|
Michael A. Turton |
 The new
terminal at Taipei-Taoyuan International Airport. The terminal
opened
a while back after years of delays due to graft and corruption. Most
visitors
to Taiwan arrive at this airport. |
|
What to Bring |
|
| There is no need to know Chinese. People
have lived
here successfully for years without ever learning it.
|
Watsons,
a popular drug store chain found all over the island. |
| Bring several official copies of your college BA diploma and transcripts. These must be stamped by your local Taiwan representative office. Some places now demand them, and photocpies may not be acceptable. If you have an MA/PhD it is a good idea to bring several offical copies of transcripts and diplomas for those as well. You never can tell what kind of job will come down the pike, and the authorities in Taiwan love documents. | 
Rice
fields in central Taiwan. |
| Repeat:
make
sure all your transcripts and degrees are STAMPED BY YOUR LOCAL TAIWAN REP OFFICE. |
 A day market crowded with shoppers. |
| Bring an international
drivers
license, available at your local AAA. It is good for
three
months. Local driver's licenses are a pain to obtain. See my page on Driving
in Taiwan for more details.
|
 A
temple procession crowds an urban street. |
| Bring a thirty or forty cheap 2" X 2" passport photos AND negatives for use in the various IDs and official documents. Photos are an absolute necessity. My paperwork for teaching at a university required a dozen. | 
The
drinks and crackers in a local supermarket. |
 Taiwan
offers some absolutely stunning flowers. |
| Bring a suit or comparable clothing suitable for interviews. |
The
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei, currently under repair. |
| Bring three or four high-quality sweatshirts and sweatpants. The stuff here is low quality and relatively pricey. |  A
betel nut girl watches the road. |
| Bring the Lonely Planet Guide to Taiwan. | 
Tea
plants in Taoyuan. |
| Bring a
couple-three really big, fat, nice
towels. Decent
towels are tough to find here! Also bring some sheets and pillowcases.
Sheets are expensive here.
|
A
pile of daikons makes an inviting display for a vegetable seller. |
| DO NOT bring teaching
materials. Everything you need can be
found at
the English bookstores in Taiwan, or will be supplied to you by your
school. |
 Enjoying lunch at a local beef noodle place. Four appetizers, eggplant, broccoli, boiled peanuts, and tofu, and four bowls of soup and noodles: NT$320. |
 Shoppers
mob a traditional market during Chinese New Year in central
Taiwan. |
 A
thermal imaging system takes temperatures in a large public building.
Welcome
to the world of SARS. |
DO bring some children's videos and other simple
English
video stuff; it may come in handy for intermediate English classes.
|
 A vendor places potstickers, a common breakfast food, in a fryer. |
Quality of underwear, bras and socks here is awful, so bring a generous supply. |
 Sushi displayed in a night market. |
Bringing kids? Read my Kids in
Taiwan page |
 Desserts at a local coffee shop. |
|
 A common sight: neighborhood English schools. The tall white
sign and the
tall black sign each advertize an English school, the former teaching
"International
System American English," whatever that is. |
There is no need to take ESL courses, although they may come in handy if you teach adults. |
 Caught this one as he hung a web over my lawn mower. |
If you can dive don't forget
your licenses and certificates. Taiwan has some superb scuba diving and
there are many dive outfits all over the island. |
 Delectables
crowd a vendor's table at a local night market. Night markets are
one of the island's best traditions. |
No shots are needed right now. Malaria is not a
problem,
so there is no need to take pills. That situation may change in the
future,
so stay tuned. Vitamins are now readily obtainable.
Be sure to get your bank's ABA number so you can send money home through the banking system. As soon as you settle down on the island, get some business cards made at your cheap local printers. Taiwanese love to collect business cards, and a stray card may hit on a wonderful job someday. Practically anything else you could ever want can be found at competitive prices in Taiwan. Computers can be bought dirt cheap and service is often quite good. Clothing can be had cheap as well so don't bring much. Heavy winter clothes are not necessary but a heavy jacket will come in handy in the winter. Digital cameras are available all over the island. |
A
common sight in Taiwan: parts. |
Many expats return with breadmakers and VCRs, but
we have
found that the lifespan of western electronics here is short. In any
case
everything is available here now. There's no need to bring anything. |