users2.ev1.net/~turton/teach_students.html
check this site out. does anyone know the person who made it? seems pretty much on target to me though some things differed from my experience.
I don’t know the guy, But he hosts one of the best and most informative websites on Taiwan ever. Some people don’t agree with his opinions, but I find him spot on about a lot of things here, including the page that you referenced.
He’s had a website up for yeeeaaarrrs… i got a lot of my info. in 2001 from his site… he updates it fairly regulary, too.
I think I read just about every page on there, if nothing else for all his cool pictures… 
Seriously though, some of the info there has been very helpful and interesting.
He’s spot on.
He also posts on this forum, though right now I can’t think of what his handle is. Er, he has posted, at least. Or did I make that up?
Yes he does, but I’ll let him out himself.
HG
I know him personally. Difficult to find a finer human being on the planet. Great guy. Helped me out quite a bit before I came with spot-on, insightful answers to my questions. M, if you need a favor in Taipei, I’m sure people are lining up, but keep me in mind.
T.
wow what an interesting read
Brilliant site and excellent photos too. It was one of the main persuaders for me to return to Taiwan 
Cheers M
Hehehe 
Yeah, i’ve read the site from front to back and there is a lot of interesting advice. However, it is ONE persons view/opinion of Taiwan. I do disagree with much of what he writes, but taken with a well balanced diet of other information from other sources, Turton’s website goes down well.
his website:
read “the view from Taiwan”
its updated pretty much daily. Hes usually got a lot to say and does a good job saying it
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Anyway, imagine if everything he wrote was exactly your own opinion. How boring would THAT be?
i’ve been reading his blog for a while too. i thought perhaps he’d be a regular poster here. are you here, michael turton?? i guess not.
Michael posts as Vorkosigan, I believe. He’s around, and I’m sure he appreciates the praise he’s getting for his site. I too was learned a lot from in before I moved back here in May.
His site got a mention in Salon the other day in an article about Taiwan.
[quote]The Ryukyu Kingdom, ranging across an archipelago of coral reefs between Japan and Taiwan, was once a critical trade entrepot in East Asia. While Taiwan, an island of greater size and with access to far more resources, muddled along, Ryukyu civilization grew to impressive heights, all the while balancing carefully between the empires of China and Japan over a period of centuries. Today the Ryukyus are best known in the U.S. as the site of the WWII battle for Okinawa, but hundreds of years ago, when trade in Chinese silk and Japanese silver was the local currency, instead of semiconductors and iPods, Ryukyu was a major player.
So goes the story told in “The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective,” an article in the new issue of Japan Focus by Taiwanese historian Man-houng Lin. (Thanks to Michael Turton for the alert)[/quote]
great website! :bravo: some of the author’s views are a bit ethnocentric but he also makes a lot of insightful observations. it’s pretty cool to see Taiwan from a different perspective.
I don’t agree with everything he says (e.g participation in clubs - I’ve found it very common among college students; or by “adults” is he talking mostly about people in the workforce?), but most of it conforms to my experience.
Special mention for the pics too - they filled me with nostalgia and i really believe his site was the ‘straw that broke the camels back’ and convinced me to go back to Taiwan