As strange as it may seem to you, for nearly 15 years of my life I have never worked for any white man. The two years I spent working in Canada as a teacher, I wasn’t working for white employers either, I was working for Indigenous people for an Indigenous school board in Northern Ontario. I was the only black teacher at that time. The rest of my teaching career I worked for Japanese for 1 year, Koreans for 7 years and Taiwan for 3 years and this being my fourth. I worked one year in Japan because I could not afford it, and during the years I worked in Korea, I was able to renew my contracts for consecutive years. In Taiwan, I never had the chance to renew with the same employer after each academic year I have worked, and I don’t know if I will get another chance with the same employer here.
And going back to Canada, I have had interviews with school boards that cover rural communities in Ontario, and I never had any good luck with any of them except for this one school board in Southern Ontario. People tell me that in rural Ontario they are less likely to give a black teacher a chance, (but I can get cheaper housing out there than in the Greater Toronto area). So never be idealistic to say that just because I am a Canadian POC, that things will work out easy for me, because in reality it’s not as easy as you think. Overall, we all deserve an equal chance.
That you would say this seems strange to me. Come to think of it, for the past 15 years neither have I, and in my entire life only 2 part time jobs in sales.
Not what I said. Good luck with your job search.
Not at all. It was back in 2008.
Thank You.
I just had an interview with the indigenous school board I applied to. This interview was a long interview that involved about 4 or 5 staff members on Zoom. It was an hour long, most of my other interviews never lasted that long.
I don’t know what the outcome will be for this one, but I have to wait until the next week to find out. If I do not get in then that’s OK, I am not going to worry or fret.
What is really concerning me right now, is that my father’s wife (my step-mother) has been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. I spoke with my father and he had just brought her to the hospital to get her chemotherapy treatment. What I worry about is that if she goes, then it might have an impact on my father who is getting ready to retire. This may wonder if I should even go back to Canada or if I should stay here in Taiwan if they allow me the chance to renew my contract. Because you know I still have that job offer with the southern Ontario school board. I really hope that my step mother will survive this one after I haven’t seen her since I left for Taiwan in September 2019.
In the meantime, I will continue my work here and keep her in my prayers.
Yes, you get a pension if you have APRC or JFRV. Your employer kicks in 6% of your salary.
You can also create your own retirement fund by investing all the money you save by living in Taiwan. There’s no reason to not save $1,000 a month here. Throw that money in an S&P 500 or all stock market index fund (or the equivalent in Canada?) every month and let it grow. I wouldn’t depend on the Taiwan pension fund still being around come retirement time anyways… Or any government pension fund really. That’s just my thought.
Wise words. However, my only disclaimer would be old people vote.
Agreed, don’t at all count on pensions from any system. Currently the largest generation is retiring, so that will use all the funds available for their pensions.
Even if we did get a pension from the state, it surely would not be enough to live off of. I know people currently retired in Thailand that cannot live off their pensions from England or the US.
So its best to have our own plan.
This obviously comes down to personal preference and future plans.
As said in a previous post, don’t rely on pensions.
COVID lock-downs will happen in all countries since that is what has been happening so far. Countries will have to learn to adapt to the circumstances. For example, Thailand did quite well before and recently it has turned to lock-downs, curfews, and quarantines between regions.
Moving around now is risky and costly. You are a citizen of Canada which gives you rights there, so it is not a bad choice. But, as anything, things might change in the meantime and this will incur extra costs. Air travel is extremely expensive and unpredictable now.
If you can make it work in Taiwan somehow, that would be the best. At least until things calm down a bit. My 2 cents.
That’s the best stance to take for everything really.
You don’t seemed boxed in. You seem to have choices.
Sorry to hear about your stepmom.
I just spoke with my father on the phone, and I was finally able to tell him that I got that job offer in Canada, and I am waiting to hear from the Indigenous school board. My father is planning his retirement by selling his house and moving elsewhere in Ontario, away from the Toronto area. He did suggest that I can stay at his house and take the supply teaching job in Southern Ontario, before he sells his current house where he lives. Because you see the cost of housing there is too high. But if I want to get my own place to live, I would still plan on applying for subsidized public housing, even if it means waiting 2 years or more.
However there is a problem in Ontario, Canada right now. There is a lockdown, and it has been extended for another 2 weeks. Plus the travel restriction entering into Canada, I am afraid that it is going to be going on for a longer time, and I refuse to go back to Canada and pay $2,000 to stay in a hotel for 3 nights, just to wait for my PCR on-arrival test result. Even the supply teaching job will not earn me enough to get that amount of money back. Therefore, if I have to go to great lengths to disappoint my family for not returning to Canada for good, I will do that for my own good so I won’t have to risk COVID-19, and living in Canada below the poverty line.
I just got word from the Indigenous school board in Canada. They are offering me a teaching position which is the only teaching position they have in one of their communities. This job is for teaching math and science to grade 8 students on an Indigenous reservation.
So now I have two job offers, one in southern Ontario in Canada, and the other in Northern Quebec just 8 hours drive north of Montreal, 10 hours drive north of Toronto.
Now my decisions are going to be tough. Regarding the teaching position in Northern Quebec, I have to say frankly that I am not a specialist in math or science. Neither do I have the additional qualifications to teach those subjects. But they are offering me to teach those subjects because that’s the only position they have in one of these communities.
If I take the position in Southern Ontario, I can live with my father to save money on housing because housing is too expensive there. But that job is a supply teaching job that will not guarantee me 5 days a week. The job in Northern Quebec will guarantee me 5 days a week, and I will have subsidized housing provided for me. But teaching math or science…I never taught those subjects before.
I don’t care if my contract in Taiwan get renewed or not, but the fact of the matter is, I don’t have to worry about the COVID chaos here like what is happening in Canada.
Eight hours NORTH of Montreal??
That’s, uhm, gonna be chilly.
And really either way you’re set. Congrats.
What job was taken?
The job in Northern Quebec.
I got 7 weeks left for my contract here in Taiwan.
The Indigenous school board in Canada had its
executive committee approve of my hiring. So
now I have to be faced with making the real hard
decision to turn down my contract renewal for my
new job in Canada.
Right now, things in Taiwan are not looking good
with regards to COVID-19. In Canada, 50% have been
vaccinated and 4% fully vaccinated. But here, only 1%
are vaccinated with the first dose. Taiwan is at level 3,
and this summer, Canada is very likely to open up.
I really don’t want a lockdown to catch me here in Taiwan.
I wouldn’t worry about the virus. Taiwan still has far fewer daily cases and the vaccination will be finished at more or less the same time as Canada. I haven’t read through the comments so I don’t know which one better financially. Just go with the one that’s better for you long-term.
Will school board pay for your quarantine expenses when you go back to Canada?
Isn’t there some other thread here on the high cost of this for Canucks going back?
No. The school will not reimburse me for quarantine expense.
How?.Also he said is worried about the lockdown which seems reasonable.