Possible job for me in Pingtung

What sort of hours and wages should I expect at a minimum?
What’s the max I could enjoy would you guess?
I really have no experience so I’m not expecting much for starters.

[quote=“Ian_Alexander”]What sort of hours and wages should I expect at a minimum?
What’s the max I could enjoy would you guess?
I really have no experience so I’m not expecting much for starters.[/quote]

In Pingtung, the range of starting salaries would be from 550-700/hour. I wouldn’t take less than 600 though. You should expect about 25 hours a week, that’s typical.

I lived in Pingtung for 6 years and it made me absolutely mental. Honestly I turned into a pissed off monster who my husband could barely recognize, and I’m the gal who was voted “most friendly” in high school! Most foreigners there are ready to commit homocide after some time…it’s the driving and the overall hickish mentality there that can drive you insane. Getting down to the beach a lot and setting yourself up with a nice apartment can help, though…sorry to be so blunt but it’s true!!! Taipei it ain’t…

I sent him an e-mail and asked the following questions:

I’ve heard a lot of other foreigner teachers complain about living in Pingdong. When I visited there I really enjoyed it, what’s your take?
What kind of hours do you normally offer? Over 25 hours a week? Do you pay an hourly rate or salaried? At what pay range?
Any benefits? I heard you were opening a new location. If there is a commute, do you pay for and travel time or train ticket fees?
What kind of unique opportunities would I have to learn Chinese in that area?
Do you ask that new teachers work while processing their ARC? How do you train new an inexperienced teachers, such as myself?
What are the classroom sizes? What is your age range? Would I be teaching children 6 or under and would that conflict with the law concerning foreigners not teaching kindergarten?
What is your school’s teaching philosophy? What kind of goals do you set for the students?

Hope I get a good response.

I’m sure you’ll get a good response, whether any of it will be true will be another story.

All these horror stories of Pingdong, I can’t see that it is much different than Kaohsiung though.

[quote=“navillus”]
All these horror stories of Pingdong, I can’t see that it is much different than Kaohsiung though.[/quote]

Every single city in Taiwan that’s not named Taipei, I agree.

I don’t understand why so many people in this forum pretend to be tolerant, reasonable people, and so LOVE Taiwan, but seem to be totally intolerant and hatred of Taiwan as soon as it’s real. actual Taiwanese people outside of Taipei (the other 90% of Taiwan). Y’know, people like Sandman, who apparently can’t speak Chinese and has never been outside of the suburbs in Taipei in over 20 years, don’t need to be afraid of “You got some purty teeth, boy” the way they seem to be so afraid of normal Taiwanese people down south. It’s weird how paranoid they are about things they know nothing about. Learn a little Chinese (exactly how many expats in Pingdong actually speak more than “Ni hao,” Indiana?) and you’ll see that these people are genuine human beings, not the “rednecks” you perceive them as. I have lived in Tainan a very long time. Originally, I could not speak any Chinese, and I hated my life here. But the more I learned to speak the local language, the more I understood the local people and the happier I was. If you want to live in an English-only speaking bubble, and pretend that you have a “cultural experience” when all you can say is “yi, er, san!” then Taipei is for you. If you want the genuine Taiwan experience, where you are forced to speak Chinese out of no other choice, then move to Pingdong.

[quote=“Quentin”][quote=“navillus”]
All these horror stories of Pingdong, I can’t see that it is much different than Kaohsiung though.[/quote]

Every single city in Taiwan that’s not named Taipei, I agree.

I don’t understand why so many people in this forum pretend to be tolerant, reasonable people, and so LOVE Taiwan, but seem to be totally intolerant and hatred of Taiwan as soon as it’s real. actual Taiwanese people outside of Taipei (the other 90% of Taiwan). Y’know, people like Sandman, who apparently can’t speak Chinese and has never been outside of the suburbs in Taipei in over 20 years, don’t need to be afraid of “You got some purty teeth, boy” the way they seem to be so afraid of normal Taiwanese people down south. It’s weird how paranoid they are about things they know nothing about. Learn a little Chinese (exactly how many expats in Pingdong actually speak more than “Ni hao,” Indiana?) and you’ll see that these people are genuine human beings, not the “rednecks” you perceive them as. I have lived in Tainan a very long time. Originally, I could not speak any Chinese, and I hated my life here. But the more I learned to speak the local language, the more I understood the local people and the happier I was. If you want to live in an English-only speaking bubble, and pretend that you have a “cultural experience” when all you can say is “yi, er, san!” then Taipei is for you. If you want the genuine Taiwan experience, where you are forced to speak Chinese out of no other choice, then move to Pingdong.[/quote]

Do most people speak Mandarin on the streets in Tainan? My brother in law goes there a lot because that is where his wife is from, and he says rarely hears any Mandarin, just Taiwanese.

Sorry I know that’s a bit off topic.

No, they don’t…to each other.

But they all speak Mandarin to foreigners. Because none of them can speak English. And they know that foreigners can’t speak any Taiwanese.

On topic:

Ian,

Sounds like a pretty good gig, assuming you can get an ARC and health insurance, and the pay is decent. If the place is a little too provencial for your tastes, or you just want a change, you could move up to Taipei at that point [edit: after your contract is up]. And having some experience and longevity in Taiwan would look good on your resume.

I wouldn’t worry about the lower pay you’ll get there if this guy has a good training program. I think that is key. I would rather accept lower pay and get properly trained than take a higher paying job and not know what the hell I was doing. You can always move out and up later.

Cheers,

Gao

Poor old Sandman! Still, he looks damned sharp in a linen suit nursing his gin & tonic in one hand while beating the rickshaw wallah for his poor English with the other, has to be said. :laughing:

Now how dare you suggest that’s not a “real” Taiwan experience you grandstanding muppet!

HG

I don’t understand – I think cities outside of central Taipei are complete shitholes peopled by mouthbreathing low-class nutmunchers, true. But “afraid” of them? Never been to them? Never lived in them? Whatever gives you that idea? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
And what the fuck is this “total Taiwan experience” nonsense? Who the fuck ever cared about that? Not me, that’s for sure. I have my own Taiwan experience and it appears to be a lot more rounded and fleshed out than your own.
Your post is maybe the saddest thing I’ve seen written here – you’ve been here for all those many years, yet you’ve never managed to outgrow that tired old “I live in a REALER Taiwan than you” pissing contest? Guess what? No-one else who’s been here any length of time gives a flying fuck. We live our lives and enjoy them for what they are. Your perception of what my life might be is of absolutely no consequence whatsoever.

And by the way, my only post addressing the OP in this thread was some ARC and mango advice. So what the FUCK is with your bullshit about me here? You some kind of “real Taiwan experience MAAAAAAN” stalker or something? Go tout your schoolkid pissing contest elsewhere to someone who actually gives a shit that you apparently see yourself as some kind of brave practically gone native explorer down there with “da true Taiwan peeps.” What a pillock!

And one other thing – Taipei and its environs is home to more than half the fucking population, Einstein. Tainan has what? A few percent. You don’t have a fucking CLUE about “the real Taiwan” stuck away down there in the sticks.

I dunno. There’s a HUGE difference between living in a rural area that’s an absolute polluted pit (many areas of central and southern Taiwan) and living in a rural area with redeeming qualities like, say, Yilan. Pingdong county is pretty large. If it were in the very south, near Kending, perhaps I’d go for it, but if it were in that whole polluted strip in the Gaoxiong-Pingdong strip, I’d avoid it. I’d definitely scout the area first.

I keep telling you people…Tainan does not exist…noyhing to see here…move along.

Damn you gotta love this forum dont you? Shit slinging everywhere :slight_smile:

[quote=“sandman”]
And one other thing – Taipei and its environs is home to more than half the fucking population, Einstein. Tainan has what? A few percent. You don’t have a fucking CLUE about “the real Taiwan” stuck away down there in the sticks.[/quote]

Actually, your math is a bit off. According to the latest stats, Taipei City + County account for a little over 6 million people. That’s roughly a quarter of the population of Taiwan.

Tainan City + County have around 2 million people. That’s about 8.5%.

And to keep this vaguely on topic, Pingdong County (that includes Pingdong City) has close to 900,000 people. Which makes it around 4%.