Settling down doesn’t mean settling for less;
it means finding where you’re meant to be.

Getting Up To Speed

Needless to say, a lot of time has passed since my last post. Life got in the way of my blog creation. Call it a New Year’s resolution if you like (though I’ve never been a fan of the practice), now I’m back to doing some of my own writing. When I logged back on to my blog, I was disappointed to find out that I had lost a lot of earlier draft posts about my travels in Europe as well as South and Central America. I will focus on my life in Taiwan for now and revisit the other adventures when I have time (and have reread my journals).

To catch up, I had been bumming around Taipei, a little unnerved from my attempt to camp in a typhoon and wondering what my next move would be; my plan had been to take my little tent around Taiwan before I departed. I moved to a cheap hostel where I could have a private room and plan my tour of the island. I had a flight to South Korea that left in three months because my original plan had been to go there and pursue my goal of becoming an ESL teacher.

Becoming An ESL Teacher In Taiwan

It wasn’t long before I realized that teaching English in Taiwan was not only a possibility, but it could also be quite lucrative. While the wages for an English teacher in Taiwan are not amazing, the cost of living is VERY reasonable – especially if you live outside of the cities.

I grabbed my laptop and started searching. I had already applied for jobs in South Korea and received many offers, so I knew my resume was fairly decent. It didn’t take long until I got some positive responses.

A Lovely Location

I did a little research into Zhushan before replying and was happy with what I saw. Its name (zhu 竹 + shan 山) roughly translates to bamboo mountain, and the name didn’t disappoint. The town was nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains containing vast tea fields, raging waterfalls, towering bamboo forests, and plenty of areas for hiking and exploring.

One of the major tourist attractions in this area is called the Zhushan Sky Ladder (竹山天梯). With 208 steps spanning 136 meters (446 ft), it is one of the biggest suspension bridges in the world (that has stairs).

I will write more about Zhushan, Nantou County, and the Sky Ladder in separate posts. For now, I will focus on my journey.

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

Mia said I could have the job if I wanted to. I would be working in a kindergarten in the mornings, and then in the afternoons at what is called a buxiban (補習班) or cram school. I told her I would love to take the job, but she was a little wary. She worried that a newly arrived foreigner would be lonely in a small town like Zhushan. So, she invited me to come down and spend a week there to determine if I could survive teaching in such a small place for a full year.

I had no problem with a small town; in fact, I preferred that setting to working in a big city (obviously, Mia wasn’t aware of Duncan—the town I grew up in). I graciously accepted her offer, packed my backpack, and jumped on the train heading south.

Zhushan doesn’t have a train station, so I arrived at a town called Linnei (林內) in the bordering Yunlin County (雲林縣). Coincidentally, that is where my wife was raised and where we live at the time of writing.

Mia was there waiting for me. We loaded my gear into her car, and she drove to Zhushan. She brought me to her house and let me settle into an empty room. She told me she would take me to the school so that I could meet the teacher I was going to replace. Even though she was about to leave on a trip, she assured me that I could stay at her house and provided me with a scooter I could use to drive around town and explore.

I was amazed at the trust she was willing to show someone she had just met. It wouldn’t take me long to discover that this level of generosity and kindness isn’t uncommon in Taiwan.