I know one hostel where foreign backpackers can stay and work for their room. Some people do it for a few days, some people do it for weeks or even longer a few months. Shorter visitors just help clean up and longer-term get more into helping manage the desk.
These are not people here and have a job or are students in Taiwan. They’re just backpacker’s roaming around Taiwan or Asia.
Have seen some blogs that offer that.
Don’t know if govt cares about the legality of it.
The same goes for couchsurfing. Free boarding in exchange for culture 交換.
A little off topic but I was wondering if Woofing exists in Taiwan: you stay in a farm, do some work and get food and accommodation in exchange. Would be a convenient way to work on one’s Chinese, given that the family can speak in Chinese of course, not in Taiwanese.
The MOL’s letter actually covers only holders of white collar work permits, as Feiren noted, but not including artists/performers (non-missionaries in class F or ESA 46.1.6). This means blue collar foreign workers and tourists are also excluded
Tando is right as usual. Without a WHV or some other form of permission, working at a hostel is illegal.
Back in the day I stayed frequently with American Youth Hostels and
International Youth Hostels (Europe).
In the morning they made you draw from a box a piece of paper that listed a chore to be done.
They were little chores like sweeping the floor, cleaning the bathroom or collecting the bedding.
It was definitely volunteering because we paid for our room. Wouldn’t these kinds of chores just be considered picking up after yourself?
I have never seen an official iyh hostel in Taiwan. it’s been awhile, I’m not sure the sure “doing a chore” tradition is even still going on.
Hmm I had a classmate at my university that did it for quite a while, but I doubt is legal.
I heard you need some kind of permit even to volunteer so i’d Assume this is considered work as there is some kind of retribution.