For the record, I don’t visit the Teaching English in Taiwan part of the forum much these days, however, I came to this thread by way of the Active Topics.
I’m currently an English teacher, but I’m quitting after two weeks, getting my MA and improving my Chinese at NCCU this fall, and going into some kind of business.
Same here.
Wait… We have the same job, same reason to be in TW, and same taste in beer. 
Wow, are you my long lost brother?[/quote]
And my wife and I had our honeymoon in Germany. And I dig the yellow. And you and me both have 14" uncut johnsons. So yeah, maybe, man. And before I forget… BOOBIES!!!
Over the years in TW I translated, interpreted, taught interpreting, was a radio host, and served as the Swiss Apple Juice girl way back when that mall at Minsheng and Tunhwa was still the marvel of the city.
And, of course, I have boobs. (But that was discussed at length some years back, something about not being able to reach the keyboard properly when typing.)
Pictures are required for great justice.
(I feel like I’d better say “just kidding”)
Just kidding!
I’m a moderator. Suuuure, we don’t get paid, exactly. But sometimes we get free beers.
Oh, and I’m also a house husband. I send my wife out to do the work, but lately I think she’s been having regrets about “equal rights” and such.
[quote=“Deuce Dropper”]I work in trade (high tech) and own a couple of small businesses (F&B) on the side.
If you want to get out of teaching you have to show someone that you can help them or their business make more money, you have to create your own value. [color=#FF0000] No one is going to hand you a 500K/month salary and a house on Yangming Shan because they think you have potential.[/color][/quote]
Fuggit! There goes that plan… Back to the drawing board.
And no one actually teaches English in Taiwan. If that were true, half the country would be able to speak English by now. I think the term is, Edutainment. 
I am an interpretor, translator, cleaning service, cook, been a dining ground, am a playground, baker, psycho therapist cum analyst, PR person, Economist, travel agent, travel guide, hospital attendant, nurse, …teacher, just don’t teach English, yet!
BUT most of them must’ve taught English at one point and moved on…no? I mean, isn’t there the fact that MOST foreigners come to teach English, or atleast take it up as a sustenance measure and then stay on and do whatever they can .
Likewise. The thread title caught my eye. I think about 1 in 10 or maybe 20 of the foreigners I know here are English teachers. I kinda forget sometimes there is this whole parallel universe out there.
[quote]asiababy wrote:
I’ve worked as a personal assistant, accountant, English teacher, writer, and now sell diapers and swimwear. My friends include a doula, a children’s music and movement teacher, an architect, a personal trainer, and a health food producer.
divea wrote:
BUT most of them must’ve taught English at one point and moved on…no? I mean, isn’t there the fact that MOST foreigners come to teach English, or atleast take it up as a sustenance measure and then stay on and do whatever they can .[/quote]
Of that list, two of us have taught English, and I came to work as an accountant but decided to train as a teacher and teach preschool because I loved it. I’m also not sure about “do whatever they can”, as people I know are doing what they really enjoy. The other one in that list who taught English is following her passion. Maybe at home I wouldn’t be running an online business but I am very glad to have been able to do this. I see it more as, you can try what you like and if it doesn’t work, you still have lots of ways to make money, teaching English included. I for one wouldn’t have published books or half the other things I have done here, at home. It would have been too risky. But, yes, many people come here to teach English because it is a means to their end. That’s what work ideally is, afterall, right? Something you do to allow you to live your life as you wish?
[quote=“TwoTongues”]To post back on topic and not involve feces, movies, or boobs (for a change from my usual behavior), I’m a foreigner in Taiwan not teaching English, I am an engineer in a professional industry sent on a 3 to 5 year agreement (not a contract as I was and probably will return to being company staff).
In my experience here and in Thailand, there are only 4 main ways a foreigner works long-term in Asia:
In my experience, one thing that does NOT work well is coming here one way or the other and then trying to find western paying jobs by hunting for them on-site here (or in Thailand). Sure some people do it and luck out, and some people make connections while they’re here and sort-of luck out that the opportunity appears, and maybe in some industries that works more than in others. But anecdotally and personally speaking, it aint easy being green.[/quote]
I got to #4 via #2 and then #3. My wife and I run a lighting co. and we install green energy products. TT is right, being green ain’t easy, especially installing it in this frigging heat!
When you were sent over (or sent away!), were you in the same business or similar, did it come from your #3, or was it a hobby/interest you had all along? And you got a business card?
Get thee to a nunnery! Or at least the women’s forum, I understood this to be a boobless forum (wait for it… wait for it…)
When I came over, I was working for a defense contractor, I worked on microwave data links for an Air Force training range (Top Gun System). Our remote equipment required the use of solar and/or wind generators and battery backup systems, so I did get some experience from my former job. Now I seldom work with batteries and mostly install grid connected systems.
My wife worked for her families electric business, so her contacts were invaluable when we started our own business here.
[quote=“saddletramp”]When I came over, I was working for a defense contractor, I worked on microwave data links for an Air Force training range (Top Gun System). Our remote equipment required the use of solar and/or wind generators and battery backup systems, so I did get some experience from my former job. Now I seldom work with batteries and mostly install grid connected systems.
My wife worked for her families electric business, so her contacts were invaluable when we started our own business here.[/quote]
Talk about a plan coming together, you oughtta call yourself Hannibal.
Same here. I know only a handful of teachers here, mostly working in unis. I think I know only one, maybe two, who work in a bushiban. But then, I don’t get around much any more.
Same here. I know only a handful of teachers here, mostly working in unis. I think I know only one, maybe two, who work in a buxiban.[/quote]
I know what you mean. One tries not to mix with one’s social inferiors. As an owner of a betel-nut plantation, I am wot you would call Landed Gentry.
Same here. I know only a handful of teachers here, mostly working in unis. I think I know only one, maybe two, who work in a buxiban.[/quote]
I know what you mean. One tries not to mix with one’s social inferiors. As an owner of a betel-nut plantation, I am wot you would call Landed Gentry.[/quote]
I know what you mean, and I know that’s how it might sound, but its true – I really don’t know but hardly anybody who’s doing the bushiban gig. There again, maybe its because I also don’t know but hardly anyone under the age of 45 or so.
I ASPIRE to sit at table with the landed gentry, but I’m strictly middle-class-staid. I’ve heard those people get up to all kinds of japes and shennannigans but alas, my low breeding means I’m forever on the outside looking in.
Do you have a website?
Sorry, no website. But my e-mail is bob.lasure_@_gmail.com
Same here. I know only a handful of teachers here, mostly working in unis. I think I know only one, maybe two, who work in a buxiban.[/quote]
I know what you mean. One tries not to mix with one’s social inferiors. As an owner of a betel-nut plantation, I am wot you would call Landed Gentry.[/quote]
Hey, AJ. Thanks. You just gave me a great idea. I could start growing betel nuts on my ranch in AZ, and sell to all of the SE asian and Indian engineers working for Intel. Maybe I could import a few betel babes and open a stall right next to the Chip plant. What are your royalty fees?
How much does a cum analyst get paid?