English Teacher in Taiwan
Rural Luodong & Yilan County
September 2003 – December 2004
Background
In June of 2003, I accepted my first ever TEFL teaching job
in Taipei, Taiwan with Jump Start English. They picked me up at the airport in
a black 500 class Mercedes and took me to a hotel, where I slept most of the
day due to jet lag. It was summer in Taiwan, meaning hot, humid and
sticky.
I started my TEFL career by doing a summer camp in Taipei.
When I started a month later with regular classes, the school wanted us to
teach diphthongs and inflected endings, complicated Grammar concepts, to 3 and
4-year-olds. Needless to say, it did not go so well and I decided to move on to
another school.
I found a language centre, called Koala Educational
Institute, in Luodong, a couple of hours away from Taipei by train, on the East
coast of Taiwan. I relocated to Luodong in October of 2003 and taught ESL to
Primary school children and Kindergarten kids early mornings and
evenings.
During the day, I either took my scooter, or my bicycle, and
explored Luodong. I had a 50 cc Honda scooter, with which I travelled everywhere,
even Ilan mountains and to Taipei, taking pics along the coastal drive.
I made good friends with Chris from New Zealand, Elma from
South Africa and Sandy from Romania, and we travelled all across the East Coast
on our times off, sometimes by train, other times with our scooters.
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| Rural scenery - Luodong |
In July of 2004, I was one of 5 expat cyclists from 5
different nationalities to cycle approximately 1000 km around the coast of
Taiwan, in a circular route from Taipei back to Taipei. We raised funds
for the Red Heart Foundation of Taiwan.
The tour took about 11 days across the industrial coastal
Western plane of Taiwan and back to Taipei across mountain ranges of eastern
Taiwan. I had Bronchitis for most of the tour, but managed to complete the long
ride.
I changed teaching jobs at the end of the tour and worked
for Cathy’s American school as an ESL teacher for High school kids, where I
stayed until December of 2004, before I accepted a TEFL position in Zhongshan
on the Chinese mainland.
Taiwan is indeed one of the highlights of my TEFL career
across many countries. It is ‘little America’ on a tropical island, with all
the modern amenities, yet with a natural beauty that was ripe for exploration.
I particularly enjoyed my scooter rides and all my visits to natural hot
springs.
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On the Taiwan cycling tour - July 2004
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About Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state
in East Asia. Its neighbours include China (officially the People's Republic of
China, PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the
south.
Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of
the United Nations, and also possesses the largest economy of any state outside
of the UN. Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech
industry plays a key role in the global economy.
It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press,
healthcare, public education, economic freedom, and human development.
The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most highly
educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its
citizens holding a tertiary education degree (Wikipedia).
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| Rural estates - Luodong |
About Luodong
Luodong Township is an urban township in the central part of
Yilan County, Taiwan and is located on Lanyang Plain. It is the smallest
township in the county.
Its name derives from the Kavalan word rutung, meaning "monkey", referring to a large population of monkeys there a half-century ago.
It covers an area of 11.34 square kilometres and as of 2014,
it had a population of about 72,000 people.
It has a large, landscaped sports park and a large night
market - Luodong Night Market - containing many varieties of local food, such
as scallion pancakes.
Luodong has an excellent natural environment, and is
close to both urban Yilan and Su'ao Township, popular for its cold and hot
springs (Wikipedia).
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Nature scenery - Yilan county
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Yilan county
Yilan County is a county in north-eastern Taiwan. Yilan is
officially administered as a county of the Republic of China.
Every spare moment I had, I spent either cycling or taking my scooter out to explore the area.
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| Rice paddies - rural Luodong |
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| With my little Honda scooter taking a break alongside the road |
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| River - rural Luodong |
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| Rice paddies - rural Luodong |
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| Rice paddies - rural Luodong |
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| Rice paddies - rural Luodong |
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| Rural farmhouse |
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| Hill farmlands |
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| Farmhouse - near Luodong |
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| Rural Luodong |
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| Farmlands - rural Luodong |
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| Nature scenery - Yilan county |
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| Nature scenery - Yilan county |
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| Nature scenery - Yilan county |
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| Nature scenery - Yilan county |
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| Lake scenery - Rural Luodong |
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| Lake scenery - Rural Luodong |
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| Lake scenery - Rural Luodong |
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| Lake scenery - Rural Luodong |
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'fishing restaurant' - Rural Luodong
Catch your own fish to barbecue |
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| Rural farm transport |
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| Cabin in the woods - Rural Luodong |
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| Rural Luodong |
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| river crossing - near Luodong |
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| Mountain scenery - Yilan county |
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| Mountain scenery - Yilan county |
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| Winding road in the woods - near Luodong |
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| Traditional Taiwanese pancake with ice cream and fresh coriander |
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| Valley scenery - Mountain in Yilan county |
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| Winding road in the woods - near Luodong |
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| farm dam - rural Luodong |
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| Water flowers - Luodong |
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| Nature scenery - Yilan county |
Coastal rides
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| Exploring the beachside corniche with my scooter - Yilan County |
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| Pit stop - East coast road to Taipei |
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| Pointing to Turtle island from beach near Luodong |
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| Pit stop - East coast road to Taipei |
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| Pit stop - East coast road to Taipei |
To view Luodong town, click here!
To view Yilan County mountains and beaches, click here!
To view highlights of other travels in Taiwan, click here!
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