English Teacher in Taiwan
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.
I changed teaching jobs at the end of the cycling tour and worked for Cathy’s American school as an ESL teacher for High school kids, where I stayed until December of 2004 before accepting a TEFL position in Zhongshan on the 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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With my scooter - Ascending Yilan mountain
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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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| Elma & sandy near Yilan beach |
Yilan county
Yilan County is a county in north-eastern Taiwan.
Yilan is officially administered as a county of the Republic of China.
Yilan Mountain expeditions
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| Elma & Chris en route to Yilan mountains |
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| Dry river bed - en route to Yilan mountains |
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| Dry river bed - en route to Yilan mountains |
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| Dry river bed - en route to Yilan mountains |
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| With my scooter - Ascending Yilan mountain |
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| Ascending Yilan mountain - View of natural hot spring in the valley below |
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| Ascending Yilan mountain - Giant old tree |
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| Chris & Sandy on Yilan mountain |
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| Yilan mountain park |
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| Elma - misty view of the valley from Yilan mountain |
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| Enjoying Yilan mountain park with Chris, Sandy, and Elma |
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| Exploring the woods - Yilan mountain park |
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| At tourist section of Yilan mountain park |
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| Yilan Mountain Park - museum and displays |
Yilan beach outings
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| With Sandy |
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| Sandy & Elma - Yilan beach |
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| Yilan Harbour scenery |
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| Yilan Harbour scenery |
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| Yilan Harbour scenery |
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| Yilan Harbour scenery |
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| Elma & Sandy near Yilan beach |
To view highlights of other travels in Taiwan, click
here!
To view rural Luodong and the countryside in Yilan County, click here!
