I have also gradually come to the conclusion that the US will at most be the place where we retire, and hopefully the place where my son goes to university. However, I also wonder if I would want to do anything beyond visiting a holiday home in the US for a few months a year by the time I’m 60-something. If I will have spent my whole career overseas and my spouse is not acculturated and socialized in the US, the fishing better be magnificent and the grandkids better be nearby. Otherwise, I think staying in the US for long periods would be pretty weird. And then there are healthcare concerns. I am less worried about this now that the system is changing, but I still worry about it. One of the good things that the Poms left in Hong Kong was a decent public health system.
I love reading these updates from Durins Bane. I’m happy your boys are doing so well, Durins Bane. It’s nice to hear success stories like that.
The current plan for my family is to move to the US when the kids are around 11 or so, but they’re only 4 now. We still have some time to prepare ourselves for the move, but it’s still a daunting process of moving the whole family to a different continent and culture. Hopefully my wife and I will find good jobs in the US related to what we do now.
If all goes well, I hope to retire in the US. I just enjoy the environment better, the social environment as well as the physical space available for enjoying life.
No need to justify yourself, the US certainly has better living standards overall than Taiwan and a lot more places to go. Taiwan is just a small island, but if you have family from here you’ll always be connected. My plan would be to have a home or business here and a place back home or even in Australia or another country.
This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it, Durins Bane, and thanks for the update.
Great contribution from Chewy, and nice to hear from Jive Turkey and scomargo on this topic (I always value their insights).
I will be following this thread with great interest. It is good, imho, to see how other people handle this. Thanks again!
If I can get a job, I hope that I will be able to move to Saipan next August. Then I will try to do a summer M.A. Teaching Social Studies.
If I like it, I may stay there for a long time.
Good comments and suggestions from everybody, Thank you for your input.
I have been back to the States twice this year to work on building my own place. I bought the land a couple of years ago, and last year I purchased a steel building, I have been buying building materials and storing them, so far we haven’t had to borrow any money or get any kind of morgtage. The rent in Taiwan is cheap, and I have an RV that I stay in on my property in the States.
For me, this works out quite nice, I still get to spend time in Taiwan, and I also still have an income from Taiwan. I try to time my visits to each place when the weather is best at each location.
I will do this for a few years, and then stay full time with my son after 4th grade.
If you are planning on retiring back home, now may be a good time to purchase, prices are pretty low, and you can get some nice rates. If you find a good agent, you could rent out your house and build some equity for when you do retire. It is sweet to not have to worry about paying rent or a morgtage payment when you retire.
Funny you should mention that, saddletramp. Someone I know just bought a foreclosed home back in the US as an investment.
I think I’m going to have to look into buying property back in Texas, where I’m from. I don’t know if I’ll find any foreclosures, but I should at least look around. I’m not sure if the property market in Texas took much of a hit, though, compared to the rest of the country. I will start doing some research on this topic.
I think the property market in Taiwan is now too crazy for me to consider buying another property here in Taiwan. I just wish I’d bought more when I bought my first house 5 years ago, but I’m sure most people in northern Taiwan would say that.
fee, thanks for your kind words. I didn’t know anyone valued anything I wrote on here. It’s flattering. 
[quote=“scomargo”]Funny you should mention that, saddletramp. Someone I know just bought a foreclosed home back in the US as an investment.
I think I’m going to have to look into buying property back in Texas, where I’m from. I don’t know if I’ll find any foreclosures, but I should at least look around. I’m not sure if the property market in Texas took much of a hit, though, compared to the rest of the country. I will start doing some research on this topic.
I think the property market in Taiwan is now too crazy for me to consider buying another property here in Taiwan. I just wish I’d bought more when I bought my first house 5 years ago, but I’m sure most people in northern Taiwan would say that.
fee, thanks for your kind words. I didn’t know anyone valued anything I wrote on here. It’s flattering. [/quote]
Check out this site, it might give you some ideas.
http://texaslandandlakes.com/
Of course I would never buy land sight unseen off of the web, but I did find my place on the net, and I am quite happy with it.
Thought I’d chime in with a report after two years back in Vancouver. Wanted to get to this earlier, but too much on the go.
Agree with the acquire skills part. I know people who did online courses, online degrees, certificate programs etc. and they’ve all had more success coming back than those that didn’t. My Taiwan MA got me in the door for my current spot teaching university BusComm classes. While no one will mistake it for Harvard, degrees from Taiwan are recognized.
Prices are an endless saga. Canada is more expensive for many things than the States (never mind Taiwan), so be prepared for hearing about the prices from an SO and other recent immigrants. The fact that you make 2-3X as much doesn’t count in the equation either - just that things cost more. That said, we’ve only got one boy (who eats like a horse), so it’s better than feeding 4, 5 or 6. Difficult for many Taiwanese to get used to cooking/eating at home so much, as take out is common and cheap in Taiwan. A lousy lunch box here will set you back $6-7, and another $3-4 for bubble tea.
Taxes - if at all possible, declare non-residency. Two years is the soft rule for Canadians. I retained a bank account here for the purposes of paying off the student loan, and had no problems doing so. Agree with the credit history - everything was gone after 11 years, and the wife’s CC from Taiwan doesn’t count.
Depending on your SO, the transition can be just difficult or really difficult. No friends/family/sense of familiarity, different foods/customs/accents. We hooked up with a local Taiwanese church immediately, which has helped a lot. It still takes time to become accustomed to everything, and to develop friendships. Getting a driver’s license can be an ordeal as well - spring for lessons from a local Taiwanese “instructor” who will help them to learn the differences between what they are used to and what they need to know wherever you are. The ST cost will be worth it. Don’t expect that it will be easy for you either - even with years of experience at the undergraduate level, it’s something else to walk into classes here where students aren’t (as) afraid to challenge/question you. And classes here can be just as difficult, as you have excellent self-motivators lumped in with ESL students. Think about what you want to do before coming back - post resumes online.
Houses in the States seem to still be quite cheap (from what I’ve heard). Vancouver is another story, although things are on a minor decline again. Think about price and where you want to live in terms of works and schools, but also where your SO will be comfortable. My buddy’s wife in Chilliwack (a small town with little in the way of Chinese culture) has had a tougher time yet, as familiar foods are harder to come by than where we are (2 T&Ts within a 5 minute drive and Asian sections in Superstore). That said, they can buy a house for what we paid for our townhouse.
Schools are important - we’re in a private one for now, but the area that we would like to move to has good public schooling from elementary to senior high. We’ve gotten a lot of opinions from people who live around that area about which schools are best.
Do your best to budget for a trip back, at least for your SO (and kid(s)). The MIL has also been here for an extended stay already. You may be surprised at how many positives come out about your new home.
As DB mentioned, it’s hard. The boy is extremely happy here, which really helps. We’re doing quite well now, all things considered.
Agreed. What a great thread.
I just returned to Taiwan yesterday morning. As always, California was beautiful and I think I’d be very happy retiring there. Enjoyed spending time in my parents’ house on the hill with spectacular view of SF and the Bay, enjoyed hiking in the warm sunshine and wide-open hills of Tilden Park, with abundant wildlife but almost no people, enjoyed shopping at REI and even at Safeway. But, like Tomas and scomargo I probably won’t move back till retirement or at least till my girl finishes elementary school (6 years from now). Much greater opportunity for good employment and saving money here. It’s weird, because Taiwan seemed so damned ugly, hot and miserable initially, and I never would’ve thought I’d stay here so long, but it does gradually become more appealing (and the various flaws of life “back there” gradually become apparent).
So, I’ll keep muddling along here for now, but hope to return to the States some day. In the meantime, as DB suggests, I file my US tax return annually, maintain a US bank account and credit card, and continue to build up my career and resume just in case of who knows what. And, hopefully the house we bought here in Taipei will appreciate nicely in coming years to help with the transition (though ideally we’d buy a house in the US when we move there and hold on to our Taipei house for our regular visits).
Not sure if this belongs here? But it is part of my questioning “What next?”
As you all probally know, the PRC does not accept dual citizenship. If Ma does the dirty deed, what will be the outcome for our kids?
Do we renounce their ROC citizenship, or thier (ours) other one? Can we then get them an ARC, if we choose to renounce China’s?
Can our spouses unilaterialy renounce the forieng one, in favor of China’s?
Going into the future, which passport will be better for the kid’s? or for us?
I don’t want to be paranoid, but I must say I consider this when I think of an exit plan.
I hope it doesn’t happen, but it seems more likely now than it has ever been.
[quote=“saddletramp”]Not sure if this belongs here? But it is part of my questioning “What next?”
As you all probally know, the PRC does not accept dual citizenship. If Ma does the dirty deed, what will be the outcome for our kids?
Do we renounce their ROC citizenship, or their (ours) other one? Can we then get them an ARC, if we choose to renounce China’s?
Can our spouses unilaterialy renounce the forieng one, in favor of China’s?
Going into the future, which passport will be better for the kid’s? or for us?
I don’t want to be paranoid, but I must say I consider this when I think of an exit plan.
I hope it doesn’t happen, but it seems more likely now than it has ever been.[/quote]
Doesn’t affect me or my children as I can resume South African citizenship at a later date anyway. Similar for a lot of countries. Of course, for US citizens who renounce, this would be a bit of a problem. That said, if your kids had US citizenship, how would a (for argument’s sake) possible future PRC government know?
[quote=“saddletramp”]
As you all probally know, the PRC does not accept dual citizenship.[/quote]
Incorrect. The PRC does not allow dual citizenship for mainland PRC citizens. For Hong Kong and Macau SAR PRC citizens, the government does not recognize any second citizenship that they have. There are hoards of dual citizens in HK. When (well, OK, if-I just wanted to be provocative 
) Taiwan becomes a SAR, it may end up with the same arrangement.
I’ve been reading this thread with interest. as I’ve decided to leave Taiwan early next year. Just came to point where I realized that if I didn’t get some more qualifications there wasn’t much of a future for me. I’m currently teaching in a buxiban, but want to go back to my country to do a PGCE and maybe/hopefully get experience in a school. Only thing that I’m a wee bit worried about is finding a job. I think all the posters made valid points in their posts and it certainly was insightful to read. My question is - after almost 4 years spent in Taiwan, will I have a reasonable chance to get at least a decent paying job in my home country? I’ve not done any online courses(even though I looked at a lot in my course of stay here), and just basically have the “experience” that I picked up from teaching here. I know, I know it can’t be really seen as real teaching, but I’ve gained valuable insights into teaching methods and I’ve grown tremendously as a person in the area, question is - what can I look for when I’m back in my home country? Any insights and advice would be welcomed
Depends where you come from… 
Finally grow a pair?
Well after Taiwan, I am probably going to Nursing School. That is after concluding that for the first ten years after becoming a pilot, I would be likely to earn no more than I’m earning now. I hope to eventually get my M.S. in Anesthetics.
Bismark - I’m from SA.
Thomthorne - don’t understand your post.
This is an interesting thread, very thoughtful. I’m kind of going the other way… I’m “commuting” to Taiwan for work from the US (50% of my time is the goal) and I’m starting to imagine moving to Taiwan eventually. I’m not committing to anything, as I know I’m in the “honeymoon” phase of loving spending time in a new-to-me country, and I think my kids should get through school first (probably).
Anyway, for those of you coming back to the States in the tech fields or English-related stuff, I’d be glad to offer you access to my LinkedIn network. I’m connected to hundreds of people there, the vast majority of whom I know IRL, and maybe they would able to help you get your next job? It can’t hurt anyway. PM me. 
Well, in that case, if you go back and do a PGCE you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding a job in education back home. Depends what subjects you had at uni and what you’ll be teaching. English would be ok, history would be great (a compulsory subject in SA now), and of course anything in the sciences (general science - chemistry, physics - biology, math or geography) would be more than a plus.
I’m not sure how much your teaching here will help you, but it certainly won’t hurt you either.
As for a decent paying job back in SA out of teaching, general stuff still applies. Apart from AA (depends where you fall on that scale), obviously if you studied engineering, accounting or computer programming you would still be able to find good gigs. If you studied business and you studied Chinese here, you’d also find ample opportunities back home in that field.
General humanities? Luck of the draw and it may depend more on who you know than anything else. But I’m sure you know this already.
I have had several friends who found teaching jobs back home while they were still in Taiwan and who are douing very well for themselves back home. I also know a few people who went back and did something else. Some of them got lucky, some didn’t.
If anything, going back and doing a PGCE and getting registered with the SA teacher’s association will be helpful in more places than just SA. Apart from being able to teach in SA, you could always return here and land work in elementary schools, junior and senior highs with that, as well as be able to teach in the UK, Aus and NZ.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 