Hey, why don’t you and MT just trade places? 
Hey, why don’t you and MT just trade places? [/quote]
Do I have to trade my wife and daughter for the cat?
I’m about the same age as the OP; and my parents are about the same ages as his. Like him, I sometimes think about going back to the States. And, like him, I realize that the chances for doing so and for being well employed are not so good. So I’m probably here to stay, which doesn’t particularly bother me as long as this, more or less (preferably with more of the good), is the Taiwan I get to live in. It’s the thought of being stuck for the rest of my life in Taiwan, special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, that worries me.
Hey, why don’t you and MT just trade places? [/quote]
Do I have to trade my wife and daughter for the cat?[/quote]
Ha, sounds like the script for a hollywood blockbuster? Or maybe bollywood (but then we all would have to be indians).
p.s. the cat would be a LOT cheaper to run ! No, lets just trade places, you can keep the wife and daughter, i will keep my cat (or give him to Muzhaman).
Well, I haven’t felt “imprisoned” on this rock. I have always chosen to be here, from day 1 to day 7,815 or so. At first, Taiwan was freedom for me. I loved living abroad and having time and money to wander around the world. I had great holidays and could backpack my way around Asia and the world in my free time. I have seen amazing things in my life that would have been just images in books if I had stayed in the huge, cultural prison called the USA.
But in other ways, I’m also much closer to my homeland by living in Taiwan. I cherish the times I get to visit there with my family and friends drinking Dr. Pepper and eating Red Vines. I think the USA is a lovely place to visit and spend time on extended vacations. Because I’m a teacher, I also get to explain American cultural events to my students and celebrate things such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentines’ Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, days that I might have let pass by.
Over the years, I have also had amazing additions to my life experience by having local holidays and added holidays from my international friends. I get to celebrate Chinese New Year, the Dragon Boat festival, etc., and also get in “boxing day”, Guy Fawkes Day, the Tet, the Songkran, Chanukah, Eid al fitr, and others. Taiwan is small, but it has broadened my world!
I have also done the occasional job search, which usually ends up in sending away friends who actually wanted to leave! I don’t think it’s impossible to leave and I have many friends who have returned to the USA or moved on to other countries. I think if a person keeps progressing, learning, and growing, there will be a space for them somewhere in the world which will make them happy. The key is to be flexible and optimistic.
So here I am… in Taiwan… and I love it. Every day is as fresh and new as that annoying construction site next door! 
By the way, who says there are not amazing things about Taiwan? Have you been to Taroko Gorge? Have you been Jade Mountain? Have you been to Green Island? Have you walked across the Central Cross-island Highway? Have you seen the snow at Hohuan Mountain? Have you driven the Eastern coastline and walked out on to the rocks to see the “happy water”? Go! explore! live!
I feel freed by Taiwan. Here, there are plenty of work opportunities in my area of expertise. Here, my work is flexible, and I can take months off if I want to. Here, cost of living is relatively low. Here, there’s national healthcare. Here, there is no Religious Right.
One of the ways to make a place feel like home is to adapt to new habits especially ones that are peculiar to where you are. Taiwan feels like home because every season I look forward to things that have become old favorites: green oranges in the fall, mangoes and litchees in the summer, Hakka food when I trip through the centre and south, aboriginal food when I visit the east. The butterfly migration in the winter and spring. The temple fares all year round. I love the silvergrass blooming in the fall, Formosan lilies and Youtong blossoms in the spring, butterfly ginger wafting into my apartment in the summer. I look forward to long hikes in the fall and spring, especially the crazy ridgewalks or a couple high mountain peaks. In summer it’s short walks to swimming holes or river tracing or cycling late at night. Riding up the impossibly steep back roads to Maokong on a hot summers night and stopping to listen to the insects buzzing around a tea field is simple but deep pleasure. At least a couple times a year we do a hike in the Daxi area and then go to the fish market afterwards and buy a fresh off the boat bonito or mackeral and enjoy some of the finest freshest sashimi anywhere.
None of these things can be done anywhere else: I mean with the particular flavors and qualities that they have here. Taiwan offers endless small pleasures which is they say the secret of happiness. Better to have some lovely nearby mountains you can hike every weekend (if that’s what you like) than only the opportunity to climb one stellar peak once a year.
Find some stuff you like and make it part of your life. Don’t compare to back home. Don’t look for the changing of leaves in the fall. It’s not that spectacular here even in the mid-range mountains. But look for the silvergrass on the green hills or on the riverbeds. It’s sublime in the early evening when the sun shines through the tips. It’s pointless to compare. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the special beauties of Taiwan and you’ll probably start to feel a whole lot more settled.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]Thanks mabagal. I’ll consider that, too.
Mucha Man, I suppose my inability to fully relax, let my roots grow deep in Taiwan and accept it as my home for another 10 years without hope of moving back to the States in that time stems partly from the fact that (a) if I ever hope to return to working in the US I’d better do so now, because the longer I wait the more impossible it will become and (b) I’ve always been slow to accept committment, having first married at age 40. Besides, I still have a storage locker back in the States waiting for me; isn’t that proof I’m destined to return?[/quote]
I am 43 and I like it in Taiwan. Sometimes I yearn for the things back home. Sitting under the oak tree in my mother’s garden, swimming in the river behind the house, drinking cider from a pub, listening to the sound of wood pigeons. However, that old cottage has gone now replaced by a supermarket. My parents are dead and I don’t have contact with my siblings there anymore, so this is my home now. It’s not a bad place in fact it’s pretty good. Yeah getting asked what I am doing in Taiwan every few days for the rest of my life will get a bit tedious, but in general Taiwan has been nice to me. The cram schools suck and treat workers like human garbage, but I have moved on from most of that and I do on the whole like the Taiwanese. They’ve been good to me here (apart from some cram schools) and although I hate it sometimes I love it more often than hate it.
Me too. If anyone got the impression i don’t they misunderstood, or I misspoke. We’ve got a great house in a great neighborhood, my daughter loves her school, her friends, her activities, I’m very happy with this neighborhood, running into friends and neighbors I’ve seen here for years, the bicyling’s great (and getting better), the summer heat no longer bothers me, etc.
It’s not that I dislike Taiwan; it’s just odd how I slowly, gradually, without realizing it was happening, apparently lost touch with my native land and lost the ability to return there and land a decent job in my field. One year turned to three turned to twenty-three without my intending that and apparently without my being able to stop it at a certain point. I’m sure if I REALLY want to I should be able to return, but it’s not easy, especially now that the bubbles have burst in the US.
That would make all the difference. My parents are the main reason I feel a need to return. I figure they’ve got 10 years left at the most, perhaps just 5, perhaps . . . well, at 81 one can’t take anything for granted. And my daughter is crazy about them and they her, so it would be nice for them to see each other more than once a year in these final precious years. If they were gone I suspect I would feel completely free to live here as long as I wished, to vacation in Nepal or Thailand or Japan instead of returning home to see them every CNY, etc. Not complaining; that’s just the way it is. As long as they’re in California getting older, I’ll feel an obligation to return on vacations and perhaps to live. Oh well, that’s life. 
MT, I think you’re being a short-sighted about this. Your title captures the spirit of your predicament, but you don’t seem to. It’s not just that you will spend the rest of your career in Taiwan, you are in all likelihood going to retire in Taiwan. You’ll probably die in Taiwan. Have you considered that our Social Security and Medicare programs are poorly funded, yet accepting more and more to the rolls, all while racing towards insolvency? Have you considered the significant likelihood of tax hikes in budget broken California? Have you considered the still dramatically high cost of land and houses in the nice areas of California? Have you considered the dangerous crime rate in the affordable areas, coupled with the escalating violence among the drug cartels? Good God man, wake up and smell the oolong tea! You aren’t in Taiwan until you retire, you’re in Taiwan for life!
I tried to get off the rock last year (even sold most of our stuff), after looking at the job options available back in Ireland, shaky at best along with the lack of confidence in the economy (fully justified I might add) I got a position with a UK company. They wanted me to handle the Asia market given my background, experience and language skills but from base in UK, Wales to be exact. After thinking about it for about half a minute or I said I’d take the job but there was no point in me moving myself and my family to UK (which is still a foreign country to me but only 1 hours flight to my homeland) for me to spend half my time in Asia, so we are in Taiwan as usual but I got myself an 80% pay rise and more vacation time and a position with a pretty respected company in the industry where I have now built up many excellent contacts (but do have to work hard for it). It took me 6 weeks job searching to get this position but it was worth it in the end. I had tried to find such a position before from Taiwan for a few years, nothing ever worked out. If you want to get hired by international companies or companies wanting to expand into Asia you should go back to your home country or a 3rd country and get your resume out, get tonnes of interviews, one or two have a good chance of biting and it will be worth it in the end. I think the best opportunities for jobs are in those medium size companies which are expanding and who want to have a representative in Taiwan or in Asia…not the big multinationals. More than a few people said it was amazing that I had found a job at all at the time…many many people wrote my search off as hopeless…some friends said I was dreaming to my wife and that I didn’t know what I was doing (they now BOTH don’t live in Taiwan, the irony)…this just goes to show you that if you don’t try you’ll never know! I could be now busting my balls for the usual 0-3% pay rise from Taiwanese companies and 7 days holidays or working for the Taiwanese govt industrial bureau (easy job to be honest) but bored off my ass. Now I’m on Xmas vacation until New Year…thank you Lord.
So can’t get off the rock and Ireland is an economic basket case at the moment (actually it depends which industry you work in, if you work in IT you can name your price in Ireland, but it doesn’t inspire confidence and being a small place opportunities are always limited). Taiwan has the whole economic integration with China thing going for it plus it’s really cheap to run a business and you can save money here. I am in the process of launching a business again here this time in an industry I am familiar with…second time lucky one hopes! If the business goes well will be here some years yet. Ultimately my dream (we can all dream) would be to have a pad in Ireland, a pad in Taiwan and a pad in the US or Australia…dream on maybe. Do what the Taiwanese do and fly in and out in summers/winters.
I contemplated going to China seriously with my wife last year (since had a baby), after visiting it quite a few times I found it was interesting but the pollution issue is terrible there, the cities are absolutely massive, it takes 1.5-2 hours to go anywhere in Beijing, plus Taiwan turned out to be much cheaper and more convenient and Taiwanese family here…plus direct flights now…and customs/tax/visas/health are much easier to deal with here, food is much better in Taiwan too. Taiwan is a better place to be based by far…it’s got lots of things going for it even if it is not spectacular or very exciting in many ways.
So the point I want to reinforce is that it is normal to feel frustrated or thinking about moving somewhere else, especially if you’ve spent a longtime on this small island and you didn’t really ever intend to do that (like many of us), hey I would be wanting the same thing if I was from California. If you really want to I think you could go there and look for a position…you’ll just have to take a risk. I didn’t acheive my aim of moving to ‘home’ in the end. But even if not maybe something good and unexpected will come out of it.
My dream is a ranch in Washington. Nothing big. Not a real ranch. Just a small house with a very big shed and a nice plot of fenced land. A big garden with all kinds of fresh vegetables, some apple trees and many other large trees everywhere. No neighbors in sight. Some chickens and a pig. And a dog, of course. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Hard to get that in Taiwan.
A small building with four apartments needs 60% occupancy to cover the mortgage and other expenses (in the right location). In the right location, you can operate at 100% occupancy most of the time. Imagine owning two or three of these buildings. Such assets would generate enough dough to comfortably retire on my small ranch. By the time I’m 60, I can sell the lot, if I want to, or the boy can take over the family business. Either way, I get to retire on my ranch in the Okanagan valley.
California is a toilet. I just left ‘the most beautiful dump’ in the world for Taiwan 6 months ago. Sure, there is a lot of beauty, but you’re 50? 10 - 15 years til retirement; don’t you know what it costs to retire in America? You do know there is no universal healthcare? This is the worst idea I’ve heard in as while! If you go back to America, try to choose a state that will allow you to actually live. There is no middle class in California, you’re either poor as shit, or rich as hell!
Like i said, California is a toilet. Yet people ‘including myself’ have this moth-to-a-flame attraction to it. i went from bright eyed go getter to Taiwan english teacher in 4 short years grinding at the bit on the good l’ Gold Coast.
If I ever go back, it will not be in any part of California. I know this is a polar oposite of the left coast, but for a 50 year old professional, I would suggest Eastern Washington. Far enough from the inflated prices of the Pacific coastal cities, but yet still not the dreaded ‘middle america’!
[quote=“Mucha Man”]One of the ways to make a place feel like home is to adapt to new habits especially ones that are peculiar to where you are. Taiwan feels like home because every season I look forward to things that have become old favorites: green oranges in the fall, mangoes and litchees in the summer, Hakka food when I trip through the centre and south, aboriginal food when I visit the east. The butterfly migration in the winter and spring. The temple fares all year round. I love the silvergrass blooming in the fall, Formosan lilies and Youtong blossoms in the spring, butterfly ginger wafting into my apartment in the summer. I look forward to long hikes in the fall and spring, especially the crazy ridgewalks or a couple high mountain peaks. In summer it’s short walks to swimming holes or river tracing or cycling late at night. Riding up the impossibly steep back roads to Maokong on a hot summers night and stopping to listen to the insects buzzing around a tea field is simple but deep pleasure. At least a couple times a year we do a hike in the Daxi area and then go to the fish market afterwards and buy a fresh off the boat bonito or mackeral and enjoy some of the finest freshest sashimi anywhere.
None of these things can be done anywhere else: I mean with the particular flavors and qualities that they have here. Taiwan offers endless small pleasures which is they say the secret of happiness. Better to have some lovely nearby mountains you can hike every weekend (if that’s what you like) than only the opportunity to climb one stellar peak once a year.
Find some stuff you like and make it part of your life. Don’t compare to back home. Don’t look for the changing of leaves in the fall. It’s not that spectacular here even in the mid-range mountains. But look for the silvergrass on the green hills or on the riverbeds. It’s sublime in the early evening when the sun shines through the tips. It’s pointless to compare. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the special beauties of Taiwan and you’ll probably start to feel a whole lot more settled.[/quote]
Beautiful post, MM. 
I found that the last time I returned home, seven years ago, I missed things from Taiwan. It was then that I decided this was my home. Come hell or high water. I felt anxious if there was even a small chance that I would be forced to leave (losing my ARC or something similar), and I knew I would miss the small things. duoduo lu (Yogurt green tea?), ice green tea in the summer, the great food in Tainan, the beautiful (if sometimes over bearing) people. My Taiwanese friends and family, and countless other things. Somehow, without realising it, this country, it’s people, culture and other “oddities” wormed it’s way into my heart. I’ve never felt more at home than I d here.
Unlike a lot of people, I don’t miss where I came from. But I would miss Taiwan if I had to leave for reasons beyond my control.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]One of the ways to make a place feel like home is to adapt to new habits especially ones that are peculiar to where you are. Taiwan feels like home because every season I look forward to things that have become old favorites: green oranges in the fall, mangoes and litchees in the summer, Hakka food when I trip through the centre and south, aboriginal food when I visit the east. The butterfly migration in the winter and spring. The temple fares all year round. I love the silvergrass blooming in the fall, Formosan lilies and Youtong blossoms in the spring, butterfly ginger wafting into my apartment in the summer. I look forward to long hikes in the fall and spring, especially the crazy ridgewalks or a couple high mountain peaks. In summer it’s short walks to swimming holes or river tracing or cycling late at night. Riding up the impossibly steep back roads to Maokong on a hot summers night and stopping to listen to the insects buzzing around a tea field is simple but deep pleasure. At least a couple times a year we do a hike in the Daxi area and then go to the fish market afterwards and buy a fresh off the boat bonito or mackeral and enjoy some of the finest freshest sashimi anywhere.
None of these things can be done anywhere else: I mean with the particular flavors and qualities that they have here. Taiwan offers endless small pleasures which is they say the secret of happiness. Better to have some lovely nearby mountains you can hike every weekend (if that’s what you like) than only the opportunity to climb one stellar peak once a year.
Find some stuff you like and make it part of your life. Don’t compare to back home. Don’t look for the changing of leaves in the fall. It’s not that spectacular here even in the mid-range mountains. But look for the silvergrass on the green hills or on the riverbeds. It’s sublime in the early evening when the sun shines through the tips. It’s pointless to compare. Learn to enjoy and appreciate the special beauties of Taiwan and you’ll probably start to feel a whole lot more settled.[/quote]
I really hate to agree with you on anything, but I gotta say, well said man!
From reading your post, you seem to want to do something else with your life. As cliche as this sounds, do what your heart is telling you. Get out while you can, or you’ll spend your life wondering what if.
[quote=“achdizzy1099”][quote=“tommy525”]Way too much of this kind of shit happens in CAlif:
Like I said, California is a toilet. Yet people ‘including myself’ have this moth-to-a-flame attraction to it. I went from bright eyed go getter to Taiwan english teacher in 4 short years grinding at the bit on the good l’ Gold Coast.
If I ever go back, it will not be in any part of California. I know this is a polar oposite of the left coast, but for a 50 year old professional, I would suggest Eastern Washington. Far enough from the inflated prices of the Pacific coastal cities, but yet still not the dreaded ‘middle America’![/quote][/quote]
Do you know anything about the POLITICS of Eastern Washington state? It’s incredibly conservative, completely red. A person who is happy in Taiwan and California will probably be dead disappointed in Spokane or any of the more rural places around there. There are pockets of Idaho that are more blue than Eastern WA! :roflmao:
All that said, compared to Cali, the Kitsap peninsula, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and a few of the areas down near Portland are going to seem very cheap and just as or more liberal.
My dream retirement at this point is Port Townsend, WA. I dreamed of southwest France for about ten years but as I get older I’ve gotten more convinced that my French is never going to get good enough for me to be anything but lonely and embarrassed there… love to visit, not going to live there.
It is not just MT, though. It is MT and his family. In all likelihood, where he goes, they will go, or else the family will be split up, which wouldn’t be to many people’s liking.
The parents issue is a real one. I made the decision to leave Taiwan at age 40 because of that (although the tightening non-married-foreigner work regulations were also a factor). It has been the correct decision for me. I have seen foreign friends whose parents passed away before they got back and they do live with regret.
Also, because I married in the US, I now must consider the US to be my home base. I still get back to Taiwan a month each year (up to 5 weeks this year, let’s see how far it can stretch!) and enjoy it while I’m there, but am always ready to come back when the time is up. But that is because my family is here. In MT’s case, with the parents in the US and the spouse in Taiwan, it is very difficult, and not just a matter of which place is more interesting, more special or more convenient.
If I were MT (not knowing the entire situation and its details, of course) I would do anything I could to make more chances to visit the US, even take unpaid leave if that is available. Try to get over in the summer as well as the CNY period if possible. But if I didn’t have a husband here, I would probably be looking at moving back to Taiwan as soon as my parents were no longer a factor in the decision, so I really couldn’t say move back to the US.
The job situation is tough here for someone in the “spent 10 years working in Taiwan” situation. I cannot get good letters of reference from supervisors at institutions where I’ve taught in the past. Most would not even remember me personally, I expect, or only vaguely if they did. My years teaching in Taiwan does not translate into “experience” in the US public school system, so that I get thrown onto the bottom of the salary scale along with recent college grads with no experience.
Honestly, if I did not have my own business, I don’t know what I would have done. I actually spend considerable time these days thinking about what I could do, seeing as how the translation market isn’t the greatest and is not IMO something to be relied upon for the long term.