Will I ever manage to leave Taiwan?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
81

[quote=“PigBloodCake”][quote=“Rabidpie”][quote=“Satellite TV”][quote=“johnnyvo”] The language barrier, the smell, the food, the pollution it all became too much to handle.

Being back home is hard, but the thought of returning to Taiwan is soul crushing.[/quote]

So stay at home, nobody is asking to to remove yourself from your comfort zone instead of getting a free sould crusing experience.

What language barrier? The food is great, as for pollution big improvements have been made.[/quote]

I have the opposite problem… Will I ever manage to get to Taiwan and get to stay there??

Time will tell…[/quote]

Buy a one way tix and fly your bottom over here, for crying out loud.

You’ve been saying this for eons. :unamused:[/quote]

Yeah I know I know, I just want to be cautious when coming. I have my money saved and my two years of experience are almost done (May 2012). I’m sure my patience will definitley pay off for me in the long-run.

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Taiwan is my Hotel California. Plain and simple.

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No, I am in the United States and about to embark on a new career. I wouldn’t move back to Taiwan unless I had substantial retirement savings.

84

Why would you want to?

85

I have been here for 5 years now and dont think I will make it to 6… only had an arc for 1 year out of 5… cannot deal with the bs much more. Maybe I just need to head somewhere civilized and cool off for a while…

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I don’t really get these kind of questions. Unless you have family commitments, or there is some kind of legal problem, everyone is free to come and go pretty much as they please. If you don’t like it in Taiwan - leave. If you think you’ll like it here - come on over. Either way just make a bloody decision, preferably without some convoluted self-analysis into the reasons behind it.

1 Like
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This is a pretty stupid comment. If one only has a Taiwanese passport and is not loaded, most likely their only choice is to stay in Taiwan.

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This is a pretty stupid comment. If one only has a Taiwanese passport and is not loaded, most likely their only choice is to stay in Taiwan.[/quote]

Don’t be so deliberately disingenuous. You know full well that I wasn’t referring to Taiwanese nationals. This is a forum for mainly expats, no? And, even if I were referring to Taiwanese nationals, my comment about “legal problems” would cover that situation. In conclusion, your comment was more stupid than mine - so you win :thumbsup:

89

This is a pretty stupid comment. If one only has a Taiwanese passport and is not loaded, most likely their only choice is to stay in Taiwan.[/quote]

Don’t be so deliberately disingenuous. You know full well that I wasn’t referring to Taiwanese nationals. This is a forum for mainly expats, no? And, even if I were referring to Taiwanese nationals, my comment about “legal problems” would cover that situation. In conclusion, your comment was more stupid than mine - so you win :thumbsup:[/quote]

I do know that it is very easy for a Taiwanese citizen to live/work in China though, and in fact many do.

It has to do with the fact that China does not recognize travel from Taiwan by Taiwanese to China as international travel. However I am not sure if it is any better in China however it seems the potential for advancement is much greater in China because of their stronger industry, even if the wages are lower. I am just not sure if China is a better place for me than Taiwan, and if someone with my skills can find work there.

90

This is a pretty stupid comment. If one only has a Taiwanese passport and is not loaded, most likely their only choice is to stay in Taiwan.[/quote]

Don’t be so deliberately disingenuous. You know full well that I wasn’t referring to Taiwanese nationals. This is a forum for mainly expats, no? And, even if I were referring to Taiwanese nationals, my comment about “legal problems” would cover that situation. In conclusion, your comment was more stupid than mine - so you win :thumbsup:[/quote]

Don’t be so obtuse. One person in this thread mentioned being a Taiwanese national.

91

Wait … If one only has a US passport and is not loaded, most likely their only choice is to stay in US.

Plenty of people in Taiwan have sufficient funds to travel and live overseas.

92

Anywhere gets dull if you live there long enough, I’m new and loving Taiwan but a lot of the things I find interesting have become inconvieniences for the long term expats. A good example is the 101 fireworks on NYE, I thought it was great, a few members of this forum were very quick to denounce them as being “nothing compared to what they used to be”.

Keep moving, keep exploring, try not to settle to you’ve found a place you’re still happy with after 2/3 years. Beware of the childbearing anchor woman (sweeping sexist remark)

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I wouldnt say life is dull here… work is dull for sure but everything else is drama

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Yeah, I agree that working in Taiwan sucks. Of course most work sucks if you do if five days a week for long enough. Even eating your favorite food five days a week would get old soon enough.

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Most old foreigners that I have talked to wished that they had left a long time ago. Many of them said it was like a dream, a summer haze. Time flew so quickly that one day they woke up and regretted everything.

Once a person gets old enough, generally speaking, buxibans don’t want them. It gets harder and harder to find a job; the Taiwan government really doesn’t want you here.
There are a myriad of problems that will plague you. If you get married and have children, this will complicate things even more, especially if the children aren’t doing well in school.

One day, this individual will have to make a choice. Life is like ice cream: the good times will come to an end eventually and we will have to live with reality. So, some people have suggested that one or two years is the best period of time. Save some money and then decide what to do. We can go back to school, put a downpayment on a house, or settle down somewhere. While we are here, we can see the world and experience things that no one else ever will. These memories will be forever with us.

The worse thing that I have seen was a foreigner leave his job, career, and family to come over here. He thought it was a gold mine. Give me a break! A teacher in Taiwan earning 60,000 TWD a month earns about as much money as a worker at Starbucks in the states. In this regards, coming over here was foolish and stupid. This said individual was just running away from his responsibilities. A teacher with experience and a Master’s can make so much more and live so much better in the states.

In fact, on my travels around Asia, I often see teachers on their summer vacations running around on the beach. In my opinion, that’s the correct way to do it. Consider Taiwan a great vacation, nothing more.

Regrets!

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I start threads like these every now and again - but I’m coming around to the less convoluted introspective way of looking at it (irony itself, huh?).

I realise I can move back (to the UK) any time.

Any time I move back, the economy is going to be in the shit and I will have to bare all kinds of crap until whatever I move back for is sufficiently rewarding or whatever. The point it one has to move forward in pursuit of whatever it is that you want to trade everything in for. Until then, save, think, learn and ENJOY!

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[quote=“ShenKeng”]Most old foreigners that I have talked to wished that they had left a long time ago. Many of them said it was like a dream, a summer haze. Time flew so quickly that one day they woke up and regretted everything.

Once a person gets old enough, generally speaking, buxibans don’t want them. It gets harder and harder to find a job; the Taiwan government really doesn’t want you here.
There are a myriad of problems that will plague you. If you get married and have children, this will complicate things even more, especially if the children aren’t doing well in school.

One day, this individual will have to make a choice. Life is like ice cream: the good times will come to an end eventually and we will have to live with reality. So, some people have suggested that one or two years is the best period of time. Save some money and then decide what to do. We can go back to school, put a downpayment on a house, or settle down somewhere. While we are here, we can see the world and experience things that no one else ever will. These memories will be forever with us.

The worse thing that I have seen was a foreigner leave his job, career, and family to come over here. He thought it was a gold mine. Give me a break! A teacher in Taiwan earning 60,000 TWD a month earns about as much money as a worker at Starbucks in the states. In this regards, coming over here was foolish and stupid. This said individual was just running away from his responsibilities. A teacher with experience and a Master’s can make so much more and live so much better in the states.

In fact, on my travels around Asia, I often see teachers on their summer vacations running around on the beach. In my opinion, that’s the correct way to do it. Consider Taiwan a great vacation, nothing more.

Regrets![/quote]

I agree with some things but I think you go overboard.

A few things. Someone working at Starbucks in the states would have a terrible lifestyle compared to someone in Taiwan making the same amount.

I also wonder if this hypothetical foreigner that you are talking about would also be bitter and disappointed with his life if he had stayed/returned home. I had a nice career in the states but I hated it and I don’t want to return to that career.

I agree though that depending on buxibans for your paycheck is going to leave you horribly exposed financially. Not only can the rug be pulled out from under you at any time but it’s also going to be difficult to be teaching into your 50’s as you say. And I doubt many are ready financially to retire at that point. The key is getting yourself set up in a business somewhere that you enjoy. I have a plan but it won’t be easy.

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I sometimes think the reason that many foreigners like Taiwan is simply the freedom. Freedom can be very alluring. When we go back to our respective countries, things often change.

When I consider the lifestyle in Taiwan, then I think about the freedom that I have. Is it really freedom that I like or the lack of responsibility? That is the question.

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ShenKeng: Taiwan is only a waste of time for long termers if they live Taiwan through the bottom of a beer glass. For those who are willing to look for opportunities and take advantage of them, there is a better life to be had.

The cost of living (and the tax rate) is such in Australia now that even though I’d earn double what I do here, I’d save half what I save here. At no point since I have been in Taiwan have I saved less than 50% of what I’ve made, and it’s usually been closer to 70% than 50%. In Australia, I’d probably only save 10%, but I might be able to save 20% if I lived much more carefully than I do here. So, in both relative and absolute terms, I do better here. The long term is somewhat of an issue (though I work for the government), but I have other irons in the fire. However, the long term would be an issue in Australia in other ways. The kids are feral and the workload is bigger, making for a lot more stress. Not sure that I’d want to be a teacher there in my fifties either. The difference is that here, I will probably be retired by then. Likewise, I saw my father run his business in Australia for more than twenty years, and whilst he was successful and made a lot of money, not everyone is, and the stress was enormous for him. The amount of crap he had to comply with from the government alone makes running a business in Australia quite a dubious exercise I think. There’s far less of that here.

100

Depends what the person’s profession is. I think some expat positions in Taiwan in technology, legal services, and engineering are indeed gold mines in Taiwan, or if you want to be less melodramatic, they remunerate quite well. Even buxiban owners that are ambitious, have a game plan, and stay for years, can leave with lots of dosh over a set number of years. Depends on whether the person is a slacker or if they are driven/ambitious.

Yip, that’s where Taiwan can be dangerous. If you’re older, still teaching, and not saving/having a game plan. Being paid 60-80 thousand nt/month ain’t great, but it is even worse in middle to old age when you haven’t paid into your home country retirement system, a defined pension, child benefit systems, or you haven’t invested in Taiwan while working there. You are opening yourself to an old age where you are underworking and have no nest egg. To me a fate worse than hell, would be throwing sticky balls into your 60s. :laughing: :laughing: :smiley:

For me, leaving Taiwan was a mixed bag. If I had stayed, I would have likely made more with stock options in Taiwan than I would in a decent 5 (nearly 6) figure salary back home. However, my stepdaughter, only a mediocre student in Taiwan, after 4 years in North America, just received an entrance scholarship to a good university in North America. Stepson just won two leadership awards in the military cadets. You can’t really put a price on that. Both are adopting super well in a less pressure cooker environment. For me, the welfare of my kids and the security of being in the system back home was a safer choice for this period in my life. My bank account though is lighter for it.

I sympathize with such a person. There is a part of me (the vagabond) that loves the feeling of totally giving up your responsibilities and trying a new location/life somewhere. In my 20s, I totally loved playing the travelling risk-taker. Fell on my ass and pissed off the power structures in some countries (e.g. Singapore) but did pretty well in Taiwan. There is nothing as addicting as going to a new place overseas alone with very little and rising up in the work world, meeting new friends, and women (if you are single). However, there comes a point in time when you have gained too much, become too entrenched in the system, have a family, or would lose too much to play the vagabond skirting his/her responsibilities. The person you describe made a choice, and while it is one I would not make, one can understand the attraction of it.