichung in my opinion, because of the slower pace of the city. But because of the slower pace there also a little less opportunities overall.
Why not head out to HK if you speak Canto? Probably more job opportunities in different fields besides teaching English. A lot of ABC/CBC in HK as well.
Reverse discrimination in jobs. I use to be like what is this all about. But as I got older I realise I can’t really blame the buxiban owners really, because they have nothing else to market their services, beside having a gwailo on staff. Without the token gwailo how would anyone know they are learning proper English?
However, if you’re persistant and take all those screening exams, there’s always someone willing to hire you. They have English teacher jobs all the way from pre-K to adults. So just choose an age group, look in the help wanted section, and head out to the interviews.
As for discrimination among the locals. Well if you don’t speak much Minnan and your Mandarin is iffy, then most of it will go right by you. Taichung has a sizeable WSR population, and a couple of larger universities, so it is not like they never met someone from abroad.
Head shot. Usually black & white student id photos are submitted for people in your age group. It’s pretty common in Taiwan since you need them for school ID and your National ID card. Just go to any photo place and get a set of four done.