Meanwhile living in Jongli, Taiwan teaching English

After I quit my job at the kindergarten, I really wasn't worried about how I would get the next job. It really felt like there were so many jobs available.

 

A few days later or so, I was just walking around and exploring my area. Jongli was kind of a big town, but with not too many big buildings, a sprawling city. I am not even sure I ever made it to the other side the whole time that I lived there. The town was a little grey looking because of  the little up keep. One interesting part was when the garbage trucks would come around. They would be playing the tune 'fur de lise - "For Elise"' on a continuous loop the whole time! I assumed it was to announce their presence. It was very interesting!

Anyhow, I was taking a walk and saw another foreigner on the street. At that time, and probably still now, there weren't too many foreigners in that town. So we started chatting, and he told me about this job that he was quitting and inquired if I would like the job. I wasn't sure if I did because it wasn't in that town. It would be about 40 minutes away or so. I got his number and said that I would call him soon and let him know.

It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted the job, and I called him not too long after our meeting. The job would be in a town called Yang Mei, a town smaller than the one I was currently living in. I didn't think I would move out there, but instead, travel there to teach. I spoke with the owner of the school, Alex, who was about 45 years old, nice guy, and a
bit of a ladies man (but he had a wife). The school was called a bushiban and catered to kids from ages 6 - 16 years old who wanted to (or more accurately whose parents wanted them to) improve their marks at school. The school provided extra lessons in numerous subjects and was open 5 days a week from 4pm to 8pm. It was called Joy Language School and was part of  a chain. I made an appointment with Alex to meet him at the school and went to see him. I was hired almost immediately upon  my arrival. I had a new job! :)

When I got back home, I went up to my friends Jonas and Jen's apartment which was one floor up from mine to tell them the news. Their apartment was much different than mine. Jen had been living there for quite a number of years. She could speak Chinese as well, but she would always complain that the Taiwanese were scared of her and just really couldn't believe that she spoke their language. In Taiwan the main languages were Mandarin and Taiwanese. There were also other languages and dialects spoken there. One was called Hokanese, spoken mostly by the older generation that came from a place in China called Hoka, but it wasn't widely used. Also some of the elderly could speak Japanese, resulting from the time Japan took control of Taiwan.









Anyway, Jen's apartment was quite nice compared to mine: cozy and quiet versus a little noisy and kind of bare. Jonas and Jen were like my family while I was there. I loved going over and hanging out. That night, Jonas started telling me about his buddy who had a scooter that he was selling. He thought I would be needing one. Awesome timing! I was totally into buying one, and a few days later I met up with Jonas's buddy to buy the scooter. It was a fat one (wish I had a pic). It wasn't too expensive and was 150cc. It was pretty fast!

I had the bike, the new job and was doing great.

Brian Eric Cohen

www.cohenbrian.wix.com/speakenglishcafe

First started teaching in Asia: Jongli, Taiwan, 16 years ago - ผมสอน เป็นครั้งแรกที่ ไต้หวัน

When I first started teaching in Asia, I was like a fish out of water. With no formal training or with any real interest in teaching, except for the obvious monetary gain, I set out to Asia.

My first place that I lived in Asia was Taiwan
ผมสอน เป็นครั้งแรกที่ ไต้หวัน

which I chose because I had a buddy who lived there already. He said he couldn't set me up with a job because he didn't like the school he taught at. But, I didn't care about that. He set me up with a place to live, and I knew finding a job out there would be butter because I had heard that teaching jobs in Asia were aplenty. Also, I was very open to taking the risk.

So, I bought a one way ticket from Toronto, Canada, and headed out. I was grateful to get out of there to be perfectly honest. There was nothing I really wanted there and was tired of the scene, to say it simply. I also needed to pay back my student loan, and I didn't want it to take a long time and end up with me having to pay a lot of interest to the bank. So, the job in Taiwan would be just perfect. It would pay decently, and I would not be in Canada.

When I arrived in Taiwan, my buddy Jonas and his girlfriend Jen were really helpful and set me up with an apartment in the same building as theirs but one floor down. The location wasn't in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, but in the county just south of it, in a town called Jongli, which is in the same county as their international airport. I settled into my new place, nicely. I felt freedom. It was great!

There was a bar in that same building, on the 2nd floor, and I lived on the 4th floor. Good place for a bar! I started frequenting the bar, and, not long after, I met a Canadian guy there named Mikey, who was from Vancouver. We became fast friends, and he told me that he could probably get me a job at the kindergarten that he worked at. He got my number and said something like, "I'll call you soon when a position opens up, and then you gotta come right away." It wasn't long after that he called me, maybe a few days later. I went right away! When I arrived, he was there with his beaming smile and introduced me to my new boss. Within a few days from that time, I was given 3 different classes in this kindergarten; one class ages 3-4 years old; second class ages  4-5 years old; and the third class ages 5-6 years old.

Man, I felt lucky to get that job so fast, but it wasn't easy at all. How do you teach? It seems easy, just get the students to know something that they didn't know before. So, there I was standing up in front of the class looking out at about 15 - 20 kids waiting for me to start. I had a teaching book for each class but, literally, zero experience and training. I started doing some research on how to teach, mostly by just asking other foreigners. But still, it was just trial and error for me. One trial was being like a drill sergeant and just getting the students to repeat after me, haha. To make a long story short, I worked there for about 5 months, tried numerous different styles, unsuccessfully, and the boss and I really didn't get a long because I was tense and inexperienced. I quit. It was time to move on!

Brian Eric Cohen

www.cohenbrian.wix.com/speakenglishcafe