(Untitled)

[omorashi]

So, I'm on the ground, and have been for about two and a half hours. I'm currently wandering the streets, as my employer failed to make a proper reservation at the hotel, and there will be no vacancies until noon. I began my wanderings about an hour ago. It's cold out there! Cold and desolate, it being the very early morning and all. I expect

Comments

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[pootski]

Thanks. But I guess when I said "why don't you make a post about how this all came about", I meant things like "Since when did you get a job in Taiwan?" "Are you moving there just for a job or a special someone?" and "Did you graduate from law school?", not to mention "How did you get this job and what are you going to be doing?" It sounds like something very cool, at any rate.

Please correct your post and resubmit. Your work won't be marked late. (In all seriousness, assuming I'm not the last person in the world to find out about this, I'm sure more people would like to know some details, no?)

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[ubermoron]

YES, LIKE ME

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[omorashi]

PLZ SEE ABOVE.

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[omorashi]

I MEAN BELOW.

[incompatible]

I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO AND YOU DIDN'T LISTEN AND NOW YOU'RE REDUCED TO DRAWING BANNED CARTOON ANIMALS IN DINERS.

I'm so mad at you.

Re:

[omorashi]

I accidentally ordered beef soup. The situation was resolved not with stick drawings, but by giving myself index-finger horns and going "moo."

[yellowman]

i done been thinking about applying for the JET program. i chose japan specifically because i like the idea of being able to save money and return with it rather than being forced to spend it all while in the country (SUPAH LOW PRICES, SUPAH LOW WAGES IN PRC). i dunner about taiwan though. isn't taipei DIRTY!?!?

[omorashi]

I rejected the PRC for the same reasons. And also the huge class sizes.

If you want to save some extra $$$, it looks like S. Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are your best bets. The problem with Korea, though, is that just about everyone who goes there to work winds up with a bad experience. As for Taiwan, Taipei isn't very dirty, especially in comparison with a typical large American city. The smog can be particularly grievous if you happen to be standing next to a horde of scooters waiting for the light to turn green. All in all, it's not bad, and the rent is dirt cheap compared to a city like Tokyo. And an extra bonus is that the people are so goddamned friendly and helpful, dammit.

[yellowman]

that's interesting - that the rent is cheap in taipei. i'd have imagined it similar to seoul or tokyo. another consideration of mine, however, is inclination to learn the language. spoken japanese, from what i've experienced, seems feasible for me (in romanji form it's pretty phonetic and there aren't too many strange sounds aside from the occasional 'tsu') but i can't really imagine getting my tongue around chinese in any of its forms.

i've one further question - from which source did you end up finding a job?

anyway, keep a brutha updated!

[omorashi]

I'm paying the equivalent of about $270 (US) for a single apartment in the heart of one of Taipei's several downtowns. Admittedly, not the most pricey of the neighborhoods, and admittedly, it's no palace (there's no full kitchen -- but that's actually nearly universal for studio apartments), and admittedly, it's basically an add-on structure on the roof of a 12-storey building (the locals tend not to like these structurs, but for me, as a stupid foreigner, it was a bonus). If you want shared accomodations you can find something for significantly cheaper (and you'll probably get a kitchen that way, but you won't really need one in this town