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My Taiwan Adventure
Monday, February 21, 2005
I-Lan Exploration
Greetings All,
Well the hunt for a job has officially begun. Today I had my first interview with a school in I-lan. Strangely, I got a good feeling from all of it. I have subsequently learned that it rains about 90 days a year here. After some long careful thought I came up with the realization that that means 1/4 of the year has precipitation! Yikes. Of course the school teacher that I talked to also let me know the beach is 30 minutes from town one way and the mountains 30 minutes another way. Taipei is only 2 hours from here.
I enjoyed the opportunity to sit in on a class of young students. What I'm being considered for is a 21 hour a week position - with Saturday & Sundays free. I'm pleased as this is the range I've been looking for. The wages are also in the mid-range of what I've been told to expect. I will also get my ARC and Health Care legally. All things are looking good. I was also able to speak to a foreigner that works there and assures me that everthing is above board. He is a surfer, which is what he likes most about the area is the Pacific's swells that crash to the beach close to here.
Everybody has told me to not accept the first contract I'm offered. And most of everything about this contract feels right. *snorting* I can justify the one week unpaid training and the 1/2 hour "socialize with the students" time that is also unpaid each day. However, I did the math on all of this. The week will give me time to get settled in a house before teaching. The half hour - ends up being paid at $200 an hour if I apply my "housing bonus" to the hours used. Overall, the offer is pretty decent. Granted I'm not guaranteed the job, but I'm getting ready to make a decision in case I am.
Decided to stay in the hotel one night more to see what happens with my world. Travelling seemed silly today and there is more rain = yipee. I got back to the hotel after the interview only to discover the elevator is out of order. That means I get to walk up 6 flights of stairs on my own. Actually - it means 5 flights of stairs. As we skip 13 in Canada they skip 4 here... superstition reigns.
Got first confirmation that my mail has made it overseas. Yay! I'll try to keep writing then. Not much more to say today - I didn't do much with my day except explore the one school and do some reading/writing. Tomorrow the decision will be made as to whether I get this job... I'll try to get out of town until then, maybe catch the early train to Taipei and wander around for a bit then come back for the night? *shrugs* Will decide tomorrow.
Love and hugs to all.
Well the hunt for a job has officially begun. Today I had my first interview with a school in I-lan. Strangely, I got a good feeling from all of it. I have subsequently learned that it rains about 90 days a year here. After some long careful thought I came up with the realization that that means 1/4 of the year has precipitation! Yikes. Of course the school teacher that I talked to also let me know the beach is 30 minutes from town one way and the mountains 30 minutes another way. Taipei is only 2 hours from here.
I enjoyed the opportunity to sit in on a class of young students. What I'm being considered for is a 21 hour a week position - with Saturday & Sundays free. I'm pleased as this is the range I've been looking for. The wages are also in the mid-range of what I've been told to expect. I will also get my ARC and Health Care legally. All things are looking good. I was also able to speak to a foreigner that works there and assures me that everthing is above board. He is a surfer, which is what he likes most about the area is the Pacific's swells that crash to the beach close to here.
Everybody has told me to not accept the first contract I'm offered. And most of everything about this contract feels right. *snorting* I can justify the one week unpaid training and the 1/2 hour "socialize with the students" time that is also unpaid each day. However, I did the math on all of this. The week will give me time to get settled in a house before teaching. The half hour - ends up being paid at $200 an hour if I apply my "housing bonus" to the hours used. Overall, the offer is pretty decent. Granted I'm not guaranteed the job, but I'm getting ready to make a decision in case I am.
Decided to stay in the hotel one night more to see what happens with my world. Travelling seemed silly today and there is more rain = yipee. I got back to the hotel after the interview only to discover the elevator is out of order. That means I get to walk up 6 flights of stairs on my own. Actually - it means 5 flights of stairs. As we skip 13 in Canada they skip 4 here... superstition reigns.
Got first confirmation that my mail has made it overseas. Yay! I'll try to keep writing then. Not much more to say today - I didn't do much with my day except explore the one school and do some reading/writing. Tomorrow the decision will be made as to whether I get this job... I'll try to get out of town until then, maybe catch the early train to Taipei and wander around for a bit then come back for the night? *shrugs* Will decide tomorrow.
Love and hugs to all.
Posted by T. Destiny in Taiwan at 5:26 PM 
Heya!
dropped you an e-mail to your old hotmail, wasn't sure if your shaw one was still around since you're off-continent. If you don't get it, send me your new one at ubergrande at yahoo dot com.
Cheers, suspiscuous one!
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