Living In Tainan

I've been living in Tainan City for 4 1/2 months so far. It's a beautiful city and since I've been living here the weather has been more tolerable than I had originally assumed. It was difficult to get settled with a job and residency but without the help from my best friend it probably would've been impossible. Such supportive friends are one of the most precious treasures in this dark world. I moved into my tiny apartment upon arrival. Dirty and old, uninhabited for far too many years, I was cold and exhausted. No kitchen, no full-size shower or bath but that was okay because my friend's place was directly above where I had a hot meal and warm conversation.

The people are just as great as I remembered from my first venture to this quaint island. My second day in my new home was when I met my landlord, the sweetest little old Taiwanese lady. She addresses me always as Bai Xiansheng ( Mr. Bentson) and she has not failed yet to greet my friend or me with a hot meal. Between the hot meal and warm, caring conversation I look forward to paying my rent at the end of each month. The two of us are her only tenants in this 5 story building which is just perfect. I do my laundry on the roof and I have a marvelous view of the city, especially at night. That is, with the exception of the gigantic yellow M just to let people know where they can make their bad decision of the day if they so desire.

Living in Taiwan without a two-wheeled mode of transportation is nearly impossible. The streets are not made for walking like in other parts of the world. The side walks are meant for parking cars or scooters. And especially when I was going from interview to interview, taxis soon became too expensive. Cram schools are dime a dozen here and there are essentially two kinds: child cram schools or adult cram schools. I soon learned that I just can't teach children, I can't teach a room full of 6 year old kids who are only trained to recognize repetition. I'm an adult SLA expert, so I need to stick to what I'm good at. I interviewed at several places and I found most places to have rude staff. I was certainly not impressed, especially after working in Germany. I gained a greater appreciation for staff that is cordial and straight forward. There was only one institution that I felt good about and they called me back to meet with a potential client. I had to win over this one client in order to get a contract and I won him over big. More clients soon followed.

I have met many great people there so far but I have also learned that you really have to watch what you say around Taiwanese people because they tend to dissect and analyze the hell out of it. Westerners tend to be much more laid back when it comes to small talk or business talk. They also like to record your teaching and create a competitive atmosphere. It makes the whole experience somewhat uncomfortable but the experience is still incredibly valuable.

Mostly I study and work here but I try to explore the city bit by bit every day. I scoot around to different parts and try to find the most stunning views and mentionable landmarks. There are lots of interesting things about this city like Anping district. Anping is the historical center of Tainan which includes a traditional market place and gorgeous river views, especially at night. I also really enjoy going to the beach and listening to the tide wash in and out. I am the kind of person who needs to be around water, if I am too far inland I just feel awkward. Now isn't the beach season though, so the beach is mostly empty. Actually, its quite amazing how this city can seem so incredibly full then two or three hours later its empty.

The culture here is not nocturnal like many other places that I've been to. I think this is great though. Sometimes, when I am fighting another bout of insomnia, I hop on the puff and scoot around the sleeping city. My puttering little 50cc motor is hardly noticeable even to the local street dogs that sleep with no reservation in the middle of the street. Sometimes I'll walk along the river that is nearby my apartment, the view is beautiful I think, especially with at least two major temples within view. This area is the common hangout for some older locals. They are nice and have invited me to sit with them and drink tea. What friendly people.

I still have much to learn about this place but I've been relatively stunted in my ability to make friends because I'm finding the social aspect to be difficult. There is little concept of free time here or clocking out. Everyone is always so busy so it is hard to arrange time to spend with people that I meet. I've made friends with mostly English people here pretty much because they seem to be the only tolerable foreigners that I have encountered so far. Sure, I've met a few genial Americans here but most Americans that I have met so far really put me off. The few that I did like were only passing through. I love Americans, of course considering that I am one but sometimes Americans that I see abroad can get territorial. One English friend of mine has a local girlfriend who works at a high-dollar liquor store. We went there one night and bought a bottle of wine and had the most in-depth conversation about global politics that I've ever had. Plus he paid for the wine, so it was a pretty good evening.

To put life here in a nutshell, its well paced but utterly constant. It's culture is warm but can quickly turn cold without warning. Life revolves around work but not in an overbearing way like in Germany. Cost of living is low, everything that you could need or want is within a few minutes in any direction, stopping to smell the flowers is a concept that has gone unappreciated. Oh, and Tainan drivers are bad, not crazy or zippy, just bad. They drive slowly and make bad decisions then change those decisions at the worst times. That's my experience so far, I'm sure I will learn much more as I finish up this year.