Anyone returned to Taiwan after leaving for a few years?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

My husband and I left Taiwan about two years ago after living in Taipei for nearly three years. The main reason for our move was that my husband wanted to finish his degree in the States. Well, we are now thinking of going back there once he graduates, but we fear we idealize it because we are no longer there.

Has anyone else left for an extended period of time and then moved back? What were your experiences? Do you regret it? Are you happier in Taiwan?

We find that where we live now may be more beautiful than Taipei (many places are, for sure), but the overall lifestyle was far better there.

Please share you thoughts! Pros and cons are always helpful.

Thanks.

2

I am origionally from Taiwan and was moved to the States as a kid way back then… I returned 3 years ago and at first it was okay… but the culture, traffic, and general lack of respect for rules really gets to me.

3

The only reason I stay here is the food and the wage. If you had a post grad degree you can make a much better wage there.
Sure the food there can’t be nearly as good. But is it worth moving here for that?

4

i am maybe a little luckier compared to others. I’ve lived here twice (two separate occasions spanning a few years) and i also come here a few times every year for both work and personal reasons as my wife is a local. We own our own house in YongHe and also own our own house in Canberra (capital of Australia for those that did not know). Basically i share my time between here and Australia.

I have a government job in Austalia which pays very well and is also flexible and my wife and i also run our own import/export business as well as a Taiwan news monitoring agency on the side. So we are both busy and both have the need, ability and time to switch between the two countries. So in that sense, i have both.

Having said that, i don’t think i could live here and only here again as i enjoy the quiet and clean lifestyle of Canberra more then anything else. But, and as others have pointed out, the food and easy lifestyle here is very beneficial. Plus, now we have our own kid, i think the security and quality of a western life is much better to raise a child in compared to here. We are shortly going to be moving to our own 9 acre block which is just outside of Canberra so that we can even further escape the so-called city lifestyle of Canberra, but we are keeping our house in YongHe for those times we come back here.

I am always very relieved when i return home to Canberra as the clean and fresh air, the night skies and the quiet and safe roads are just like heaven. My wife’s cooking always reminds of Taiwan as she always cooks TW food anyway and the only times we go out for food in Canberra is when i want a fix of some good Indian food. We do miss Taiwan though when we are in Canberra. The night markets, the cheap shopping, the cheap clothing, the culture etc are good to have and we know that we are aways comnig back anyway for our compnay and family.

But, as i touched on before, i really do not think i could live here again and not be able to regularly commute between the two countries. I think it is much healthier to live in the west in terms of air quality etc, better to raise children, the quiteness of the environment is also a plus, and even more important to me, it is nice to be able to sit on my verandah in the evening, drink a bottle of nice Aussie wine and put some soft music on and just look at the stars and hear nothing else. To me, that is life.

As we make plans for our 9 acre block, I’m going to rejuventate my strong interest in brewing my own beer, the wife has plans for a huge chemical free vege patch and i am even going to make my own private putting green and even try to put one or 2 fairways in as well. WE are also going to have a separate guest house as well as our main house and plenty of room for junior to run around and to have a healthy lifestyle. This lifestyle is next to impossible for the vast majority of people living in Taiwan but i am at the stage in my life where i want that type of life and we can now afford it. But, we will always come back to Taiwan for our own company and for family - but not to live in for a long period of time again.

G

5

Yong He via Canberra? I made that move! :laughing:

Now in HK and reading your plans I’m scarecely able to contain my jealousy!

Good luck to you . . . ya bastard!

HG

6

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Yonghe via Canberra? I made that move! :laughing:

Now in HK and reading your plans I’m scarecely able to contain my jealousy!

Good luck to you . . . ya bastard!

HG[/quote]

you just want to make your own beer, come on , admit it :slight_smile::slight_smile:

7

Only prob. i have after returning is that the exchange rate is in the toilet…

8

No, no, I’m more than happy for someone else to make and pour my beer and my god but I’ve downed many a crap homebrew in my day. However, living as GG intends outside of Canberra, I can see the need. It’s a hell of a long way to a 7-11 in that part of the world, and even if you did get there, it best be before midnight or you’d not be serverd alcohol. I think it has something to do with the place being a fomer prison colony, or something.

Actually, it was his wife’s garden that got me all excited. I love gardening of all varieties, but the gardens of Canberra have a special place in my mind given growing anything under four plants of a certain herb is basically legal.

On the flipside, I returned to Canberra after a couple of years in Taiwan in the dead of winter. I couldn;t leave the house because my head hurt with the cold. My Taiwan ex came and visited at the time and uttered the rather memorable line betwween chattering teeth that “Canberra’s not fit for human beings.”

HG

9

No, no, I’m more than happy for someone else to make and pour my beer and my god but I’ve downed many a crap homebrew in my day. However, living as GG intends outside of Canberra, I can see the need. It’s a hell of a long way to a 7-11 in that part of the world, and even if you did get there, it best be before midnight or you’d not be serverd alcohol. I think it has something to do with the place being a fomer prison colony, or something.

Actually, it was his wife’s garden that got me all excited. I love gardening of all varieties, but the gardens of Canberra have a special place in my mind given growing anything under four plants of a certain herb is basically legal.

On the flipside, I returned to Canberra after a couple of years in Taiwan in the dead of winter. I couldn;t leave the house because my head hurt with the cold. My Taiwan ex came and visited at the time and uttered the rather memorable line betwween chattering teeth that “Canberra’s not fit for human beings.”

HG[/quote]

HAHAHA

10

Yes the thought of growing herbs has crossed my mind. As pointed out, in Canberra, 4 plants of a certain herb is basically legal (not quiet legal but it ain’t illegal and you don’t get a record if you get caught). However, our new property is just over the border and is near a place called Murrumbatemen - which just happens to be famous for the cool country wineries there. Honestly, Murrumbateman is a haven for wineries as there are about 24 odd wineries all within a 15 minute drive from our block. In fact, i can walk to two wineries from my block.

But, having 9 acres, a good sized vege path of about 12 metres by about 75 metres (alreaddy measured it out) and off course a small green house to go with it will give us room to experiment with a few herbs. As long we don’t sell and advertsie the fact then it’ll be ok. I have no plans for being a winery - too much work, but i will brew beer and keep a few varieties on tap when needed. I’ve even planned for a completely separate brewing room which will come off the garage.

I’m headng back to Canberra this coming weekend to finalise the purchase of it actually. Then, get the building of the guesthouse organised and after that, the buildihng of our main house. I’ll iive in the guesthouse while the mainhouse is being built and the wife will stay here with Junior for the next 3 months and will go back to Australia around April/May. I’ll return here to pick her and then spend some time and then head back.

The weather is Canberra is a tad cool - especially if you are used to Taiwan. But Canberra is also a place that has 4 distinct seasons and both Spring and Autumn (Fall) are just magical in that part of the world. The real Winter only lasts for about 6-8 weeks anyway - anything after that is comfortable. The summers can get a bit hot as some days can reach about 40 degrees Celcius though. Again, those days only last for about 1 month (January) and other days tend to be more comfortable. Plus, it is dry heat - bugger this humidity. Never can get used to that.

g

11

I was in Taiwan for half a year in 1984, then from 1993 to 2000, then again from 2002-2004, and came back for a few weeks this past autumn.

Coming back the second time was fine – obviously I stayed a long time. Actually I would have stayed longer but for an unfortunate series of events involving a green-card grubbing idiot. While in the US in the interim, I had the usual: the house, the car, the job. Wasn’t hard at all to give that up and come back to Taiwan.

The second time, Taiwan was still fine by me. But when I left that time, I left for other reasons: partly family in the States (parents) and partly the fact that the Taiwanese regulations on work permits for long-term foreigners were just getting so damned ridiculous (I held 2 Article 51 work permits at the time, and they then told me I was ineligible for another one, which effectively meant I would have to stay in the same job for 5 years to re-accumulate the time to be “eligible” again for a permit I already held.) This pissed me off enough to make me leave.

Now, back in the States again and married to a normal person without immigration fantasies, I went back to Taiwan last fall for a couple of weeks as an extension to an intepreting job in Hong Kong (so free airfare). While I enjoyed my stay, I found that I did not want to stay on long term (I’d been a bit apprehensive that I wouldn’t want to go back home). It was just too difficult to live a non-standard-English-teacher lifestyle. And I don’t simply mean having an expat package or that level of lifestyle – I’m quite happy living at the normal slightly-hyped-up-somewhat-Westernized student level in Taipei – but that you have no rights, no guarantees and often no means of getting anything done in any logical way.

The States still annoys me at times with its lack of what would be seen as “common sense” ways of doing things in Taiwan, but all in all while I’d love to visit each year (preferably for free!) I don’t think I’d move back permanently at this point. If something catastrophic happened to my family/husband maybe…the US isn’t a good place to be in alone either, and at least in Taiwan you expect to be alone much of the time…

12

The first time I arrived in Taiwan was in 2000. My gf and I had scored a couple free tickets and decided we would try teaching english. We had some friends in Kaohsiung, and that’s where we ended up for a year. We returned to Canada, then in 2003 I ended up going back to Taiwan while my gf when to univ. This time I lived in Hsinchu and had a really good time. I had an awesome job and I really enjoyed the english teacher lifestyle. I lived there for 2.5 years until I returned once again to Canada. My gf and I finally got married and again…we returned to Taiwan last summer. We had hoped to live and stay in Taiwan for a few years, but it just wasn’t the same. My wife is an RN and it was impossible to find work that related to what she had just spent 4 years in school for. And for me, teaching just wasn’t the same.
So now, we are back in Canada, we work at the same hospital and we just bought our first house. Although I like my life in Canada, I still think about Taiwan and wonder if we’ll ever go back.

13

i came here in 1990 and left in 1999 and tried working in Wellington, London and Sydney…but i got bored and came back in 2001…

the thing about this place is that you are never down (or bored) for long…there’s always some weird shit going on to divert your attention plus the mountains are ever only 15 mins away…

that said my tolerance is prolly at an all time low for some of the silly stuff that goes on (started with SARS and got worse with the election protests)…might be time for a break again…

14

I studied in Taiwan for one year, from 1998 to 1999. I worked then back at home for 3 years. Now I am back to Taiwan for research (PhD). The first year Taiwan (1998 to 1999) was very interesting and exciting. New friends, Chinese improved a lot and really started to like Taiwan. But I liked the student’s life.

Now back to Taiwan since 2003 and almost finished the research I still like Taiwan, but it’s also different. 3 years back home was a hard time, job was very exhausting and in my mind was Taiwan. But now, being here almost 5 years (in total) I think it’s time again for a change, not the fact being in Taiwan, it’s about career and planning the life style. Taiwan or Asia is very interesting, so I would like to stay here. But there is China. Taiwan is a kind of paradise, a niche, where foreigners can stay having a laid back life, making easy money, in the field of education. I would stay if it is possible to teach at a college later. If not, I think I would try China for a while. China is different from Taiwan, but I think there are more opportunities than in Taiwan. It’s about security and future. Having no option to develop myself in terms of financial security and career I have to leave. Good thing is I can always come back. Taiwan has also a kind of security. No matter what happen here I can always get jobs, teaching, translations. This is good being a student but forever? No…

15

I was in Taiwan for 3 years, up till last summer, teaching English. I enjoyed it (both my job as well as Taiwan itself) a lot, but I realized that if I were to stay there much longer, I’m going to be in a position where teaching English is pretty much what I’ll have to be doing for the rest of my life. That scared me, so I decided to pack up and move back to the US for grad school, which is what I’m doing now. I was very happy to be back in the states for about 2 or 3 months – right when I was ready to fly across the country to where the university I’m attending is – and then it hit me how badly I missed Taiwan. But I decided I had already filled out all the application forms, gotten letters of reccommendation, taken the GRE, been accepted to grad school, quit my job, flown back to the US, etc., so I shouldn’t just move back to Taiwan like that! So I decided to go to grad school anyhow, thinking maybe these feelings would just go away. They did, for a while; I guess the novelty of moving across the US to a new city distracted me for a while, but sure enough, they came again and again. So now that I’m only a few months away from finishing my master’s degree, after which I would be able to get a decent job writing software, I’m very seriously thinking about heading straight back to Taiwan and teaching English again, but this time permanently.

So I guess what I’m asking everybody is, is it that bad to be sucked back in to Taiwan? Have any of you consciously decided that it’s okay if you get yourself into a position where you can’t easily find a job back where you came from? Will I regret it if I move back? Am I ‘thinking too much’? :slight_smile: If I don’t move back, am I going to spend the rest of my life reading Forumosa instead of doing my schoolwork? Will I regret it?

16

Typical and quite understandable I’d say.

17

I was raised in Taiwan (that little foreigner kid) until I was 15, when my parents packed up all us kids and returned to Canada in 1976. I was thrilled to be going to Canada until I got there, saw the snow, relatives I didn’t know and discovered that I just didn’t fit in. I was so homesick for the life I knew. Eventually I settled, but never really felt at home in Canada. It took me 27 years to be able to return to Taiwan. The country had changed a huge amount over the years and nothing was the same anymore. Strangely enough, I didn’t go through culture shock, as I expected. other than the road and travel conditions. I immediately felt at home again.

Now, four years later, I can’t imagine living away from Taiwan. I miss my kids (all grown), my family and friends I have made over the years in Canada, but not enough to look at returning permanently. Went back to visit last summer with the thought of deciding whether I should consider living there again but found that my heart really is in Taiwan.

Two and a half years ago my father returned to Taiwan and now lives thirty minutes drive from my home. A year and a half ago, one of my brothers returned and he now lives in Taipei. The three youngest siblings have no interest in returning to Taiwan.

The lifestyle suits me, the climate is far better and although there are things I would like to see changed in Taiwan I am happy and content. Now if only I could get dual citizenship!

18

dzhefri wrote [quote] I was in Taiwan for 3 years, up till last summer, teaching English. I enjoyed it (both my job as well as Taiwan itself) a lot, but I realized that if I were to stay there much longer, I’m going to be in a position where teaching English is pretty much what I’ll have to be doing for the rest of my life. That scared me, so I decided to pack up and move back to the US for grad school, which is what I’m doing now. I was very happy to be back in the states for about 2 or 3 months – right when I was ready to fly across the country to where the university I’m attending is – and then it hit me how badly I missed Taiwan. But I decided I had already filled out all the application forms, gotten letters of recommendation, taken the GRE, been accepted to grad school, quit my job, flown back to the US, etc., so I shouldn’t just move back to Taiwan like that! So I decided to go to grad school anyhow, thinking maybe these feelings would just go away. They did, for a while; I guess the novelty of moving across the US to a new city distracted me for a while, but sure enough, they came again and again. So now that I’m only a few months away from finishing my master’s degree, after which I would be able to get a decent job writing software, I’m very seriously thinking about heading straight back to Taiwan and teaching English again, but this time permanently.

So I guess what I’m asking everybody is, is it that bad to be sucked back in to Taiwan? Have any of you consciously decided that it’s okay if you get yourself into a position where you can’t easily find a job back where you came from? Will I regret it if I move back? Am I ‘thinking too much’? Smile If I don’t move back, am I going to spend the rest of my life reading Forumosa instead of doing my schoolwork? Will I regret it?[/quote]

I think you should think twice about coming back to Taiwan to teach. It’s okay when you’re in your 20s but not when you’re about to hit 40 and have a family to support. Salaries have been stagnant for a while and things are likely to get tighter in the future. The number of children is declining. In contrast, the number of foreigners is increasing, as is the number of capable local teachers. In fact, the quality of local teachers has been steadily improving and I think we will see a trend of schools hiring more locals.

Of course, there are some nice jobs at uni level but there’s more and more competition for these. Once upon a time you could get a university job with a master’s degree unrelated to English teaching. Then they started asking for a master’s in TESOL or English, (and more recently a Ph.D. for the best full-time work).

I would advise getting some practical experience related to your graduate degree.

19

[quote]
I think you should think twice about coming back to Taiwan to teach. It’s okay when you’re in your 20s but not when you’re about to hit 40 and have a family to support. Salaries have been stagnant for a while and things are likely to get tighter in the future. The number of children is declining. In contrast, the number of foreigners is increasing, as is the number of capable local teachers. In fact, the quality of local teachers has been steadily improving and I think we will see a trend of schools hiring more locals.

Of course, there are some nice jobs at uni level but there’s more and more competition for these. Once upon a time you could get a university job with a master’s degree unrelated to English teaching. Then they started asking for a master’s in TESOL or English, (and more recently a Ph.D. for the best full-time work).

I would advise getting some practical experience related to your graduate degree.[/quote]

I totally agree - you should really think it over before you come back. Still, if you decide to come back permanently, making a career of teaching English is a very noble profession, and your services will always be in demand in some form. It’s a big decision though, and after 40 or so it’s not easy to turn back. If you do make the long-term commitment, try not to obsess too much over wether or not you made the right choice - you’re committed, so enjoy it!

20

wow imagine if one could go to the future and see where his life would be if he came back and if he ddint come back? wow. i bet its huge

but im sure its written in the cards tho. but i do think he ought to give it a shot first after graduation. go for the software for a few years. live in the good ol usa for a few and be the best he can be and then decide. because he can always come back to teach english. thats a given. and with a masters will be in better position in future.

so i say

WORK IN USA, DO THE BEST YOU CAN . TRY TO EXCELL and have Taiwan as plan B. this way if it goes to plan B, there will be no what ifs and regrets.

but what the heck two weeks into his new “career” in usa he may meet up with miss fresh off 747 taiwanese chickee and ?? the rest is history as they say

the vortex that is taiwan never gives up those who have dared to tread upon its shores. not even thos who have died.

forget hotel california welcome to LA ISLA FORMOSA !! The siren calls will haunt you wherever you are and bring you bacccccccccccccccckkkkkkk. baccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkk

escape as long as possible my man for it will be soon enough you will be back !!

(insert sound of pirate calls here)