Errr… you might consider working on your reading comprehension. I didn’t say “they don’t”, I said “when they tell you”, as in they lie to you to avoid dealing with you. People on this board have posted they have credit cards, but it’s generally not easy to get one.
One time at the bank, I was getting a certificate of bank balance and the lady working there asked me what it was for and before I could answer, asked me, “it’s not to apply for a credit card, is it?” with this look on her face that implied we don’t give credit cards to your kind.
You are right, you can get cards here but it’s a pain, for me it involved complaining to managers and the government agency to get the card. Many banks refused to do business with me without a guarantor, and I refuse to be treated like a child asking daddy to sign for me.
If anyone thinks it’s easy , go into Taiwan Cooperative bank, Changhua bank, Land Bank, or Entie bank for starters and see how far you get without a cosigner. Why would professionals want to immigrate here if applying for financial products is so hard.
Companies will pay top dollar to people who have scarce skills that they need to conduct business.
To that end:
Do you at least have your own internet domain with blog / website?
Skilled in ecommerce?
Email marketing?
Social Media marketing?
SEO?
Content marketing?
Data mining?
etc., etc., etc.
If not, why would any company be interested…???
In Taiwan, people with MA/Phd degrees are a dime a dozen…but can you actually show/prove you have the desired skills of today’s business world. If so, you probably can do OK anywhere! If not, you might want to do a rethink. BTW, in a few years your language skills will be efficiently replace by computers - so I wouldn’t put to much value there.
Yes in theory that is all true. But in practice Taiwan proved more expensive than when I “did the numbers” before coming. Maybe it is “death by a thousand cuts”. For example lets say I need to get from Yong-He to Ching-Mei. You pretty much need to get an MRT - there goes 20NT. It may be only a 30 minute walk, but in Taipei that walk will be a hot smoggy miserable battle. Even if I do struggle thru the walk I will end up buying a drink en route just to survive. In UK or Berlin I would walk that distance easily without thinking or breaking a sweat.
I think the big thing for me is supermarkets - I like to have some control on what I put into my body. For example in UK if you wanna go budget you can buy decent Tesco budget food for just insanely low prices. Taiwan supermarkets are very expensive in comparison and have no budget lines. Meanwhile all those dinky little Taiwanese back alley / night market / small eatery fried fast food joints may be moderately priced, but you have no idea what the quality of food you are eating. Do you think those vendors give two hoots about your health? Some of the things I have heard and seen have put me off. Do you really wanna live (and die) off that stuff?
Comparing to U.K. Grocery prices is always going to be tough many of the supermarkets seem to sell their products at below cost margins and it’s hyper competitive.
The example comparing transport costs for U.K. And Taiwan is laughable, Taiwan is a factor cheaper!
20 ntd In London wouldn’t get you to the end of the street.
Nor would it be much practical use trying to cycle or walk around greater London to do anything.
How is the example laughable? The whole point is in UK if I needed to get somewhere that was a 30 minute walk away I would just happily walk it. In Taipei that walk would not be pleasant forcing me into a bus or MRT ride. Please do try to read better next time
I would love to walk more, but the amount of exhaust fumes, the constant attention you have to pay in order to yield to scooters and cars just tends to ruin the experience.
Ditto with shopping. I’m buying yoghurt at prices that would seem insane in the EU. I find it hard to trust the cheap food, especially since I have a tendency for digestive trouble anyway. I always get depressed looking at what passes for tomatoes around here.
Eh Taipei is fairly easy to walk or
Bike around, anyone complaining about paying 20ntd to take a bus or subway from U.K…not very believable :).
I mean if you don’t like the climate that’s another priblem.
lol Brian you still not getting it are you? I think you need to work on your Reading Comprehension skills my dear old thing.
iirc Kojen used to and still may run a pretty decent Adult English class.
Otherwise I refer you to these guys. Best of British luck with your studies. Bon soir! http://www.britishcouncil.org.tw/en/english/schools/taipei
Try the day market, they got lots more of better quality meat/fish/produce, usually for less.
Most local people don’t really get fresh stuff at the supermarket unless they’re in a hurry.
Oh and I’m pretty sure it’s cheaper if you take the “h” out and just buy yogurt.
I also had issues applying for a credit card (with Cathay). Luckily, I had a family friend that was so high up that all we needed was their signature and the card got express shipped to my house within 4 days.
I have two bank accounts because work requires us to use Taishin Bank. I’ve yet to even start the process to apply for a Taishin Bank card since…I don’t want the “we don’t give cc’s to your kind” look like @nonredneck did
If I get stopped at the movie theater or department store for a credit card, I usually say, I’m not from here or I hold an ARC and they immediately back off and say, have a good day.
I have credit cards from 6 different banks/entities: Chinatrust, Amex, Mega Bank, E-Sun, Cathay, Citibank. Based on my experience, getting a credit card depends on the alignment of the stars, your batzu, the mood the receptionist at the manager’s place is that day, and whether the fortune teller bird chooses your application to be considered in the first place.
As with everything else, there is not ONE procedure/criteria. Some banks -Taishin, I am looking at you- have this “we take no atogas” policy… though I know some folks do have cards. Is it iron clad? Maybe. Perhaps. depends on the moon. You can never get a clear, simple, yes/no answer. Which is the nature of most laws here. Gives them room to wiggle.
Ha! I can’t remember if he said he was American, or if I just assumed that only an American would make a username stating that they are not a certain type of American (Redneck). Sorry, NRN, if I assumed incorrectly.
As for me speaking like a Redneck, I certainly didn’t mean what I said in a “Go back to your country!” sort of way, which would be rather hypocritical of me since I, too, am a foreigner here. I just meant, in general, when I’m not happy living in a location, I try to move somewhere else! That is true whether I’m living in my home country or abroad. I realize there can be many obstacles to relocation, but usually there are more obstacles to remaining in a foreign country than to living in one’s native country.
Unless a person is fleeing war, persecution, or a complete lack of employment opportunity, I tend to assume they moved to a new country because they preferred it. (And, actually, even in those situations I would assume they prefer their new location to the alternative!)
So, I meant it as a sincere question-- Why stay in a place he doesn’t like? If I didn’t like Taiwan, I’d be outta here.
Goodness, I’m so sorry to have mistaken “They tell you they don’t give credit cards” for “They don’t give credit cards.” Clearly only a moron with no reading comprehension skills would think that those two statements mean the same thing in practical application.
Try a different bank. At MegaBank they will literally not let me out the door without trying to get me to sign up for a credit card every single time I am there. It’s actually so obnoxious that I would switch banks if I wasn’t required by my employer to use them to have my pay directly deposited. Everyone I know who banks there (mostly foreigners) experiences the same thing. It seems as if the employees get commission for signing people up for them-- That’s how aggressive they are about it.
Yes, they do get commissions or otherwise have quotas they need to meet. That’s why they are so pushy. My sister-in-law works for a bank in Taiwan, and she’s asked us to help her out by signing up for various things over the years.
I have plenty of experience with rednecks. I’ve lived among them, and have occasionally been accused of being one. Yet I have never been to America.
As for me speaking like a Redneck, I certainly didn’t mean what I said in a “Go back to your country!” sort of way, which would be rather hypocritical of me since I, too, am a foreigner here.
Yes, but that’s exactly what you said: “Why not go back to the US?” Assuming he was from the US, based on the non-color of his neck. Many of us, based on skin-color, face this kind of presumptive discrimination every day. White people are assumed to come from the USA, yellow people from Asia, and black people from Africa.
I just meant, in general, when I’m not happy living in a location, I try to move somewhere else! That is true whether I’m living in my home country or abroad. I realize there can be many obstacles to relocation, but usually there are more obstacles to remaining in a foreign country than to living in one’s native country.
Obstacles exist in every country, especially in one’s native country. It’s easier to go with the flow sometimes, and just keep moving around without rocking the boat.
Unless a person is fleeing war, persecution, or a complete lack of employment opportunity, I tend to assume they moved to a new country because they preferred it. (And, actually, even in those situations I would assume they prefer their new location to the alternative!)
And then there are people like you, who when they are unhappy in one location try to move somewhere else.
So, I meant it as a sincere question-- Why stay in a place he doesn’t like? If I didn’t like Taiwan, I’d be outta here.
