Also that NT$60 000 is very low. That might be a starting salary, but most schools will give you a raise after the first six months if they see you’re a reliable person. The low starting salary is mostly because many people just come here to party and make some money and have no real interest in teaching. You can also supplement your income substantially by taking on (illegal) private students after your first few months here.
I would say the average person earns more in the range of NT$80 000 to NT$100 000 per month. If they don’t it’s mostly because they don’t want to. You don’t even have to give up your Saturdays…you can pick up plenty of private students from 19:00 to 22:00 on weekdays. I love Taipei City. Right now I live just outside, in the County, but Taipei is great as it takes only a few minutes to travel from County to City. I eat local food mostly and stay out of the 7-11. I never used to save this much when I was living in Shida Road, right in the center of University and pub heaven!
Realistic savings? Nothing to write home about. Nothing even to think about. Forget it. Move on.
Made FA in Taiwan, saved FA. Went back with a few hundred thousand to soften the landing in the UK, but that went quickly enough, back here. Wealth, m’dears, is earning power. Learn how to do stuff while you are in Taiwan. I’m ‘saving’ back in the UK, now I earn more than double what I did in Taiwan. Use your time and money to develop transferable skills. Have a plan.
Hints 'n Tips
Dicking around doing kindy and elementary buxiban is enjoyable and in the short term, more profitable, but not a lot of use in the long term, you hit a salary ceiling, you lose faith in humanity, then you marry a local and/or move down south. Fast track to alcoholic poverty (Henceforth referred to as ‘f.t.t.a.p.’).
Find some cheap hobbies. English teachers/editors are all dicks. Hanging around with them too much is also a f.t.t.a.p. Temple architecture, learning to read and write Chinese, hiking and creative writing were mine. Note, all solo pursuits.
Men drain your body/mind/soul/essence/very core/wallet. f.t.t.a.p.
Don’t live in a hovel in Panchiao. f.t.t.a.p. You’ll spend a fortune on taxis/vodka, as your fighting spirit seeps through the sweating, rat-infested walls. Ditto ZhongHe.
Swimming and hiking are cheap. Gyms, where old ladies do bending exercises in the steam room and dry their lady-gardens with the hairdriers, are not. Some hot springs are cheap, if you’re feeling praetorian. And yes, you are fat and ugly, and yes they are staring at you. Get over it, how old are you?
Cheap Taiwanese food is disgusting, unhygienic and will make you grow additional nipples. Western food is inedible shit, in overly large portions. Learn to cook or you’ll get fat/rickets/scurvy/Hep A. f.t.t.a.p. Fruit is cheap.
And finally; do not skimp on psychiatric treatment. f.t.t.a.p. The private guys at TaiDa will prescribe aaaaanything and the counselors at the Community Center in TianMooo work on a sliding scale which just about goes down to teacher level.
There we have it. The middle way, in a nutshell/Taipei.
[quote=“Buttercup”]Made FA in Taiwan, saved FA. Went back with a few hundred thousand to soften the landing in the UK, but that went quickly enough, back here. Wealth, m’dears, is earning power. Learn how to do stuff while you are in Taiwan. I’m ‘saving’ back in the UK, now I earn more than double what I did in Taiwan. Use your time and money to develop transferable skills. Have a plan.
Hints 'n Tips
Dicking around doing kindy and elementary buxiban is enjoyable and in the short term, more profitable, but not a lot of use in the long term, you hit a salary ceiling, you lose faith in humanity, then you marry a local and/or move down south. Fast track to alcoholic poverty (Henceforth referred to as ‘f.t.t.a.p.’).
Find some cheap hobbies. English teachers/editors are all dicks. Hanging around with them too much is also a f.t.t.a.p. Temple architecture, learning to read and write Chinese, hiking and creative writing were mine. Note, all solo pursuits.
Men drain your body/mind/soul/essence/very core/wallet. f.t.t.a.p.
Don’t live in a hovel in Panchiao (Banqiao). f.t.t.a.p. You’ll spend a fortune on taxis/vodka, as your fighting spirit seeps through the sweating, rat-infested walls. Ditto Zhonghe.
Swimming and hiking are cheap. Gyms, where old ladies do bending exercises in the steam room and dry their lady-gardens with the hairdriers, are not. Some hot springs are cheap, if you’re feeling praetorian. And yes, you are fat and ugly, and yes they are staring at you. Get over it, how old are you?
Cheap Taiwanese food is disgusting, unhygienic and will make you grow additional nipples. Western food is inedible shit, in overly large portions. Learn to cook or you’ll get fat/rickets/scurvy/Hep A. f.t.t.a.p. Fruit is cheap.
And finally; do not skimp on psychiatric treatment. f.t.t.a.p. The private guys at Tai-Da will prescribe aaaaanything and the counselors at the Community Center in TianMooo work on a sliding scale which just about goes down to teacher level.
There we have it. The middle way, in a nutshell/Taipei.[/quote]
How depressingly accurate!
f.t.t.a.p.
Is there a support group out here for it? There should be.
Not depressing at all! I had a whale of a time.
Yes, but it’s depressing to someone who is about to get married and likely spend the rest of his working life in Taiwan…hopefully not teaching English to monsters for thirty years but quite possibly.
Yes, but it’s depressing to someone who is about to get married and likely spend the rest of his working life in Taiwan…hopefully not teaching English to monsters for thirty years but quite possibly.[/quote]
Oh, fuck, yeah. That’s horrific. Jia you!!!
You might get a visit at the wedding reception from The Ghost of Taiwan Yet to Come. Wait a minute, that’s not a spirit. That’s just Almas John getting another beer. 
But if you marry one, she’ll make you rich[/quote]
By helping you run a buxiban??? 
Somebody marry this girl !!! Shes a rare catch !! Get her to dump her boyfriend and she will save even more.
I’m with Buttercup on that post on everything except the dissing of Banchiao. Banchiao is the center of the universe. I live there, after all.
Well that’s good news, cos at least you haven’t got much further to fall! 
HG