don’t get me wrong, the magic is here too for me. But I see the negative realities to it as well that I didn’t notice when I first got here and was wide eyed and younger. Of course a lot of these negatives exist anywhere in the world.
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Criticism is healthy. But I am one of those people whose first choice is Taiwan and acted on that.
I love Taiwan and criticise aspects of it out of love.
Thank god the MP knows how I see Taiwan.
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True enough. For me though, the negatives in Taiwan boil down to just 2 things: the pollution, and the laissez-faire approach to rules and law enforcement, in many areas of life (which sometimes is a good thing too). This is far outweighed by the positives in Taiwan, but that is just for me.
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Cause it’s not just me. My wife, my kids, my parents (well they wouldn’t move with us, but they are very intertwined in our lives here in FL and they’d surely come visit us for as long and as often as they can). We all have obligations we have to wrap up. Kids in preschool, my business, my wife’s business, and so forth. Fall of 2021 just gives us time to take care of all those things and also a clean break from the end of the school year. And for us Taipei is uncomfortably hot in the summer (we plan to leave Taipei during the summertime anyway) so waiting til after that is just my tentative target.
To be clear, for me personally, I don’t hate FL at all. I like it a lot (granted, I like most places I’ve ever been to) and South FL certainly has a lot of great things for us. We are a location independent family so there’s a reason we came here and stayed for as long as we have.
Part of the yearning to be in Taiwan is the fact that the situation there right now (covid-19 and lockdown) is so much better than it is here. The other is just taking the next step into the next phase in life. We have been planning a move to Asia to be an expat family for many years now.
Sure no place is perfect and we also all have different preferences. I’m sorry you don’t like where you live and I hope the situation improves for you guys.
I have loved Taipei on every visit I’ve taken (5 times about a week each) but obviously that doesn’t mean I’ll love it as much living there. But it does suit my family incredibly well and we are also the sort that we like almost every place we’ve ever been to so I imagine we’ll get on quite well there.
But I can totally understand your perspective too. No need to get defensive (not sure if you are but just saying there’s no need to be if you were) about one guy saying he is very excited to move there.
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This is probably true. You’re just making a mountain out of a molehill in the choice of wording. I dream about my next phase of life. I dream about the many dreams I will be pursuing in my early retirement in Asia. I guess it all folds together with the concept of Taiwan.
Incidentally yes I do have history with Taiwan (very fond memories) and a strong network of close friends and family there. But we also have that in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong and had been struggling to decide between them all until a few months ago when we finally settled on Taiwan (90%. Actually there’s still a small chance we go elsewhere…I mean it’s over a year from now lol)
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why? what happens then?
If I’m interpreting this correctly, then you’re mistaken. My wife and I are both ethnic Chinese.
Very well-thought out considerations. I am wishing you a smooth and rewarding 4 year wait!! haha.
I am extremely passionate about sports and will miss it dearly, but I have managed to adapt for now with almost the entire sports world shut down. And I do plan to get NFL pass and watch my games at 1 in the morning every Monday.
All your other questions I’ll just say, yes, I think we are reasonably prepared and understand what to expect in Taiwan, as much as anyone could be who hasn’t actually lived there yet. Between our family, close friends, and numerous visits.
One more point of clarity I’ll add since I created this monster of a thread:
Our move to Taiwan isn’t intended to be permanent. We are of a nomadic mindset and surely will want to explore a new place and other countries in the future. So kinda thinking 3 years or so will be enough for our kids to get a stronger foundation in Mandarin and for wife and I to become fluent since we already speak decently. However I definitely hope that the time in Taiwan will be formative and influential in all our lives and that it will set us up to having a base there for many years to come, even after we have moved on from there.
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Dream meets reality and often gets downgraded somewhat to a lot.
And here I was never wanting to leave Taiwan permanently but i remain for good reason in calif
Maybe I can visit more often if I retire to Bali
When you are young you dream and most of it doesn’t meet reality
When you are older and you work and the reality is you work
When you get older you can dream again and most of that will be just exercising the brain too
I am! Thanks for clarifying that, and it think that will make a huge difference in you and your family’s experiences for sure. Do you all speak Chinese?
But now you’ll get to experience something you may never have had, NOT being a minority. Which is pretty cool when you think about it. And I still think your kids will be attention magnets. They’re American not just in name but behavior. People used to say my 8 yr old at the time half/half kid “walks liked a foreigner.” You’ll see. 
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My wife’s Mandarin is pretty good. She’s a native Cantonese speaker and she understands Mandarin very well (she can watch the news or tv/movies without any trouble) the only real issue is her pronunciation and accent. Mine is ok, probably at a second grade level or so. Really hoping to get to fluency though, for all of us, kids included.
Yes, not being a minority is such an interesting feeling. But I’m sure we will still stand out. As you say, from behavior to style to language…but it’s fine with me as long as the kids are able to achieve a normal, functional childhood.
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No doubt. However, if you handle it with some class and kindness, it’ll turn to your benefit. Taiwanese people on the whole seem to like foreigners/strangers. When things get tuff, let them take pictures of your kids. lol
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Taiwan would be next level if the beaches were amazing. It’s very unfortunate that an island country lacks great beaches.
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Well, when I first came it wasn’t that nice. Rural cram school teachers were treated like slaves. They’d try to embezzle at least 10000 Taiwanese dollars a year with under-reporting. if you did not have a local Friend to put some mafiosa pressure on your employer you would be trouble.
Children of foreign fathers were not considered citizens. You had to go through hoops to get a full term driver’s license.
Internet was almost non-existent. You had to pay by the minute for your dial-up connection.
If you needed something repaired or serviced, you seem to get the special inflated foreigner price.
And icrt was warning you not to eat raw foods like salads and be very careful where your water comes from. They said you could very easily pick up some disease, maybe hepatitis, that could possibly cause you to be deported come your next health check. The healthcare System here was not that great.
A lot of things have changed.
I was shocked that the United States looks like a third world country where they can’t even produce their own, drugs, medical supplies or masks.
When it left the USA it was still quite industrious and I kept comparing how better things were done in the US compared to here.
My friends and family remembered my complaining and my words are coming back to bite me in the butt.
Seriously, when the US was announcing that evacuation flights were being put together to take Americans back home to safety I did not know whether to laugh or cry.
By the way through all the hard times I had in Taiwan, the legal forum was my life saver.
Moderator at the time actually created Xerox legal appeals, free of charge, that helped us foreigners jump through the various Road blocks that were put in front of us when it came to visas, work permits and licenses. Without Forumosa, I would not have survived.
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Is it though? It keeps the exploitation levels lower. 
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Thats true.
Epic post! Thanks for sharing it.
Guy
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