I can totally understand why Taiwan totally sucks so many Western guys in. Not to detract from my girlfriend, who is totally awesome, but I can see that every other guy here with a good girlfriend here thinks she is totally awesome and the best, because it’s true. Horror stories of psycho xiaojies abound, but in the main, there is such a high percentage of awesome women here, and it’s pretty easy to meet them. No wonder so many Western guys rave endlessly about the women here.
[quote=“MistaMike”]I have a few reasons for wanting to move there:
- It’s staggeringly beautiful, even in some of the urban areas
- I’ve been a conversation partner at a private ESL school for a year and a half, and I really love teaching eager students
- I want to continue learning Mandarin (and eventually Japanese and Korean as well)
- I really like the free lifestyle; traffic lights as guidelines, police leaving you alone unless you’re causing real trouble, no coffee cups warning idiots not to burn themselves on hot coffee, and so on
- I want to save a couple hundred dollars a month for travel. I don’t really drink much, and I can rather enjoy myself without buying new toys all the time[/quote]
Mike, I’m all for seeing the world and experiencing different places. Go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose. Even if you end up hating it, at least you experienced it.
But a couple of the things you mentioned above made my jaw drop.
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Although I find the mountains and some of the coast lines gorgeous, as soon as a building goes up, it becomes hideous. I’ve never seen an urban area here that I could describe as ‘staggeringly beautiful’. One of my first impressions when I arrived here 4 years ago, and one that has stuck with me, is that the “architecture” is really ugly.
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Eager students? Rare. It’s such a shock when I get one, I have to pinch myself. Like others have said, the behavior problems aren’t as challenging as in the West, but few are enthusiastic about learning English.
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Running red lights injures, even kills people. I’ve had several friends seriously injured from being hit by someone running a red light. And the cops don’t do squat about that, but instead they pull you over for random paper checks all the time, if you’re on a scooter anyway. They don’t bother me in my car, but I’m not out driving late enough for the random alcohol stops. So I kinda see it a little differently than your assesment that police leave you alone unless you’re causing real trouble. In fact, at least with traffic cops, it’s sort of the opposite.
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It might get harder to save money. The high school cut 10% of our hours out of our schedule and my evening job hasn’t been able to keep me busy. There’s still money to be made, if you’re a go-getter.
EDIT: In case you missed this off the “Getting Ready to Come to Taiwan” thread, here is a video of what happens when traffic lights are only used as guidelines:
Thank you, everyone, for your replies.
A lot of your replies were insightful, encouraging, and enlightening. Some of them really made the stop and think, too. I really appreciate the effort you folks put in.
I feel I should clarify a few things for those who still have an eye on this thread:
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The student I work with at my English school here in Canada are generally university-aged, and they’ve made the effort to travel abroad for the purposes of improving their English. That alone says something about their interest and dedication. Even the students who are here because their parents (or society as a whole, i.e. Korean students) have told them that learning English is non-optional, they still have enthusiasm for it.
I don’t know how common it is for buxiban to have university-aged students, or just how difficult it is to find a job working with them, but that would certainly be my preference. I’ll keep my eyes open. -
I have very clear memories of traveling between Kaohsiung and Taipei, and seeing the fields of crappy tin shacks and industrial facilities that made up most of the scenery. That I could do without, generally.
On the other hand, the utter mess of signs, garbage, and traffic in urban areas I do find sort of beautiful, but I suppose not in the conventional sense. I’ve lived in a few cities in Canada, and I find them all to be relatively clean, tidy, and damn near lifeless. Taiwan feels lived in, and that does a certain something for my soul, I think. -
Regarding the “lawlessness” in Taiwan, this is something I appreciate from a more philosophical perspective… I generally prefer a government that doesn’t have its hand in every aspect of its citizens’ behaviour. I don’t condone running lights (damn right it’s dangerous, and 99% of the time incredible stupid); I was more imagining sitting at a red light for 2 minutes at 4:30am when there’s no traffic.
Somebody in another thread described southern Taiwan as having a bit of a “wild west” feel to it. While that exoticizes the place more than I’d like, I appreciate the possibility of living in a place where common sense has a stronger hand in guiding a person’s behaviour than laws that come down from on high. I hope that clarifies some things for those of you who have expressed concern on this one.
I’ve decided that I’m coming for sure. As Buttercup wisely pointed out, “You bring yourself with you.” Even if I live in a bomb shelter and teach the worst kids on the island, I can make this awesome. =)
I’ve got money for my plane ticket, and I should be showing up in May sometime. I’ll try to do a trip up to Taipei at some point for a Forumosa get-together!
Take care all!
-Mike
I understand this. It makes me want to get into photography. There is a certain beauty in the rawness.
[quote]I appreciate the possibility of living in a place where common sense has a stronger hand in guiding a person’s behaviour than laws that come down from on high.[/quote] :roflmao:
Common sense? Here?
:roflmao:
And you might be surprised at just how intrusive the government here is on daily life. I just don’t see the romanticized image of the wild west here.
Best of luck, though.
An overwhelming preponderance of common sense vs. blind adherence to useless legislation is not quite what they were referring to, I believe. I think they were referring to a total lack of either, and their replacement with a shallow selfish blindness.
Maybe you’d like that, but i find that that is the worst way to deal with overcrowding and overpopulation.
Taiwan is an adventure and a circus. Just dont let them turn you into a monkey .