How do Americans look upon Taiwan?

Question

I think that almost everyone knows Taiwan, as there is a lot of news. However, according to my friends in Taiwan, They told me that people there are quite friendly but politics is a big mess. Because I feel like going to Taiwan to be an English teacher, I hope that you guys can tell me more regarding Taiwan. I want to know more concerning Taiwan.

Answer 1

Everyone is friendly. They LOVE americans here from what I can tell. There should be more american teachers here.

It is different working here. Very different. If you dont like it, dont feel bad about walking away from it. I personally find it rewarding to teach my students and enjoy it, but teaching is a difficult job and is not for everyone. quick advice- if you cant speak chinese and cant draw stick figures and shapes in forms resembling things... learn one of them quickly. I got by my first 2 years with stick figures and now I have an ok understanding of chinese.

Politics is a big mess, unfortunately. BUT if you avoid the areas where rallies occur, dont take sides- (much like you probably already avoid washington DC and city halls in your country), and avoid talking about politics until you know someone well, (Just like you probably do back at home) and just read the english newspapers easily bought at any 7-11 on EVERY 3rd corner here to make sure you wont be bombed in the next while (just like our parents did for 50 years before us), you will probably be fine.
The biggest danger here is traffic, and the lack of order or enforcement of traffic laws here. It is improving incrementally but most likely I am just used to chaos now and see the hidden patterns hiding within the mess.

Its like a denser more chinese version of New York City in my opinion. The media here worship news from New York and imitate everything new york religiously. Thats actually a good thing cause it gives us some cultural commonality to talk about.

I like the restaurants- and the cheapness of stuff, food and clothes. Electronics are identical in price across the whole world from what I have seen- perhaps some lower budget quick break no warranty ones are available for cheaper... I have not tried. I also love that Taiwan is central to so many countries in the pacific rim and asia area for vacations- the only downside about teaching is that your vacation matches up with EVERYONE in taiwans so it gets crowded... sigh. It isnt perfect anywhere is it!

You can try to get a chinese friend when you arrive to help navigate some bumps such as language problems and finding apartments and stuff. If you dont already know somebody that is easily done by teaching adults.

Look at http://www.tealit.com for some job options and LOTS of info tailored to taiwan. Good listings for roommates, scooters, reasonably up-to date jobs are often there...

Check out Dave's ESL cafe for some other options and info- usually its only chain schools on there but they arnt ALL bad... lots of good advice for beginning teachers.
http://www.daveseslcafe.com/

another good source is lonely planet's taiwan forum where you can get more answers and possibly better questions than I can give you here and that you have not thought of yet:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/categories.cfm?catid=19&iCountryId=89

another good idea before you start teaching is to take a month and do a TEFL or TESOL course somewhere- a good site:
http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/index.asp
Some places do it in 2 days but that is a joke. you wont learn much at that but you will get the paper that can help you.

it is best if you have a bachelors degree in anything, especially english or education -or higher qualifications than that. You need that to be legal.
otherwise you take your chinese lessons and hope nobody asks where you are when you are not in class.
Or you get the 2 month tourist visa BEFORE you come and renew it every 2 months until you decide to leave. Its risky to do this one because every different office has its own interpretation of how to decide if you are worthy or not... being legal is much easier and less expensive. But if you want to travel alot this is a good way too but you wont get a very rewarding job this method- you will burn out after a year or two unless you are VERY fortunate.
whenever you enter the country your automatic answer no matter what you are doing is 'i am visiting a friend' until you are legal.

it sounds sketchy i know. It is an unfortunate law still held over to appease teacher unions here. Probably in 10 years they will enforce it and kick us all out but for now they need us.

Answer 2

Short Answer: Americans look upon Taiwan favorably and the Taiwanese look upon Americans favorably. (I'm a Taiwanese American (but a US citizen), so I feel comfortable in saying this).

Long Answer: Taiwan is a special case among countries. It's a hold-out from the time when China was ruled by the capitalist "Nationalist" government of Chiang Kai Shek. Today Taiwan is like a free(er) version of China, and to many people, both American and Chinese, it serves as an example of what China could be like if it were an open society with freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of the electorate to elect any government they see fit.

Taiwanese people are quite friendly, or at least polite, for the most part and they tend to look upon Americans favorably. For the younger generations in Taiwan, it's mostly out of curiosity about America and a genuine interest in American pop-culture. For the older generation like my parents and older (the baby-boom generation and their parents), America is very highly looked upon and given credit for Taiwan remaining free from invasion by the mainland Communists in the 1950's and 60's.

I also worked as an English teacher in Taiwan, and although my experience was different from other Americans working there (I was Chinese and felt no culture-shock), I think you'll find the experience very positive, though you must be ready to adapt to different (not worse, just different), living standards.

I hope this helps, and if you'd like more advice about living and working as a teacher in Taiwan, please email me or ask Matt_of_Asia (another person on Yahoo Answers with lots of experience working and living in Taiwan).

Good luck!

Answer 3

China wants to be a superpower. China doesn't want an uncontrolled, potentially hostile nation on her doorstep. Ergo China wants to take control of Taiwan. On of the roots of the problem lies in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Chang Kai-shek, rescued the treasures from Beijing during the Chinese civil war and thus saved from certain destruction during the Cultural revolution. China wants them back, and she can't have them as things stand. The US wants a western style democracy on the doorstep of China that they can use as a watchtower/strategic position should it ever become needed. For Taiwan to move away from democracy and the principles of democracy is therefore both unwise and foolhardy. Any lurch towards undemocratic government would in the long run only end up in their assimilation back into China following the withdrawl of US carrier protection. Local politics in a fledgling democracy are apt to be noisy and lively - you should be grateful that people care enough to protest and march - when they stop doing that, that's when you have to start worrying!

Answer 4

Well Taiwan is a good place. Good for you to be an English teacher in Taiwan. Here, you get good pay, and prices here aren't too expensive, so think about it.......

Answer 5

I know that those people are very friendly and kind their politics I dont know about it but if you happened to go there and you see something that you cannot cope with then turn around and go back to your home and country, for you know that different countries have different cultures ok, but in the mean time if you like what you see when you get there then my very best wishes to you.

Answer 6

The attached links provide a lot of information about Taiwan.

First is the website of the Taipei Times.
Second is the interactive forumosa.com forum.

You should be able to find out all you want to know with these resources. Good luck!!!

Answer 7

I just came back from there and it is Hot and it is winter.The people were friendly but not many spoke English.The prices were cheap on almost everything except electronic gadgets.I hope this helps some and did I say it was Hot?(lol)