Family of 4 wanting to move to Taiwan. Need input

Taiwan Moving to Taiwan
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Most of SEAs are coming to taiwan as blue collar workers. They are vast majority of foreigners in Taiwan. The degree might be different, but I think the racism or prejudice is rampant. I guess the racism towards SEAs might be similar to the racism towards Mexican in the US, though I don’t exactly know how it is.

Only ~50 teachers on ARCs, so no wonder you have never met one of them. You may find one or two Filipinos doing tutoring at coffee shops around a school during afterschool hours, though.

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Several years ago, the Philippines (navy, coast guard?) shot and killed a Taiwanese fisherman. After that, some Taiwanese and Taiwanese gangs went around beating up Filipinos.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/05/20/13/pinoys-urged-stay-indoors-taiwan-2-ofws-attacked-anew

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I think the short answer to whether you can make a decent enough living in Taiwan for your family is YES. Will it all be smooth running from the get go, probably not super smooth.

Once your wife gets US citizenship (if i read correctly she is getting that?) it will be easier as she could then more easily get a job teaching English. There are other jobs. And yes not all of them require her to speak mandarin or taiwanese. Maybe she could get some insight within the Phillippino community

Maybe she could try the hotel industry too? I recall an assistant manager at the Sherwood was phillippina .

44

I wouldn’t recommend China for very young kids as you will have a real nightmare if they get sick, due to the medical care which is quite a bit behind. HK or Taiwan it’s a different story.

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I wouldn’t recommend China based on how polluted it is. Taiwan is polluted, but China is off the charts.

46

That depends on location, but yea I wouldn’t consider large parts of the north for that reason.

47

I just moved a family overseas to Taiwan (Taipei). My kids are ages 1 and 2.

My kids had never been to Taiwan before and are adjusting nicely. No issues with air quality, food, or anything like that.

My wife and I spoke a lot of Chinese at home trying to get them ready for this move. Now, we’re working on their English. Your kids will really need to speak the language if they want to fit in.

Everyone says that kids are more adaptable than adults… not true! Think about how much kids are into routines. And think about what it would be to rip away their favorite blanket (or whatever it is) from them and multiply that by 100. That’s how hard the move is going to be. But if you’re dead sure that this is the right choice, they’ll get over it… once they realize that going back to the States isn’t an option.

Kids aren’t flexible. But they forget quickly. Give them time and they’ll accept Taiwan as their new home.

Also, don’t teach English. Low job stability, low pay, terrible hours. Try to get certified in something before you leave the States. I don’t know about your state, but if there’s a teacher shortage, you can get a full certification very quickly. Especially if you teach math or science, you can earn close to your current take-home salary (partly because taxes here are so low).

Speaking of certifications, if you’re even thinking about one, do it before you leave the country. It is far more difficult over here. (It’s not impossible… you just have far fewer options)

Finally, because you were asking about start-up costs… in the first 2 weeks here, we spent:
— $4,000NT just stocking the kitchen (things you only buy once… like spices, cooking ware, etc.)
— $4,000 on food (this includes eating out and ingredients you need to buy for each meal… like meat, etc)
— $4,000 baby proofing the apartment. Our landlord insisted on these measures… afraid our kids would break everything. If you’re renting, you’ll likely have a non-baby friendly apartment that you’ll have use your own creativity in order to baby proof yourself.
— $2,000 on housing supplies (things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc… our apartment was already furnished, so this number doesn’t include furniture)

Hope this helps!

P.S. if you have further questions about what it’s like to like here with two kids ages two and under… feel free to PM me!

EDIT: some more thoughts… do you have a contact in Taiwan who can help you? When my wife and I first landed, we were trying to do everything ourselves. But moving across the world requires help. Definitely try to make connections before you fly. They say it takes a village to raise a child… and that’s even more true when you’re a stranger in a strange place. PM me if you decide to go through with the move.

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48

I think that is good advice, however the bit about the costs: the OP could easily get in trouble by underestimating these. I also moved with a family of 4 about the same age too. Our costs were like this - as I remember roughly:

My trip to set up base in Taiwan:
Flights 30,000 NT
One week of living out of cheap hotel: 20,000 NT
One months rent and two months deposit: 60,000
Things the apartment I rented lacked - pickings were slim and I had no choice - 20,000 (Dishwasher, TV, Fridge and such)

Then back home and:
Shipping belongings that we didn’t want to give or throw away 30,000 NT

Flights to Teco and accommodation while waiting for visitor visa 30,000 NT
Flights to Taiwan 80,000 NT
Next’s month rent and one months living expenses before first pay check 70,000 NT
And then finally first pay day.

Followed soon after by Semester fees in the cheapest kindergarden we could find. etc etc

we had 10,000 USD in cash in the bank and it nearly ran out

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49

Oh, right. Things get expensive if you land and have nothing lined up and need to stay in a hotel, etc.

I forgot to mention that I came earlier (by myself) to line up everything… open bank accounts, etc. We had cash in the bank and an apartment waiting for us when we landed here as a family.

So, our expenses will be on the low side.

50

Yea that is exactly what we did too. It didn’t cost you any money to fly back and forth and rent an appartmemt?

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@Caspian and @geajvop I really appreciate your inputs on the topic and everyone else that has commented on the challenges we will face. My wife and I have some serious homework to do to make sure we account for as much as we can before we pull the trigger and jump ship.

My wife and I should have enough savings by that time. Any recommendations on what certifications I should look into? I am thinking about getting the teaching credentialing done, as I should be able to complete the course before we move. I’m very comfortable with math and science, so maybe I can do single-subject certifications in those fields instead? I was just thinking the multiple subject credentials would broaden the teaching job opportunities.

My family has a month long trip planned for the Philippines at the end of next year and one of the flight options is to stop by Taipei. I’m going to see if we can arrange to stay in Taiwan for a week and travel to Kaohsiung and a few other cities and get a feel of the place. I’m also thinking about contacting a few schools beforehand and stopping by once I’m there. If everything does pan out, I could extend my family’s stay in the Philippines and return home to begin the process.

I do have a few Chinese friends here who speak Mandarin. I will ask them if there are any local Chinese speaking daycares to get my 2 year old into.

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what I’ve heard is math and science teachers are in high demand. If you are thinking on teaching at a local regular school, you can just teach a subject at a school your licence allow you to teach in the US. To teach English at middle school, you need a licence allowing you to teach English as a subject at middle school.

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53

I sent you a pm with a tip for one option you have with the certification

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Definitely get certified in a STEM (math/science) field. You’ll be in MUCH higher demand than English teachers. You won’t just get paid more… you’ll be treated much better. I flew around the world on my school’s dime. Granted, I had to have the cash in my bank account… but they reimbursed me (they only paid for my flights, not my family’s).

Contact your state’s department of education and ask if there are any alternative certification routes. I’ve spoken with the people from the department of education of PA and they were much more helpful than you’d expect. If there’s a teacher shortage (which most states have… due to the low pay back in the States), they’ll be more than happy to help you get an alternative certification. (Of course, don’t tell them that you plan on leaving as soon as you get the certification.) I got certified in Pennsylvania by just taking two tests. It was really simple. But I checked and this program isn’t available in California (you’d have to drive to a neighboring state to take the tests if you went with the program I used… so, check to see if there’s another route for your state). An alternative certification rote is MUCH better than getting a substitute teaching license. It permits you to be a real fully-fledged teacher in the States. Most schools in the States will snub their noses at it… but Taiwanese schools won’t.

If you can have the chance to swing by Taiwan, absolutely do so.

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