Hey guys,
Just here to get your opinion about moving back to Taipei to get a master’s degree in translation or interpreting. I’ve lived on the mainland for the past 5 years or so teaching English and learning Chinese. I moved to Taipei for three months, took a chinese language course and got a good offer to come back to Guangzhou (sadly regretting my decision at the moment). Obviously what I have seen in the last month or two in regards to laowai in this city has left a bad taste in my mouth and I think its time for me to leave again.
Anyways, what do you think about a Master’s degree from a university in Taiwan? I would go to grad school in the US but my grades weren’t that good and Taiwanese colleges are a fourth of the price. Also, I like living in Asia and want to start learning some Japanese as well.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Do it.
Now onto more important matters.
Give us the juice on what’s going on over there, re: da virus, locals’ opinions of foreigners, yada yada yada
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Things have cooled down significantly as far as I can tell, but there was a two- three week period where foreigners here were being scrutinized like nothing I have seen before. I would have to show a card just to get into my garden, something Chinese people obviously wouldn’t have to do. Chinese people started put on their mask when walking past me. All Africans were being told they can’t leave their house for 14 days. A co-worker of mine, South African, ethnically Indian, has had to take four separate Covid tests after being told to quarantine. They put some sort of seal on her door to make sure she didn’t leave. All this and had been in the city since just right after Spring Festival. My gym next to my house opened up and guess what? Laowai aren’t permitted. Into a gym I have been going to for almost two years and paid for. People have been saying taxi drivers won’t pick laowai anymore (has been an issue for longer than this actually). I went to a restaurant and they told me I couldn’t eat there, I had to get take away. This is the same restaurant that I had been going to for the past two months.
Lease is up in August, yeah time for me to leave.
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Sounds like a culmination of what I’ve heard about China over the last few years, all coming to a head with the 武漢病.
Re: Master’s degree - I have a few friends that got their Master’s here, and not all of them would recommend it. I am under the impression that apart from language- or semiconductor- related topics, Taiwan is not the best for Master’s degrees. However much of what my friends say is more along the lines of ‘this isn’t what I expected/wanted’ as opposed to ‘wow this sucks’, so if you have the right expectations going in then you should be fine. Disclaimer, I do not have a Master’s degree, just my 