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Ghost Month

I woke to the smell of food combined with burning incense because today is August 3, 2016, the first day of Ghost month in Taiwan.  This blog chronicles my life as an English teacher and gives information about working in Taiwan, but mostly I will describe the culture. The reason I am able to learn so  much about the culture is because my son and I are living in the home of  our employers and have daily access to their culture.  My next four posts are about ghost month and after that I will backdate my post to May 10,2016, my exit date from Vietnam and my arrival date in Taiwan.  Then the posts will give information about getting a teaching job in Taiwan, but I since I happened to be starting this post on the first day of Ghost Month, I am going to go with that.  After all, what could be more interesting?  Who are the ghosts?  They are the dead who have no living relatives to provide them with their daily food and water.  During ghost month...
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Backdate to Taiwan arrival day

Culture shock!!!!  After spending 6 months in Vietnam, I am in culture shock for two reasons.  The first thing I notice is how clean Taiwan is and I think it must be the cleanest place on the planet. Taipei is modern and best of all, pedestrians have the right of way. There are signs posted with this statement. My second observation is that people come in all shapes and sizes.  The Vietnamese all look the same in body shape and size  Everyone is very short and thin.  It is very rare to see any hint on weight on the Vietnamese or any height over 5'4", even in the men. Even though I am myself from from Sacramento,, California USA, the most culturally diverse county on the earth, my brain has acclimated to Vietnam and the varieties in people  feel chaotic to me, unsettling, confusing. Of course, everyone here has black hair and eyes, so the only variety is in height and weight.  I can't imagine what it is like for a newcomer to the United States with the ...
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How to find a job in Taiwan or Vietnam

My plan was to walk down the street and knock on doors as a more efficient method of finding a job.  This works in Vietnam but not in Taiwan.  Your bet for finding a job in Vietnam is to employ this method. You can read my Water Bottle Chronicles to get a feel for the English education in Vietnam.  Basically, they are desperate for teachers.  My first Vietnamese job was obtained while in the USA by Skype interview and then there was the whole stress and expense of driving all over the state of California to apostalize and authenticate documents in order to obtain a Vietnamese work permit.  I taught at a place for four months and though I submitted my documents the first day I was there, I never did see the work permit. Hence, it is not actually needed.  I soon discovered that most schools in Vietnam prefer to pay cash, and then have you do what is called a Visa Run every three months.  This is where you cross the border and cross back again. The first ...
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