Forts

Enough It is a wise man who knows when to stand and fight and when to walk away and after after much painful deliberating we have decided to end our stay in Taiwan and at the same time our ESL careers. Ironically, just as my job is getting busy, Melissa's is shutting down for winter break. Coupled with the fact that neither of us will earn a dime over the 10 days of Chinese New Year and she has a tax bill looming we've decided to cut our losses, sell up and head for home. The enjoyment has been slowly ebbing away and it would take months to straighten out our finances if we remained. We have both given notice at our respective jobs and have booked flights out of here in the second week ... read more

Do we or don't we? Despite the initial good feelings about Wei-Wei's place we are far more cautious about signing a contract than we were with Martin's which came about through a combination of us running out of time and good old fashioned laziness. There are things we need to check like water pressure, bus times and journey lengths, and we are going to try and haggle a bit. All in all we end up visiting three times before finally signing on the dotted line. Wei-Wei refuses to budge on the rent but does agree to us only putting down a one month security deposit which is great news. Martin squeezed us for two months, one of which we forfeited as soon as we decided not to complete the contract. Let's move. Wei-Wei's place is ... read more

Since we took the decision to move, the apartment has really become a place neither of us enjoy spending a lot of time in. I email Martin and tell him we're not going to stay. He phones up in a panic and starts offering discounts but it's too late for that. Since we moved in, the entire street has turned into one noisy construction site, rudely interrupting our lives for 13 hours each and every day. They are extending the MRT westwards, under the river, to Sanchong. Added to that is the refurbishment taking place next door and if that wasn't bad enough, the apartment has a mosquito problem. The previous tenants were 3 American lads and from a look at the walls in the bedrooms they just killed them wherever they saw them. I've tried ... read more

2 month update It's been two months since I arrived in Taiwan and I have to say I'm satisfied with the way things are going. I've got a good job lined up even if I haven't started it yet and we've found a new, much cheaper apartment that we're going to move to in the middle of next month. More on this another time. My visa issues appear to be resolved and I'm just waiting now to pick up my ARC. Frustrating though it is being skint, I really shouldn't complain. This Sunday we're at a bit of a loss. We're trying to watch our pennies but neither of us have left the city since we arrived here back in August and we could do with a day out. A swift bit of googling tells us ... read more

Ximending Ximending (isn't that a nice word to say, go on say it again)is one of the last areas of the city we have left to explore. It's traditionally been the place to go to watch a film as it has so many cinemas. From what I've read it was hit pretty hard by the opening of the more modern cinemas and shopping malls in the east of the city so the government pedestrianised the main shopping area which has completely revitalised it. It now has over twenty cinemas and is the shopping hub of Western Taipei. It's predominately a young area with gaggles of teenagers perusing fashionable clothing shops and mandopop bands performing live in the street. There are also a million and one different places to eat whether you want traditional Chinese, Japanese or ... read more

We get a cat I'm not an enormous fan of cats. I used to really like them, well, English cats at any rate. Then I met Melissa's cat Nica. In Korea I had a smallish flat which did me just fine. Then when Melissa moved in her cat came as part of the package. No problem I thought, cat's appreciate personal space as much as I do. We'll get along fine. Sadly this wasn't the case. Within a couple of weeks Nica's behaviour was ranking me out. She'd lie in wait for me to go for a pee in the middle of the night and then attack my feet as I walked, bleary eyed past her hiding place. Her fur would get everywhere and she'd quite often just relieve herself in the middle of the ... read more

We only have a few more days before we have to move out the flat. I still don't have a job so it's a risky process. I'm reluctant to commit to anywhere too far from the centre as I don't want to be lumbered with a killer commute. Melissa has found a few ads and we set up some viewings. First up is one in Nangang. This is about as far east as you can get so I'm already unenthused. The apartment is in a beautiful modern tower with a gym, pool and 24 hour security. It's got two smallish bedrooms and a view over the river. On the flip side it's quite expensive, it's completely unfurnished (not even a washing machine) and it's at least a 20 minute walk to the MRT. As neither of ... read more

Knocking on doors I've decided that the only way I'm going to find a job is by knocking on doors. With every job on Tealit receiving dozens of applications from better qualified, better looking people with North American accents I need to up my game a bit. I knock up a three page "brochure" about moi which consists of a cover letter, my cv and a letter of recommendation from my last school in Korea. I debate the merits of including the letter as it looks like a forgery but decide to throw it in anyway. Korea has hagwons, England has after-school clubs and Taiwan has buxibans. I need buxibans and lots of them. A quick search on google tells me that Nanyang street near Taipei Main Station is a good place to start. It's ... read more