I am in the process of moving to Tainan for work as an English teacher. My school is located in the North district of the city. I found a really amazing apartment for a great price in the southern central part of the city (Jiankang Rd). I really love the apartment, but I feel like commuting from the south district to the north every day could be taxing…Google maps says 18 minutes by car with regular traffic. I figure in Tainan traffic that will probably be around 30 minutes each way? Am I making a mistake? Should I live within walking distance of the school? I just don’t find the north district too interesting, so I don’t know if I would want to live there. Any insight will be appreciated!
Tainan is pretty small. You can go pretty much everywhere with just a bike. Scooter even better. There is some traffic, specially Jiankang road, but It’s nothing compared to Taipei. Parking can be a problem, there are some rather small streets.
Depending where you are, walking can be a pain, scooter/car shops often take the whole sidewalk.
It’s really not that bad of a commute at all. The area where I believe your school is located (小北 - xiao3 bei3), is famous for its brothels and general nastiness, but has undergone recent developments with many new villas/homes, which are quite expensive. So the nearby areas where you might want to live would be prohibitively expensive, while the affordable areas might be a bit scary. So, finding a place where you feel comfortable living is well worth the commute.
In Tainan, there is always more than one route to where you are going. Depending on where you live, you could take 西門路 (Xi1men2 Lu4, although the street signs may appear as “Semen Road” in a few locations), which is fairly direct, but can be crazy at times. Alternatively 中華西路->中華北路 (Zhong1hua2 xi1 lu4 -> Zhong1hua2 bei3 Lu4) is a wider, better regulated, and equally direct route, which can be very fast at times. Once you become familiar with the city, you will soon learn some shortcuts or more scenic routes. Additionally, the estimated times on Google maps are not always accurate, and scooters (if that is what you are planning to purchase) often make better time.
Two pieces of advice, semi-related to the above. 1. Remember that it is illegal to work in kindergartens. The expensive, connected branches, like J.S., usually have advance notice of raids, can negotiate with police, and plan exit strategies for teachers, but as with all illegal work, it is risky. 2. Acquiring a scooter license is quite easy and requires no knowledge of Chinese. Please do so as early as possible. Let me know if you want more information on how to do so.
Thank you all for the great advice! I am glad to hear that the commute should not be too daunting…I have decided that I will take the apartment. Hopefully there are some cool things to do withing walking distance of my new home.
Thanks for the advice on kindy, niaohgin. I appreciate the insight and concern…I guess I can only hope that everything works out OK. Too be honest, I am more worried about the actual teaching since I have no classroom experience.
I will try to get a scooter license as soon as possible…If you could elaborate on the process of getting one I would greatly appreciate it!
Best wishes for your apartment. As for interesting things within walking distance, I am pretty sure that there are. Depends on you interests. There is Willy’s Second Base Bar and Grill (No. 321, Sec. 2 Jiankang Road), a baseball stadium and sports park just up the road, and lots of shopping (including a grocery and great bakery) as well as a movie theatre in the Shin-kong Mitsukoshi shopping centre (No. 658 Ximen Road).
The process of obtaining a scooter license is relatively easy for foreigners these days. You can download this very thorough guide from the NCKU Office of Student Affairs (bit.ly/NT8n99). The “health check” portion, which must be done first, simply involves them weighing you and recording your height. The written test (done on a computer with questions translated into English) is the most difficult part, since they can test anything contained within the test manual. Some of these questions are simply ridiculous (i.e., the true of false question about whether or not it is cool to ride a scooter while smoking), while others involve obscure details that are difficult to remember (i.e., maximum width and height of loads or the proper procedure for dealing with a patch of oil on the road). When I took the test you could borrow the entire test manual and study it before the test. I would highly recommend this, as well as taking the online sample test (link included in the above document). I failed my written test the first time (perhaps I didn’t study hard enough, but my questions seemed very obscure). I aced the test the second time (which was two weeks later), and was randomly assigned some of the easiest possible questions. Luck of the draw, really. For the road test, a bit of experience on scooters or motorcycles will be enough to pass. The first section involves driving slowly between two ridges, in a straight line without touching the ground, for a minimum of seven or ten seconds. This is not really difficult, and I tried to show off a little to the test administrator by taking the longest time possible (he didn’t seem entirely impressed by my 15 second time). The other stations simply require you to stop for red flashing lights and stop signs (although I have heard that sometimes they will give you a green light and fail you if you DO stop). You can stop by and watch other people on this course during your free time, to get a good idea of what is required, although it is 99% common sense.
As for teaching kindy with no experience, I am sure that you can find many threads dealing with that topic in this forum. From what I understand, bosses prefer the “fresh off the boat” teacher, since you will be open to suggestions, not tempted to speak Chinese in class, and can be handled fairly easily. You will be provided with a co-teacher (who makes less than half your salary for twice the workload and pressure, so try to treat her well), who should make things far easier. Class sizes are not that large and the children will typically understand basic English instructions - depending upon whether you are assigned to the Yoyo class (babies) or Big Class (5-6 years). In my opinion, a general positive regard for kids, the desire to do a good job, and willingness to learn are all that is required if you truly want to be a good teacher. The kids will almost certainly adore you if you treat them with respect, put energy and humour into your work, and maintain your patience and empathy. Good luck!
Good grief! This is some of the worst advice since the barbeque incident of 2010 when Uncle A-Huang said “Throw some gas on it!”
An hour a day of city commuting is “nothing”? Easy for a guy who works from home to say!
It’s wasted time and unneeded stress. One of the keys to quality of life here is living close to work (although this doesn’t apply so much to you Taipei-dwelling gibbons).
For all the fine qualities that the Taiwanese possess, road courtesy ain’t high on the list. The less time you spend on a scooter battling the commuting hordes, the easier is to keep a positive outlook on this place.
Good grief! This is some of the worst advice since the barbeque incident of 2010 when Uncle A-Huang said “Throw some gas on it!”
An hour a day of city commuting is “nothing”? Easy for a guy who works from home to say! [/quote]
Hah. But I used to take 40 minutes to get to work downtown because I prefered to live in a green neighborhood. And these days anything less than 4 hours on a bus or train feels like a treat.
[quote]It’s wasted time and unneeded stress. One of the keys to quality of life here is living close to work (although this doesn’t apply so much to you Taipei-dwelling gibbons).
[/quote]
I disagree if the choice is to live where you like or to be close to work. A five minute commute back to a place that doesn’t make you feel you have left the betelnut stained hubbub is of little value.
Good grief! This is some of the worst advice since the barbeque incident of 2010 when Uncle A-Huang said “Throw some gas on it!”
An hour a day of city commuting is “nothing”? Easy for a guy who works from home to say!
It’s wasted time and unneeded stress. One of the keys to quality of life here is living close to work (although this doesn’t apply so much to you Taipei-dwelling gibbons).
For all the fine qualities that the Taiwanese possess, road courtesy ain’t high on the list. The less time you spend on a scooter battling the commuting hordes, the easier is to keep a positive outlook on this place.[/quote]
Yes, if it comes to commuting or working from home, well working from home is going to win at least 80% of the time. When you work from home you can also work from…wherever…kind of.
If you have a family the commute is bit of a pain in the arse, although I guess some people might join the time to themselves.
Speaking as someone who’s spent most of the past two decades in Tainan, here’s my two cents:
A lot depends on the time of day you’re doing the commute. Rush hours can be stressful and slow. At other times it’s a breeze.
If you’re on two wheels, do try the smaller streets and back alleys. You may well find a route that’s quicker/easier and involves inhaling less exhaust.
30 minutes is a fairly long commute, I’d say, but if you’re crossing downtown you’ll end up getting a lot of stuff done during the journey. You’ll be able to get what you need at the supermarket, have dinner and check out a temple or two without veering far from your route.
