I’m Paul and I arrived to Taiwan about 2 weeks ago from Canada. I found the site Taiwan Ho and met some nice people there who told me to check this site out.
I heard about the monthly Happy Hours, and other events (if someone won’t mind pointing where I should look on this site, Thanks!) I am looking forward to see you all, maybe for lunch or coffee.
I am unemployed at the moment and I am looking to teach English like almost all other expats here in Taiwan. I have my Bachelor degree and I will have my TESOL certificate in a week. I am looking for some big school/company like HESS (I applied to HESS earlier but I didn’t make it to their Decemeber training.), can someone tell me all other company similar to HESS who would provide some initial teacher training? (I had some experience as a tutor in Vancouver at an education center, but I think I would need more experience to teach as a teacher)
I would love to hear from you.
P.S. I’m a sport fan (playing, not watching) and I love animals (I have 2 puppies in Vancouver).
Welcome Paul. You’ll find your way around and be a pro in no time. So fear not. Aside from looking at postings, I still believe that going around door to door can help, but other posters can verify this for me.
Happy Hours are great and you’ll be able to network wonders there.
If you’re in Taipei, go around to the various western resturants, like Grandma Nitti’s. At Nitti’s there is a board where people post occational jobs and stuff. Also, Taipei Normal University has a posting board on the 5 or 6th floor, I think.
To irishstu: I am living in Neihu, Taipei, but I don’t mind an extra 30-60 minutes to get to work. As I am free to move once I get my first (stable) full time.
to Namahottie: Door-to-door, someone from Taiwan Ho said that to me once on the phone. Except I get the idea that potential employers will only be impressed by cauasian looking expats (no offence) and I am a Chinese-Canadian (who can’t speak Mandarin well at all, but I can read perfectly fine.)
to Buttercup: Shane? ok I’ll look it up.
I’ll probably head out for some fresh air, I’ll probably go see the Stonely comedy club on the weekend. If any of you see a wandering Chinese guy who can’t speak proper Mandarin around, please yell Hello
I see you joined the hiking club. Good move. We’ve got a great 6 hours walk through some really lush forest coming up this weekend on Saturday. You’ll be amazed just how quickly he urban sprawl fades away and nature takes over in Taiwan.
Problem is, you’ll look just like all the locals who just aren’t saying anything at the moment, so it’ll be hard to pick you out of a crowd.
Whereabouts? It’s a big district.
There are schools all over the place. I seriously doubt you’ll need to travel that far. Finding one that will hire an ethic Chinese face, on the other hand, will take a bit more hunting. There’s a very unfortunate bias here. :s
On the other hand, you might also want to keep your eye out for other jobs like proofreading and editing. Since you wouldn’t be ‘on dispay’ to ignorant, biased parents, your ethnicity wouldn’t be as much of a factor.
Are you going to need an ARC, btw, or might you perchance have a local passport and ID card? The latter can facilitate matters sometimes, as there are lots of piecemeal PT jobs offered by companies and even government agencies which are unwilling or unable to apply for an ARC for a foreigner.
It’s required to get a health check to have an ARC.
[url=ARC Health Check Limey’s post:[/url] Click the red to read the thread.
[quote]
1, Your school applies at local Department of Labour (DOL) (about a week to receive confirmation papers)
2, Heath check (I went to Ren’ai (road) hospital NT$630, I think) You can do this while waiting for the DOL. No documents required, except passport. No appointment. 8 days wait for report. You must go back to pick it up. Opening times are strange - ring before you go, or check web. (photos required)
3, When you get the “Yes” from both DOL and health report, take all the documents plus a letter of employment to the FAP. Remember passport!
4, Apply for ARC. $NT1000 (photo required)
Hints, have at least 6 passport photos handy for the multiple form filling. I’ve just done mine, bear in mind it was over Chinese New Year, all in all it took about 4-5 weeks.
Get crackin’ and don’t worry. This is my third ARC and I still hate doing 'em, and forget the process every year! [/quote]
Basicly when you’re hired a company will file the paperwork for you, but you need to show proof of degree and passport. Then do as listed above, get the work done, give it to your company and poof you have an ARC.
Come down to Hsinchu on Sunday afternoon and meet a few of us at the happy hour.
[quote=“truant”]Come and meet some Forumosans at the Pig and Whistle Pub in Hsinchu (Xinzhu) this Sunday from 4pm. Pub is walking distance from the TRA station…or…try out the new HSR. 34mins from Taipei, 28mins from Taichung, 52mins from JiaYi, 69mins from Tainan. Address: 102 Zhonghua Road, sec.2, Hsinchu (Xinzhu)
新竹市中華路2段102號 Ph 03 531-5099
PM Truant if you need any more info. Everyone is welcome![/quote]
