Hi,
I would like to go to Taiwan to teach english, but I don’t know a lot about the Taiwanese environment. Plus, the only time I lived away from home, was at an university resident .
I would like to find accomodation where I feel more safe…, are there any suggestions of where I can find such? ( ie homestay, good roomates, university type of residents…)
Any type of accomodations that I should stay away from?
Thanks
School owned accomodations would be one to avoid. First, they can access it any time regardless of what they say in the contract. Second, slow repairs would be expected, as would delapidated facilities - they aren’t open to usual market forces such as tenants leaving if things don’t get taken care of so they will cut corners on that. Third, you’ll probably have to live with your coworkers. If you don’t like them, this is bad for obvious reasons. Even if you do like them, conversation turns to work pretty often. Either way, it gets quite difficult to have a work life / home life split when things are like that. Pass those jobs by or see if you can get a housing subsidy.
[quote]Hi,
I would like to go to Taiwan to teach english, but I don’t know a lot about the Taiwanese environment. Plus, the only time I lived away from home, was at an university resident .
I would like to find accomodation where I feel more safe.…, are there any suggestions of where I can find such? ( ie homestay, good roomates, university type of residents…)
Any type of accomodations that I should stay away from?
Thanks[/quote]
Before worrying about accommodation, perhaps you should worry about your English. If you rewrite your post, I will give you some advice.
[quote=“almas john”][quote]Hi,
I would like to go to Taiwan to teach english, but I don’t know a lot about the Taiwanese environment. Plus, the only time I lived away from home, was at an university resident .
I would like to find accomodation where I feel more safe.…, are there any suggestions of where I can find such? ( ie homestay, good roomates, university type of residents…)
Any type of accomodations that I should stay away from?
Thanks[/quote]
Before worrying about accommodation, perhaps you should worry about your English. If you rewrite your post, I will give you some advice.[/quote]
C’mon, John, you know that the Taiwanese don’t care if you can or cannot speak English, as long as your skin is white! If it’s yellow, though, beware…
sunshine, the best thing, is if you have friends or family here. The second best thing is if you apply online and get the job while overseas. The big companies (HESS, Joy, etc.) will usually pay for at least part of your airfare, and will put you up for a few weeks while you look for your own permanent place. The third best - and final choice - is to bring a load of cash with you and come here with the address of a hostel. This way, you can live in a hostel for a couple weeks while looking for a job and your own place. Once you find those two things - you’re set!
You can check out www.tealit.com for ads (jobs, apartments, personals!), and of course, THIS website. I also highly recommend Michael Turton’s various websites about Taiwan… I can’t find the website of his which I first read before I came here; but it is an awesome website! There are tonnes of other websites popping up now, if you do a search.
In terms of actual housing advice, I recommend living on your own in what’s called a “Tao Fang”, or studio, which is basically a bachelor apartment. Those will run you up around NT $10,000 a month (for a decent one) - but the great thing is that you don’t have to deal with roommates (which can be a pain!), you’ve got privacy and security, and can keep the place as clean or as dirty as you like.