[quote=“jdsmith”]
That’s cute. [/quote]
??
[quote=“mightyChip”][quote=“jdsmith”]
That’s cute. [/quote]
??[/quote]
I’ll give you a hint:
[quote=“mightyChip”]
Are you kidding? My Taiwanese brothers-in-law are both 6’. So am I. That’s tall for Taiwan, but not especially. And not nearly as attention-grabbing as pink hair and lip piercings.[/quote]
sorry, it was a lame joke about having 6 feet. not being 6 ft tall. i’ll shut up now and go away.
[quote=“tnai”][quote=“mightyChip”]
Are you kidding? My Taiwanese brothers-in-law are both 6’. So am I. That’s tall for Taiwan, but not especially. And not nearly as attention-grabbing as pink hair and lip piercings.[/quote]
sorry, it was a lame joke about having 6 feet. not being 6 ft tall. I’ll shut up now and go away.[/quote]
Doh! Definitely my bad. 
Apologies all around.
Ok, maybe I was harsh. I taught in Taiwan illegally for 2 years. So I Should be more understanding.
There’s one good school who hire a lot of teachers with no degree (IUTW). But they can give you 20 hours at best a week. They have connections.
My advice: if you want a one year, experience of a lifetime sort of thing, you should go to Beijing.
Beijing’s got an EXCELLENT punk/underground music scene that kicks the butt out of Taipei’s music scene. There’s a large enough crowd you could hang with that would absolutely dig piercings and dyed hair. It’s much easier to find work there if you don’t have a BA. You wouldn’t have to worry at all about being deported. You can easily live a bohemian sort of life off the wages from teaching 4-6 hours/week. You’ll also pick up Chinese a lot more quickly there. And you won’t be stuck on the same island with a bunch of squares like you’re seeing in this thread.
Yeah! Squares! and nerds!
It’s an ugly reality of teaching here, but no matter how passionate you are for your job as an educator, for MANY insitutions of learning, it’s firstly a BUSINESS. That said, they are selling their product with your face, and I know many schools would hesitate to hire you due to piercings and the hair. I wear a simple hoop in each ear and sport a little goatee, which is pretty convervative by my standards (NYC), but I had to yank them out and shave down to my baby face for interviews. There are many a cranky poster on this website, but despite their lack of social graces, what they say is true about your look being a hinderance to success out here …
Some sites (I’m sure there are many more you can find) on music and fun out here:
[quote=“tnai”][quote=“mightyChip”]
Are you kidding? My Taiwanese brothers-in-law are both 6’. So am I. That’s tall for Taiwan, but not especially. And not nearly as attention-grabbing as pink hair and lip piercings.[/quote]
sorry, it was a lame joke about having 6 feet. not being 6 ft tall. I’ll shut up now and go away.[/quote]
Actually, it was funny. Welcome, tnai. Keep the posts coming.
6 feet is 180cm, that gives you no extra attention - a bit taller than the average 19yo Taiwanese, but shorter than the average guy in Scandinavia 
You can always change your haircolour if you find the attention annoying. Not a problem.
About getting a job. You will not get a legal job without a degree. There are plenty of illegal teaching jobs that pay well but nobody wants to tell you about them on here. It’s a weird thing really. When people ask about illegal jobs on the forums, everyone rags on them. But when I talk to the same people in person, they overlook my crazy accent, bad grammar and the lack of proper education and try to convince me how easy it is to teach illegally and do the visa runs.
If you don’t have a problem with the locals, they don’t have a problem with you either. You would be just fine.
do your feet stink though? That is a critical question IMHO.
Ajoooooo, leave him alone with your nagging.
It is easy:
-
I am an average looking 39years old guy, but I am easily the attraction of the day here in Taiwan, even after 1-2 years in a company. So consider if you want so much attention. And dress code is very conservative here. Even a colored shirt is often out of the question in my office (no school).
-
For teaching, you will need the BA degree as said before.
It is a bad time to join the teaching-illegal guys, as Taiwan police is just searching for illegal teaching foreigners right now. Reason were some few drug-dealing idiots which probably were not even teachers, but…
Cheers,
BobBlabla
People are being a bit tough on you, gruff like the old prick this morning who honked on his scooters horn because I dared to stand on a sidewalk. Perhaps they don’t appreciate your naivety.
I think you will have fun and the experience will be something to remember. It’s a challenge to start anew in any city and with what you have said in your post it might be doubly challenging for you.
Don’t expect to make money on photography but you will find lots of wonderful subjects to photograph. It will help your book.
I think the poster who suggested you study Chinese and teach on the side is a great idea. I would expect you would have quite allot of private students. I’m sure you will survive.
Don’t worry about it. You’ll be just fine. A lot of the 18-19 year olds I teach come to school with red/pink/blue streaks in their hair. You have a “cool” look and will probably be able to pick up quite a few college age one-on-ones. My neighbor has double sleeve tatoos, is over 6 feet, and teaches kindie. You could also get a student visa and study Mandarin. Whatever you decide to do, it will be a good experience and you’ll have fun.
That’s because you’re hot and blonde and sexy. Poor old orphaned pirate is none of those things. 
(Although he reminds me of one of the Monkees)
I’d suggest you come over by all means, visit your brother, hang out for a while to see what you think and take it from there. Forgive me, but you look very young for your age, you look weird and you’re not qualified to teach English, so that’s going to be a real problem for you.
As for your photography, remember that Taiwan is one of the gizmo capitals of the world. There are thousands and thousands of fucking INCREDIBLE photographers here. I think it would be extremely difficult for you to break into that business here.
So come over, have some fun, but don’t be disappointed if things don’t work out.
PS You could always work for Maoman – he’ll hire ANYONE!
I think this is solid advice. But I also think that someone who is worried about how they will be accepted by the locals could well have difficulties dealing with some of what they’re sure to meet with in Taiwan.
You can borrow my John 3:16 sign.
Life’s meant to be an adventure. Nothing’s wrong with a bit of travelling the world.
As long as the Pirate is aware he could get deported within a week of arriving here if he’s caught working then no problemos.
Maybe he could study Chinese and teach part time. Seems many people are using student visa’s to teach. Sooner or later the visa rules are only going to get tougher and they’ll just be stopping people at the airport.
And I just realized that this applies to me too, so what do I know?
And I just realized that this applies to me too, so what do I know?[/quote]
He doesn’t look younger than his age - I would say early 20ies. 
And he’s handsome, not weird at all. Don’t forget that there are plenty of female school owners, too
And you are a cutiepie as well, Sandman, no need to be jealous