I had been there for a while and got fed up of my job. Looking at other jobs in my field, it left a bad taste in my mouth to find everyone else was paying the same rate I was getting or less. I calculated that, if I went back to England, I would be able to save up considerably more money even when factoring the higher living costs, although it would mean sacrificing a certain degree of comfort I’d gotten used to in Taiwan. I’m going to start a master’s degree in London this October. The moment I pass, I’ll start looking for a new job. Taiwan will be a priority but, as much as I love it and want to go back, I wonder if I’ll still be so willing to do so when China, Singapore and even the UK will offer me much better pay. I suppose I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I get there. I love Taiwan enough that I could accept a relatively low salary, but it’s the potential lack of upward mobility that really concerns me (although that could be incentive to get good at Mandarin, because a lot of people tell me that opportunities for upward mobility only open up when you’re Mandarin is excellent).