Possible job for me in Pingtung

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
#1

A friend of mine, who just got back to Taiwan, started teaching in her home city of Ping tung. She is working for an American and his Taiwanese wife in a small buxiban. It sounds like there is only one other teacher, who happens to be Canadian. The pay hasn’t been disclosed yet but my friend says its pretty standard.

I asked for the owner to contact me, I need to ask questions. They are opening another location in a nearby city and may want me to teach there as well if I was hired. What kind of questions do you think I should ask? Pay, location, what will they pay for (transportation,) how big are the classes, how many hours are there, are there benefits, what style teaching do they use, will they make me work during the ARC wait period?

And I guess I also would need to figure out which Visa to come on and what kind of housing the have available. I heard that they have some pretty decent apartments close by for only like $250 a month.

Anyways - any suggestions or warnings are welcome, thanks!

#2

Just make damn sure you have BOTH school addresses listed on your ARC or you could get busted and deported. And don’t work until your ARC is actually in hand or again, you could get busted and deported.
Just remember, you MUST have an ARC actually IN YOUR POSSESSION to legally teach. And you can ONLY legally work at the ACTUAL ADDRESS printed on your ARC, even if the different locations are owned by the same person.

But most important of all if you’re in Pingdong, RESIST the temptation to eat mangoes every day. It will be difficult at first but you CAN do it. If you fail in this goal, you will end up sick and tired of mangoes, which would be a deadly SIN.

#3

Pingdong is cheap as chips for housing (like much of the south). $250 sounds realistic if you don’t want to share (and let’s face it, who does?). It’s also a quick ride to Kaohsiung, if you miss the big city life, and not too far from Taidong and Kending for a holiday, beach-life feel. You’ll save more living there than you would in Taipei, that’s for sure.

You have a list of good questions there - they’ll do for starters. It depends what they mean too by “neighbouring city”. If they’re talking about one of the townships around Pingdong, it wouldn’t be too bad to travel to, but if they mean Fengshan then fuggeddit.

Also, don’t listen to Sandman. it’s physically impossible to become sick and tired of eating mangoes - they are the fruit of the Gods.

#4

Mangoes are horrible! Avoid mangoes, even if your employer insists on putting them on your ARC.

#5

Buttercup used to live in Pingdong. She failed. As you can see. A sad, sad tale.

#6

They have a special foreigners’ jail for the mangoes, y’know. Obviously, I am far too pretty for jail. There were some rough Canadians in there…

#7

Just make damn sure you have BOTH school addresses listed on your ARC or you could get busted and deported. And don’t work until your ARC is actually in hand or again, you could get busted and deported.
Just remember, you MUST have an ARC actually IN YOUR POSSESSION to legally teach. And you can ONLY legally work at the ACTUAL ADDRESS printed on your ARC, even if the different locations are owned by the same person.

But most important of all if you’re in Pingdong, RESIST the temptation to eat mangoes every day. It will be difficult at first but you CAN do it. If you fail in this goal, you will end up sick and tired of mangoes, which would be a deadly SIN.[/quote]

Yeah - okay, two places on one ARC. Are we allowed to work at multiple places now? How many places? I thought when i read about this like 2 years ago expats could only work at one place legally.

Haha - I’ll be careful of over-eating the mangoes _ I’ll save some for the rest of u.

Yeah the other city is Kaohsiung, so its a quick trip. When I visited those two cities we took the train.

#8

Yeah the other city is Kaohsiung, so its a quick trip. When I visited those two cities we took the train.[/quote]

A quick trip? You’ll have travelling to do either side of the train stations, so you might be looking at a couple of hours worth of travel per trip. Time you won’t get paid for.

#9

Yeah the other city is Kaohsiung, so its a quick trip. When I visited those two cities we took the train.[/quote]

A quick trip? You’ll have travelling to do either side of the train stations, so you might be looking at a couple of hours worth of travel per trip. Time you won’t get paid for.[/quote]

Hmm yeah, but I live near DC so a lot of people around here need to do that same thing. Well do any employers pay for that time or at least the train fare?

Maybe if they want to do the Kaohsiung place I should work there…

#10

Rent is really cheap in Pingdong. A friend of mine who’s living there now has a new 50 ping place for only $7,000NT/month. As you’ve said, it’s close to kaohsiung; only a 25 minute train ride or 35 minutes on the scooter (over the most dangerous bridge in the country). It’s also a very good place to study Chinese as there’s a teacher’s college there and almost nobody in that town can say beyond hello.

Be warned however, to the many fashion atrocities that occur there; to the point of Pingdong being used as an adjective in K-town: “That’s some real Pingdong fashion she’s sporting.” Tie-died skirts with threads hanging from them is the fad that never went away.

If you want my friends number to ask about the school then just pm me.

#11

Pingdong is in the southest of Taiwan.
It’s not a city.
But it is very beautiful and close to Kaoshiung.
And during holidays you can go to kengding.
Foreign Teachers are popular in countries.
Finding a teaching job is not a big problem to you ,and the expense is lower than cities.
I think it is a good start for teaching in Taiwan.

#12

[quote=“wisher”]Pingdong is in the southest of Taiwan.
It’s not a city.
But it is very beautiful and close to Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong).
And during holidays you can go to kengding.[/quote]

I think wisher is a bit confused. Pingdong, the city, is the administrative centre of Pingdong the county. It’s not a huge city (around 220,000 people), but it’s a city nonetheless. It’s not particularly attractive, but the surrounding county of the same name has some very beautiful areas.

#13

Yeah - I think I said it before, I stayed in Ping Tung for like a month in 2005. I thought it was pretty cool. I didnt really see Taipei, but maybe that would change my opinion, haha!

-IAN-

#14

[quote=“Taffy”]It’s not particularly attractive, but the surrounding county of the same name has some very beautiful areas.[/quote]Very much understated, on both counts. Honestly, Pingtung City is leading the ‘Armpit of Taiwan’ competition. It’s largely inhabited by mouth-breathing, pig-shit-covered, nut-munching inbreds. Beyond the night market there is zero entertainment. Pingtung drivers are about the most reckless in Taiwan, and their propensity for getting into accidents is only matched by their aversion to purchasing insurance cover.
Pingtung county is however very beautiful and largely ignored by the touring hordes. YMMV but all the foreigners I ever met who lived in Pingtung went loudly insane within a year.

#15

Ouch! But come to think of it, that’s how I recall it. They drive like absolute fiends down there and there are way, way too many hotted up shitheaps.

Gawd, what a thought! :laughing:

HG

#16

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]They drive like absolute fiends down there and there are way, way too many hotted up shitheaps.[/quote]Well, if that’s what you call a blue Varica flatbed with a blown muffler and ‘Trubo’ decals on it, I’d have to agree. After all, it’s the attitude that counts, innit?

#17

I think my recollections are coloured by a Spring Scream with the ex many years ago. It started badly - she figured Kenting was in Pingtung so the best flight had to be Taipei to Pingtung. After arriving and figuring we’d somehow stepped off the planet, we eventually negotiated a ride with the village Jack Brabham and rorared off to Kenting. The place we stayed had the other Brabham and he drove us back for the return flight.

That road from Pingtung to Kenting with that godawful ditch on the side for most of the way had netted quite a sorry bevvy of cars and scoots. I couldn’t see how any of the many accidents I saw were not fatal.

HG

#18

Oh yeah. Those guys. Aside from the blue truck racing team there is that concentration of modified rust buckets to worry about. It seems like every other Civic down there has a homebrew turbo kit, a loud blow-off valve, stock brakes, and bald tires. There must be something in the water.

#19

Yeah, I had my own encounter with one of those inbreds many moons ago. And he drove a civic!

#20

Horror show!

And actually, now I recall a mate from Taichung and his missus had a shitty encounter with a road raging meanderthal clutching a baseball bat on that road!

HG