Now Ye're Talking - to an Irish man in Taiwan

Bounty Hunter

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

What kind of internet speeds do you get?

Just as fast as home or faster usually but imo the difference is always based on where your located and where I am in Taipei is so densly populated I expect good internet but it can be slower down the country for example my inlaws always have a crap connection but aren't exactly the most tech savy.

J Mysterio wrote: »

Do people know anything about Ireland? Where it is, its history and culture?

How did you meet your wife?

Are you super attractive as a Westerner?

Is there the ratio of like 4 men to a woman there or is that different due to the aabsence of the one child rule?

Is there a dole, minimum wage?

I would say on average most people in Taiwan probably know a similar amount to what most people in Ireland would know about Taiwan if say they had never been to Asia. That said I have gotten questions like is that in Europe ? Is that part of England / America ? or if Irish people are native speakers of English?

Met my wife through a friend. She actually tutored English at the time (but we never worked together) which was good as she obviously had a high level of English and tbh I couldn't do what I've seen many foreigners do and sate a girl when you can't be fully sure she actually gets all of what your saying.

It is weird here in terms of attractiveness as there is some ingrained racism here where people do consider white people more attractive and the more tanned (going all the way back to farmers / construction workers etc being tanned while the rich folk weren't) being considered somewhat more attractive, and yes black people get the negative end of that too. They like white folk also I guess are different to the norm and that can be considered more attractive too. Plus they are also expected to be wealthy enough (you generally don't see a poor white non backpacker in Taiwan) so despite what girls might say that will make someone hotter. So I guess white guys can have it pretty good.

I don't think there is much of a ratio difference here because there weren't restrictions but the first born child can often still be a little prince in wealthy families.

There is a minimum wage and it is really low imo but they don't pay foreigners anywhere near that (i'd say the avg foreigner makes at least 4 times minimum wage).

jaykhunter wrote: »

Hey BH! Are there any day to day things we'd take for granted in Ireland but you can't in TW, or otherwise? Eg drinking tap water, plumbing?

Also can u explain internet shopping re: amazon/7-11? Is it just you collect it from 7-11s and everything else is the same? Are there crazy import charges?

As a Westerner are you treated differently when you're shopping/going out to eat (with/without the missus)?

Hey Brah, Water is a good example actually, I just bought a big box of water bottles from Carrefour cos thats exactly what we do. That said from my travels I've noticed that isn't really all that uncommon and Ireland is actually one of the only places where tap water is generally always considered all good. I guess most things from Ireland you can still get here but maybe you'd have to go to specialty stores or foreign supermarkets. There are actually a good lot of benefits too though like how when we moved back here after living in Germany we realized that stores and restaurants are always open late in Taipei, and when we I moved here initially it was nice to be in a place where Crime essentially is not a thing you see.

Yeah essentially everyone gets everything shipped through 7/11, Family Mart, Hi Life etc instead of from their home and yep there is no Taiwanese Amazon but if you did use actual amazon you would get screwed on charges. My wife for example bough and sold a load of books a few days ago on a taiwanese site and popped into Hi Life to have then sent off / to collect them when they were delivered. those shops are on every block of every street and always open 24/7 and really surve a lot of purposes for example I actually just payed my internet bill at the same store my wife sent her books from.

With regards being treated differently, people are really nice here so maybe if the missus wasn't around they would make an effort and try to speak whatever English they could to you etc but depending on where you go you might have little kids staring at you because well your not normal to them and they are innocently curious.

the_syco wrote: »

Has there been any tension since Trumps phone call to Taiwans president? Or how was that taken by Taiwans people? Do they think he's using them as a pawn?

People talked about the Trump call and obviously it was big news but I dunno it seems more like it was a side attraction not being taken too seriously much like I would imagine the common persons opinion of Trump in general here. Obviously the politicians would take it more seriously as they are playing that game of being stuck between China and their own issues there and China / Trump but Taiwan isn't going to rock them boats.

dwayneshintzy

Are you a qualified teacher? If so, have you considered the international school route? If not, have you looked into any PGDEs?

Bounty Hunter

I am a qualified teacher to Teach English as a Foreign language but that cert is the only one I have (outside of the Media related degree I have from another life) because I actually left a PGCE course before as I had appendicitis (but didn't know what it was at first) and missed too much placement time. That said I am perfectly qualified for what I am doing at the moment and it is a 9-5 type, monday to friday which isn't normal for hourly paid English teachers here who normally only do around 20 hours a week teaching kids after they have gone to school in a 2nd school.

dwayneshintzy

Ah sorry I meant for qualified teacher status, not that I thought you were teaching without any qualifications at all. I'm in Asia myself (in another "China but not really" country) and teaching in a primary school. I've only got a CELTA, but have applied to join a part-time PGDE.

Have you had to do interviews for prospective kindergartent students? I've done some (interviewing 2 year olds), and it's interesting to say the least......

Bounty Hunter

I remember doing a few of those for new kids joining up when I taught in an International Kindergarten in Shanghai, I remember one where I think the kid was 4 and he was smart but the dad was sitting in too and kept telling me things like how the kid wants to be an architecht when he played with some blocks and that he would go to America to study when he's older when he read a book. Whatever you say rich dude your kid can handle listening to teacher talk about animals, the weather and how to wash his hands so he's all good to me.

I find it weird when parents or schools ask you to name (just their English name obviously) their kids.

dwayneshintzy

What are some of the best "English" names you've had?

Blogman is the best I've come across. Also had an o2, Krell, Kennex and assorted other ridiculous ones.

Bounty Hunter

I always remember when I taught 3 brothers called Handsome, Dragon & Frank... Frank has never sounded like a lamer name.

pilly

Bounty Hunter wrote:

I find it weird when parents or schools ask you to name (just their English name obviously) their kids.

How do you mean name them? Pick a random English name or translate their own name?

Bounty Hunter

just pick a name for them although if im asked I usually do something like the later anyway and ask their chinese name and then find a similar sounding English name.

John_D80

If you and your wife decide to have a family, would you rather raise your children in Taiwan or Ireland?

Have you ever been the victim of Racism/xenophobia in Taiwan?

Are there any items of food that would usually appear on the menu of a chinese restaurant in Ireland that are actually chinese cuisine, or resemble it?

Bounty Hunter

John_D80 wrote: »

If you and your wife decide to have a family, would you rather raise your children in Taiwan or Ireland?

Have you ever been the victim of Racism/xenophobia in Taiwan?

Are there any items of food that would usually appear on the menu of a chinese restaurant in Ireland that are actually chinese cuisine, or resemble it?

I wrote a really long answer to this then my internet crapped out on me... so let's so how it goes this time...

We probably will have a family and although we both like the idea of raising a kid in Ireland for many reasons inc the good environment and education it might make more sense for us to be in Taiwan. Probably more job opportunities for the two of us (and tbh money is important when raising a kid) plus I'd imagine the kid would have a better chance of being bi-lingual growing up in a mostly English speaking home in a Chinese speaking country than the alternative and that is already a massive leg up for a kid when they grow up.

In Taiwan it is often the other way round with people being really nice and going out of their way to help you but thats not to say there isn't racism there is just it's less prevalent perhaps and often it's not against white males (although it does happen, usually by middle aged Taiwanese men who are jealous of the foreigner).

In China it can be odd with them making the assumption that every white dude is Rich. I remember cycling in Shanghai with the missus and stopping to get our tires pumped and some random guy just walking up to her and saying "why doesen't he buy you a car?" (in chinese I could understand) umm thank you random stranger who doesn't even know what her relationship is to me

I went into more detail on the food thing before (the internet crapped out on me) but I guess youd get the same things but under different names here and they might only be parts of a whole dish at home but you order more individual dishes than whole meals here and then share.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Is there a lot of exposure to Chinese media in Taiwan, in the same way that we in Ireland get a lot of English media - or is it more homogenous (given Taiwan's much larger population than ours)?

Bounty Hunter

There is both but i'd say in general the latter wins out with it being Taiwanese media at it's core but you get some Chinese and some western channels too.

Actually just with the comparisons it's worth pointing out that Taiwan is half the size of Ireland, a huge percentage of it is covered with big mountains but still there is 23.5m people here. Lots of nature, hiking, lakes, seaside etc but still very built up cities.

irish_goat

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

just pick a name for them although if im asked I usually do something like the later anyway and ask their chinese name and then find a similar sounding English name.

Start a thread in After Hours and we'll help name the next batch.

Lucena

I taught some Chinese students a long time ago, they chose very strange English-language names sometimes. The only two I can remember now are 'Washington' and 'Green'!

Bounty Hunter

irish_goat wrote: »

Start a thread in After Hours and we'll help name the next batch.

Tbh they are generally named before they get to me. Sounds bad but I always remember back to seeing Chinese staff in places like McDonalds as a kid, seeing them with name tags like Pat or Tom and thinking, that's not your name and now im giving them those names.

Lucena wrote: »

I taught some Chinese students a long time ago, they chose very strange English-language names sometimes. The only two I can remember now are 'Washington' and 'Green'!

they sound about right. some go through several names however

Gloomtastic!

What's wrong with a Taiwanese Christmas?

Bounty Hunter

Well there are no days off from work for one thing so it essentially just serves to make me crave the Chinese New Year break even more and feel like I need a holiday for an extra month.

Mr Whom

Is it true you can buy machetes made from the shells the Chinese fired at the islands in the 1950s?

Bounty Hunter

Mr Whom wrote: »

Is it true you can buy machetes made from the shells the Chinese fired at the islands in the 1950s?

I've never seen nor heard of that... but that doesn't mean it's not true now.

maninasia

It's true and they are not machetes but high quality kitchen knives made from the high grade steel. But of course most of the shells have been collected and sold off a long time ago.

mahamageehad

Myself and the german OH are heading to China for two weeks in April. We're not hitting Taiwan, we're going to be in Guangzhou and Sanya, but we'll be finishing up in Shanghai. Never been in Asia before.

Are there any unusual customs or things that we should know about? For example, the fact that you can't flush toilet paper in most places in the Caribbean was a bit of a culture shock to me. Or anything we should avoid in case we accidentally upset someone? I know in Japan for example tipping is considered really rude! Any tips on must-see things or unusual food in Shanghai?

Also, we're heading over for a wedding, a German friend is marrying a Chinese girl. They live in Shanghai. Did you get married in Taiwan? If so, how was it different to an Irish wedding! (We have no idea what to expect although Chinese wedding customs may be different to Taiwan!)

pclancy

Hi BH,

I'm lucky enough to have been to Taiwan twice already for work, and visited Taipei, Kaohsiung and Changhua. I loved the place, so much cleaner then mainland China, lovely scenery and I found the Taiwanese very friendly and jovial. Walking around parks in Taipei I had people smile and say good morning, never experienced that in the mainland!

Anyway, i'm heading over there again mid March, and wondering where you'd recommend for some craic on Paddys night? I googled some Irish bars last time but didnt manage to make it to them.

I live in New Zealand now and was very surprised to learn recently that there are connections between the native Taiwanese and the New Zealand Maori, a long time ago it looks like the native Taiwanese made the mammouth journey down here and there are lots of lingusitic and cultural similarities.

Rekop dog

Any good stories? Not the most engaging AMA!

Wilmoth Houdini

Do you think Taiwanese parents put a lot of pressure on kids regarding education? I was told by another teacher that kids as young as 6 were being forced to do private English lessons in their free time.

How is facial hair viewed in Taiwan? The same person told me it can be viewed as "dirty", or linked with criminality. I thought that was interesting as many historical figures/legends in Asia are depicted as having class goatees and mustaches altogether.

helimachoptor

Rekop dog wrote: »

Any good stories? Not the most engaging AMA!

Feel free to volunteer yourself for the next one..

Bounty Hunter

pclancy wrote: »

Hi BH,

I'm lucky enough to have been to Taiwan twice already for work, and visited Taipei, Kaohsiung and Changhua. I loved the place, so much cleaner then mainland China, lovely scenery and I found the Taiwanese very friendly and jovial. Walking around parks in Taipei I had people smile and say good morning, never experienced that in the mainland!

Anyway, i'm heading over there again mid March, and wondering where you'd recommend for some craic on Paddys night? I googled some Irish bars last time but didnt manage to make it to them.

I live in New Zealand now and was very surprised to learn recently that there are connections between the native Taiwanese and the New Zealand Maori, a long time ago it looks like the native Taiwanese made the mammouth journey down here and there are lots of lingusitic and cultural similarities.

St Patrick's day is not a big thing here really. If you just wanna hang with other foreigners that night and not neccesarily with TW peolpe (even though certain groups of young Taiwanese - often mostly girls - willing be hitting up these clubs etc anyway) then you will be fine but in general I wouldn't expect there to be too many big nights promoted for that night especially if it does not fall on a weekend, this year being a Friday night though might mean you will probably be fine.

I don't drink as much as I used to but Luxy has been one of the big clubs the whole time I've been here and I always remember people talking about how Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre or Armin van Buuren, Steve Aaoki, Flo Rida etc have all been there/ I heard it was closing but after googling I think it's been rebranded as Omni though and that it has kinda been replaced by a place called Myst which has an indoor waterfall in it or some such. Big nights these kinda places can be packed and are in the pretty built up areas of Taipei (same goes for Babe 18, another similar club but maybe less fancy).

There are of course a couple of Irish bar type places but they aren't huge. Then again if thats what you want on March 17th I guess something like The James Joyce Bar or The Speakeasy would be the way to go.

mahamageehad wrote: »

Myself and the german OH are heading to China for two weeks in April. We're not hitting Taiwan, we're going to be in Guangzhou and Sanya, but we'll be finishing up in Shanghai. Never been in Asia before.

Are there any unusual customs or things that we should know about? For example, the fact that you can't flush toilet paper in most places in the Caribbean was a bit of a culture shock to me. Or anything we should avoid in case we accidentally upset someone? I know in Japan for example tipping is considered really rude! Any tips on must-see things or unusual food in Shanghai?

Also, we're heading over for a wedding, a German friend is marrying a Chinese girl. They live in Shanghai. Did you get married in Taiwan? If so, how was it different to an Irish wedding! (We have no idea what to expect although Chinese wedding customs may be different to Taiwan!)

With regards weddings I've been to some in Shanghai as well as in Taiwan and they are similar but not at all similar to an Irish one and I would know as I had both an Irish one and a Taiwanese one.

First thing with a TW / Shanghainese one is that they have two. One for the brides side of the family (engagement party) and one for the Grooms's (The Wedding) and that there is not really a marriage ceremony as they become officially married at the registry office. So no "I do"'s etc unless the bride specifically sets up a situation like that based off movies she has seen and wants to recreate. Instead it is a very big dinner / photo opportunity for people attending and for the couple themselves as they essentially announce themselves to the world officially as a married couple.

Usually you will be at a 10 person table and the meal will be on going during the activities which include, The couple's arrival, the bride changing into usually 2 other (so 3 in total) wedding dresses for different times in the wedding, (sometimes the man will also change so as to match her) on stage activities where people are called up to take part in things lie single femal friends for the bouquet... or male friends for the Broccoli!

This is becoming more common but I didn't see it at the first few weddings I went to in Shanghai... it is essentially the Bouquet for men except with a big piece of broccoli attacted to several ribbons only one of which is properly tied onto it and thus when the soon to be married tells everyone to pull their ribbon only one guy will get the Broccoli. There are lots of other games that they may choose to include or not include and the couple will pose for pictures with every guest as they leave too. They do this while giving out candy and you will also get wedding cake to take home among other things. That said most of the actually traditions / ceremonies might actually take place in the home of the bride before hand as it is there you get things like the groom to be kneeling in fron of the knee inlaws asking to be able to marry their daughter and promising to take care of her etc.

I'd say you will be fine with regards odd customs as people know your foreigners and not expected to know any of those things but there are plenty like don't give someonea gift of a clock as it symbolises their time is up (death) and don't write their name in red as it symbolizes similar (comes from names on a list to be executed or something), If eating with chopsticks don't leave them standing up in a bowl as they look like how incense does when burning in a temple.

The toilet thing can be an issue too as often you will be in place where they have the hole in the ground type toilet instead of a proper western style seat deal. That said if you go to the majority of nice places you should be fine on that account. And yeah you will see signs in some places saying not to flush tolilet paper but again that isn't in all places cos it is a bit nasty to have a bin of sh*tty toilet paper so go somewhere nice and (sounds bad to equate nice to this but in the case) it'll be more westernized.

Rekop dog wrote: »

Any good stories? Not the most engaging AMA!

Dunno AMA's tend to be more about the questions imo any question you ask I will try my best to answer with detail and with my own personal story / opinion on the matter but I don't find the any good stories question to... a screw it, here is one about my first Chinese New year in Taiwan.

I went camping with an American Girl, Guy and a Taiwanese guy who clearly had a thing for our female friend but was like 10 years older than her and she was kinda using him as a free tour guide.

The notion of Taiwanese people being warm and welcoming is very true as shown by this trip because we were travelling along the cost and as it got towards the evening we would stop and look for a place to camp / stay. The first place we stopped was at a Police station to ask where would be best to go. They took us across the road to an elementary school, opened up the enclosed outside play area and said to set our tents up there that it was warm and safe and that if we walked 20 feet in one direction we would actually be by the sea. They said that it would usually cost 200nt to stay there but we could stay for free if we came back to the police station after closing (station is still open but people have to go to the front desk first before the get let into the station proper after a certain time) to have a few drinks with them.

We bought a few drinks in 7/11 including a small bottle of Kaoliang which is the best known Taiwanese liquor and is 58%. Our Taiwanese friend said that is what the cops would drink as they were aborigine / native Taiwanese and tended to be the hardest drinkers in Taiwan. My main mistake was another custom I didn't mention earlier (and probably should have) if you clink shot glasses together here when drinking (they will say Ganbay) it is considered a challenge to knock back the shots. The head policeman apparently took this seriously when I did it every time without knowing and when we had finished that small bottle another policeman returned from the convenience store (we didn't even notice him going) with 2 massive bottles of the stuff as their boss man just smiled and opened the first of them. That was one of those nights where their were spots of missing memory the next day but I have pictures of me in my old Munster Jersey wearing a cops hat while sitting on his lap in a cell clinking glasses.

The next night we attempted to do the same with local Firemen and did end up staying in the excess dorms for a small fee but it was not quite the same. Or Taiwanese friend / guide did tell us that next day that the police chief hadn't drank in 10 years before we rolled in but I've a feeling that was bull.

Wilmoth Houdini wrote: »

Do you think Taiwanese parents put a lot of pressure on kids regarding education? I was told by another teacher that kids as young as 6 were being forced to do private English lessons in their free time.

How is facial hair viewed in Taiwan? The same person told me it can be viewed as "dirty", or linked with criminality. I thought that was interesting as many historical figures/legends in Asia are depicted as having class goatees and mustaches altogether.

There is huge pressure on kids here although I guess they consider that to be the norm. I said I work in a kindergarten (which is technically illegal) but the majority of English teachers here in TW work in what are called Buxibans which are essentially the kids second school after they finish their normal school. These schools obviously offer English lessons and in many cases offer classes for supervised / assisted homework completion. Still though that means that most kids have 2 schools most days before you even take into account any extra curricular activities like sport (not as big a thing here) or a musical instrument. Plus extra things get added on top for example only yesterday did my school have their speech contest where kids had memorized long speeches about famous people or stories and had to retell them to the audience of parents.

Kids don't have as much free time here to be honest but then again you see in America the talk of Asian Tiger Moms who push their kids to succeed in a similar manner.

Facial hair is an interesting thing in Taiwan. Perhaps in the past it may have been considered as dirty but now I would say it is considered a normal enough thing especially for foreigners to have (that said I primarily mean now business foreigners. Not unusual at all for a school like mine with 3 male teachers to have 2 or 3 of them with beards. Having said that in my first school I did have a really big beard at the time and remember my manager at the time asking me if I was Muslim because of it! ha

Taiwanese people don't usually have much facial hair (or the girls don't usually have to shave their legs much for example) and it is a lot harder for them to grow / have good sized beards so less do try and you usually get the smooth babyfaced Asian look. Men here are often considered a little bit effeminate too.

What can be linked with Criminality in peoples minds is Tattoos so generally people keep them hidden especially in term of at work. That said things like those are becoming more common here so people react less.

Actually one interesting thing here in relation to hair and tattoos is that some women get Tattoos of their eye brows because they are not happy with their natural ones and the way it is done you often would not notice they are not natural. Find it kinda odd myself but whatever they want once it doesn't look too obvious and odd.

Bounty Hunter

This seems like it is winding down so I thought i'd throw out some stuff that wasn't asked about... maybe I should have done that anyway given people might not necessarily know everything about Taiwan / opportunities here for Irish people but I was just answering what was asked and pretty much would have as the name said answered anything.


Scholarship available to Irish people to study Chinese in Taiwan

First off if anyone was actually interested in studying Chinese a good lot of people from Ireland actually get grants to come to Taiwan. For example I was actually deemed eligable for one. Okay it was only for 3months (usually they are for longer 6mths - a year of a scholarship program for example) and I am probably an unusual situation applying while already here but I hadn't the best college results and was already 30 at the time so consider yourself eligible unless there are extenuating circumstances.

It is called the Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Schoarship
http://english.moe.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=6777&CtNode=10634&mp=1

I'm sure there is an updated version but here is the one I was working off when I applied via the TaiwanIrelandAssociation
https://sites.google.com/site/taiwanirelandassociation/announcements/page-30


Working as an English teacher for a year or 2

Taiwan is a popular destination for this because it is a very different and unique experience and you can have a lot of fun due to the fact you earn a lot compared to cost of living and jobs are a plenty but the hours are not too much. I would reccomend it to anyone especially if you are struggling to get something at home. It is always good to broaden ones horizons and although it isn't the life I am leading you can party and hook up with many women (more easily than at home i'd imagine).

average hourly wage for an English teacher might be 600twd an hour but when you think you can get a cinema ticket for 200, dinner for another 200 and the bus / MRT to the cinema would probably cost less than 40twd return then you can kinda see the appeal. There are big companies that will take you on after a skype interview like Hess or Shane but they might not always have the best reputation (that said it is good to have something lined up) and you can find better if you are actually here first, I'd recommend doing a CELT course beforehand.

Obviously I met my missus and stayed but Taiwan would be a great place to spend just a year or 2 before moving on or back home.

Why is teaching Kindergarten illegal?

It's an odd thing and tbh it's not an issue anyway as it's a law that even the lawmakers turn a blind eye to about not having foreigners teaching kids under a certain age. That said I used to work in another school who actually offered to parents that you could watch from your office a stream of the kids class and in that class I was teaching government officials kidsm so you can see what I mean about it not being really enforced. Most schools will register you as working under their buxiban etc (where they teach older kids) and if you do work Kindie you would be expected to hightail it out of that part of the school should there ever be inspectors.

Was going to cover more topics here but it's 1.30am (interestingly the clicks don't go forward or back here due to daylight savings so the time difference to Ireland may change but only when the time in Ireland changes) and i've work in the morning so i'll leave it at that unless there are more questions before this thing is locked. Thanks folks

Boards.ie: Niamh

Thanks Bounty Hunter, that was really informative and good of you to add the helpful links at the end. Be sure to let us know when any adventurous Boardsies knock on your front door looking for somewhere to stay in Taiwan after you've enticed them over :pac:

I'm closing this one up now folks, a new AMA will be coming soon