So a strange opportunity might have fallen in my lap. A 6 month contract in Okinawa. I looked through the first 30 pages of search results here, but couldn’t find the thread I thought existed (one where Urodacus and Yuli compared their experiences living in Okinawa and the nearby islands with living in Taiwan).
The job in Okinawa is stable, no problems with visa stuff, ex-pat type package pay/housing allowance/etc. It seems like the smarter choice but I can’t help but think Taiwan would be more fun to be in for a while. Tell me, if you were a 40 year old guy new to Asia, looking to have strange/new experiences and meet strange/new people, would you choose Taipei or Okinawa, keeping in mind I’m more of a wander around and watch people type of person than go snorkeling and surfing type of person?
I was also really looking forward to having a dumpling/noodle/indecipherable food cart right outside my apartment. :lick:
In either case I’d be spending some time in Taiwan in July, and either just staying on there or moving along to Okinawa depending on which job I go with. I’d have to accept or turn down the job in Okinawa sometime this month, so no chance to visit both, or even one, first.
Iv only spent a few days in Okinawa. It would be an awesome place to spend six months. Why not do that and then later do Taiwan. SEems its easier to get something in Taiwan then Okinawa?
Thats what id do. Do the okinawa and then later do the taiwan.
Naha is nothing like Taipei though. Taipei is like a smaller Tokyo.
I have to agree with Tommy on this one. I haven’t spent much time in Okinawa but enjoyed it there. It’s a cleaner nicer place overall. If I had the whole ex-pat package you’re talking about I’d move there in a minute. But then again, I’m a bit biased. I like Japan better than Taiwan, even if Okinawa isn’t quite like the main islands. While there I’d entertain the idea of flying to Taipei for the weekend once in a while, spend a weekend or 2 in Fukuoka. I’ll carry on with my daydream this thread has started in my mind now
Okinawa is like Taiwan could have been were it not for the fact that Japan gave it up after WWII. Not quite like Japan, but definitely better than what Taiwan has become following the massive impact of the KMT and the pro-China camp. PLus it’s gorgeous practcally everywhere.
If you’re not into snorkeling/diving etc, there’s still plenty to do, but the “OhmiGod smack me in the face with the sheer Asianness of it all” award would still go to Taiwan. Just for the sheer cultural overload of difference, Taipei would win. But then do you really want that?
[quote=“urodacus”]Okinawa is like Taiwan could have been were it not for the fact that Japan gave it up after WWII. Not quite like Japan, but definitely better than what Taiwan has become following the massive impact of the KMT and the pro-China camp. PLus it’s gorgeous practcally everywhere.
If you’re not into snorkeling/diving etc, there’s still plenty to do, but the “OhmiGod smack me in the face with the sheer Asianness of it all” award would still go to Taiwan. Just for the sheer cultural overload of difference, Taipei would win. But then do you really want that?[/quote]
[quote=“hansioux”][quote=“urodacus”]Okinawa is like Taiwan could have been were it not for the fact that Japan gave it up after WWII. Not quite like Japan, but definitely better than what Taiwan has become following the massive impact of the KMT and the pro-China camp. PLus it’s gorgeous practcally everywhere.
If you’re not into snorkeling/diving etc, there’s still plenty to do, but the “OhmiGod smack me in the face with the sheer Asianness of it all” award would still go to Taiwan. Just for the sheer cultural overload of difference, Taipei would win. But then do you really want that?[/quote]
a piece of me dies inside thinking about that…[/quote]
Wow, mindbender! I was expecting to have my bias towards going to Taiwan confirmed. One of my goals is to be culturally shocked, I guess I just have to figure out how shocking Okinawa would be… There is the point that in Okinawa I’d be on a real, full work week whereas in Taiwan it would be 3 - 4 days per week, and Taiwan definitely wins on that score. Bah, it doesn’t rain but it pours. Maybe this should all go in the 1st world problems thread.
The way i see it, opportunities in Okinawa are generally harder to come by then ones in Taiwan, for most people. Not sure what field you are in, so that may not be true.
Given that , it would be cool, IF it was me, to experience both. And thusly start with the oKINAwa thingy.
Again the situ may not be the same for you, perhaps you can do Taiwan first and still have an Okinawa job later. IN which case, its probably a lot more EXCITING to do Taiwan.
IF you want to be in a Different Place to the western country you are in.
Taiwan , if anything is too tame, compared to Thailand or other more exotic destinations.
Its sort of like Asia Lite, if you ask me.
Its still the inscrutable orient, but not THAT inscrutable these days.
Besides taiwans force field has a habit of keeping people from leaving.
I’ve gotta say Okinawa sounds great. Taiwan opportunities are likely plenty, but an opportunity in Okinawa is hard to come by. While I prefer everything about Taiwan over Japan – yes, everything – Taipei really loses when it comes to weather.
[quote=“tommy525”]The way i see it, opportunities in Okinawa are generally harder to come by then ones in Taiwan, for most people. Not sure what field you are in, so that may not be true.
Given that , it would be cool, IF it was me, to experience both. And thusly start with the oKINAwa thingy.
Again the situation may not be the same for you, perhaps you can do Taiwan first and still have an Okinawa job later. IN which case, its probably a lot more EXCITING to do Taiwan.
IF you want to be in a Different Place to the western country you are in.
Taiwan , if anything is too tame, compared to Thailand or other more exotic destinations.
Its sort of like Asia Lite, if you ask me.
Its still the inscrutable orient, but not THAT inscrutable these days.
Besides taiwans force field has a habit of keeping people from leaving.[/quote]
Oh no, Taiwan is not Asia lite, maybe some small parts of Taipei are though. Singapore and Hk, THEY are Asia lite.
I lived in Okinawa long time ago for 9 months. It is a small place, summer is intensely hot. A lot of Westerners get the Okinawa crud. I was there after moving to US for 2 year. I could not stand the heat. When I went outside, I broke out in rashes, once I am in the air conditioned room, the rash went away. After a while, one gets this strange rash over yone’s body like a skin diseases.
There was not much to do on day to day basis, unless you really like outdoor activities and go play in the Ocean. Because of the American military bases there, there are more western food and activities. I found the bars were sleazy. The blond hair Asian prostitutes made me sad.
I was very happy to be back in US after Okinawa. When I got to see the span of land in US after Okinawa, I was beside myself.
It was strange for a Taiwanese to felt claustrophobia on an island and missed the massive land of US.
However, I was poor when I was at Okinawa. I had not finished college at the time and did not have the professional income. I still would not go live in Okinawa even with US income. Go for a vacation yes, but not live there.
I haven’t been to Okinawa, but have been to Japan. Japan was the first Asian country I visited and I was more than sufficiently amazed. I love the place. The highly developed cultural sense of aesthetics resonates through everything there from architecture to meal plating and service rituals. The “polite” culture struck me as similar to southern US culture in a way. Ritual graces hold things together on a surface level and if they don’t want you to, you’ll never be able to tell if they really like you, or are having a fantasy about casting your lifeless body into the sea! Ha.
I love it more than Taiwan, in a way, but Taiwan I found much easier to love on/in/with. This is simply due to the relatively laid back attitude to most things that Taiwanese generally have. In Japan, it’s very impolite to unwrap your 7/11 sushi triangle and eat it on the train/subway.
I’d take Tommy’s advice and go to Okinawa. The main reason for this is that Taiwan isn’t going to go anywhere. It will be there for you to visit while you live in Okinawa, or move to later. Okinawa sounds like it’d be better money, too.
I guess it would help to have more information about what you’d be doing in either place.
not compared to Taipei at all. It’s about 5 degrees cooler in the summer and 5 degrees warmer in the winter.
Max summer temp is about 32, sometimes 33 degrees. Every day, so you get used to it. Nights are 27-28. No problem there. It has the same humidity as Taipei. Summer days in Taipei regularly hit 36 often 37 these days. More inland… in Okinawa there is no inland, and there’s always a sea breeze.
What may be different is the sunlight: the air quality is so good there is about twice as much power in the sunlight due to the lack of a thick blanket of shit in the air that protects one from sunburn in Taipei. It’s 100% definitely not hotter, but you do need to wear sunblock and maybe a hat if you’re soft.
