Paul works as an English teacher in Taichung, Taiwan, where he lives with his family and where he’s in the process of setting up a language school for children. There are some things that he misses about his native USA, but they don’t stop him from experiencing the richness of life in another country, taking into the account both the good and the not-so-good.	Paul Batt

November 12 2006 

-Where were you born?
I was born in New Jersey, USA, but my family moved around quite a bit because of my father's work. I lived the longest in South Carolina, so some might consider that my home state, though I don't. I moved here from Indiana, so I usually claim that as home, but I was only there for about two years, so that probably doesn't count, either. I think I'll just claim the Midwest as home. Yes, the Midwest is nice.

-In which country and city are you living now?
I've lived in Taichung for just a little under 7 years now. It's the third largest city in Taiwan, located near the coast on the western side of the island, in the middle of the near continuous urban sprawl that stretches from Taipei in the North to Kaoshuing in the South.

-Are you living alone or with your family?
I came here alone and started a family here. It's my wife, a handsome two-year-old boy, and a girl due in a couple months. Oh, and our slightly overweight beagle, Leica.

-What is your age?
In the USA, I'm 35 years old, but in Taiwan, I think they count me as 36 or 37. If I give my American age and my wife's Taiwanese age, it works out that she's older than me. I think that's pretty funny; Maggie just rolls her eyes.

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Taiwan?
On September 21, 1999, there was a massive earthquake Southeast of where I am now. The loss of life was overwhelming, and many foreign teachers chose to return to their homes rather than risk another quake. At the time, I was teaching for an internationally known language center in Indianapolis. A week or two after the disaster, a notice went up on the bulletin board in the staff room stating that our sister schools in Taiwan were in need of native speaking English teachers. I sent off a resume the next day, and had a contract the next week. I think I was on a plane for Taipei in less than two months. I originally had thought about moving to Japan to teach English, but this Taiwan opportunity came up and here I am.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
No, that time it was a piece of cake, as the company's head office in Taipei took care of most of that for me. The second year and beyond is where it gets a little tricky when you have to navigate seas of red tape and ever-changing locations and policy.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
I got my medical insurance as soon as I got my Alien Residence Certificate. Taiwan's National Health Card makes things cheap and relatively easy. There's the requisite red tape to get through, but I think the system works rather well, all things considered.

-How do you make your living in Taiwan?
I was fortunate enough to land a job teaching English with a large chain-school here. Lucky in that it gave me the opportunity to teach many different types of classes, and lots of them. I've taught preschool children through retirees in a variety of settings with mixed results. One of the unfortunate asides of working in a large school, is that people tend to become very competitive--for classes, for salary, for favors from the boss and advancement. I was not prepared for the extent to which a place of learning was in fact a cut-throat business. Oh well. The big chains are a good place to start if you've never taught before. I was there for about six years, and now my wife and I are in the process of opening our own children's language school.

-Do you speak the local language and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
Mandarin Chinese was my 7th language of study (Taiwanese is number 8) and by far the most successful one for me. From the day I arrived, I felt driven to learn this language, and I sought out every opportunity to practice, sometimes studying until 4 in the morning and taking my books and questions to the clerks who worked around the corner at the 7-11. It was important for me to learn the language maybe because I didn't want to be an "Ugly American," the kind that you see shouting in someone's nose when they want their scooter fixed, or their Big Mac with extra cheese.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
My family lay spread out across the US, so there was never much chance of us all getting together anyway. Now, on the rare occasions when I do make it back over the Pacific, it makes the meeting a little more special. There are things about the States that I miss quite a bit. I've got to mention Chicago-style pizza. There's nothing that comes close in Taiwan. Not that I've found. I miss solitude; it's difficult to get away from it all in Taiwan. It seems that next to every beautiful scene, there's someone selling cheap snacks or plastic kites. It seems that way, though on the east coast of Taiwan there are miles and miles of gorgeous shoreline without a souvenir cart to be seen. A trip to the hot springs at the bottom of Taroko Gorge's marble canyons just north of Hualien is worth the cost of a plane ticket from Indiana.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
Long range, we want to take the kids back to America by the time they're in junior high school; the Taiwanese junior high school students here have a horrible life, in my opinion. The overall opinion is that the educational system is broken and that no one wants to try to fix it. By the time students get to junior high, their every spare moment is consumed by the impending "Test." These tests are basically periodic checkups on students' rote memorization skills. I've had too many university age students who've gone through this system.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
My first living space was a bedroom and a bathroom, spartanly furnished, on the third floor, with a balcony facing the neighbor's laundry and it cost about US$150 a month. In my city, a share three-bedroom flat might go for about US$350 a month, plus about sixty bucks for utilities and a security guard fee.

-What is the cost of living in Taiwan?
The pubs can be quite a drain on your wallet. An English teacher makes a pretty good living, and you can save a lot of money if you don't spend a lot of time at the bar. A can of good imported beer at 7-11 is about a dollar or a dollar fifty, American. In the bars it can be three or four times that much. A Big Mac meal is about $3.50, and a bowl of noodles $2.00. A ticket to a first run movie is about seven bucks. If you're an English teacher, and you can live frugally, there's no reason that you can't save a couple grand a year. If you have no interest in living frugally, you can live like a rock star.

-What do you think about the Taiwanese people?
Taiwan is like any country on earth; there are good people here and there are some real morons in both the local and expat communities. Some people will go out of their way to be help out in shops and restaurants, other times, clerks and salespeople will scatter so that they won't be "outed" as poor English speakers. My in-laws are the most forthright and honest people in the country, but I would expect to be screwed in any transaction involving money by everybody else.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Taiwan?
The first thing that always comes to mind when I get this question is that Taiwan is a great country to leave. That is, a teacher can earn pretty good money here and the opportunities for travel in Asia are myriad, and the cost of air transport is so much cheaper than it would be flying from the States or Europe. Taiwan has ample opportunity for travel as well; the East Coast is fantastic, and the variety of hot springs that dot the island provide a relaxing weekend getaway is within an hour's drive of wherever you live.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Taiwan?
The MRT tunnels in Kaoshuing have collapsed at least five times during the course of their construction, so I would advise surface transportation in that city. The high speed train which was originally scheduled to open in 2005 has, as of October 2006, been pushed back another six months. It appears to be the victim of cut corners and, personally, I am staying away from it. A plane ticket from Taipei to Kaoshuing is cheaper than the bullet train. And safer, I'd suspect.

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Taiwan?
TEALIT.com (short for Teaching English and Living In Taiwan, catchy, huh) has a wealth of information about places to stay, the red tape situation, where to find health care, and a full bulletin board with comments about places of employment. You definitely want to check that out before you come to teach here. Also, take a look at Forumosa.com. I feel that far and away the best Taiwan site is called The View From Taiwan.

…and if you want to check out my Taiwan blog, here it is: http://battaiwan.blogspot.com