ARC BABY!

I got my ARC now - Alien Resident Card. I was really lucky, the owner of my school basically went through the whole process for me, but it's mainly because I don't have a scooter.

So now I have an ARC I can try to buy a proper and legal scooter. I can also do other things with the ARC. SO yeah, it's good.

I have been meeting new people recently and it's been fun. A lot of people are interested to try the Wii here at my house. Sylvia is sending me Super Smash Bros from the USA - THANKS SO MUCH! So I can play that here with my friends, wish I can play with my USA friends too!

KC and Joanna playing Wii Boxing.

I went to a 24-hours-open Hot Pot place, that was cool. Tonight I will go out with friends to eat again. I will post some more things soon about the school.

I got my Resident Visa

Well I got my Passport back today from the office. I now have a resident visa! I guess that makes me an official ex-pat? Well I am glad about that, I will have my ARC in about a week I think! Really great! I hope I can buy a scooter after that! I am still debating on getting a new or used one. I hope I can get some more opinions. I hope I can live here for at least a few years and having a new reliable scooter seems like a good investment.

I got a job! Damn, I am so awesome!

I casually wrote out my resume yesterday, I thought, "Hey, might as well get a head start, maybe there are some people out there not preparing for CNY yet, they can get my resume early and consider me over the new years break. Then in the afternoon I got a call from Tammy Wu at Wells English Buxiban. She got an appointment with me for today at 10. She explained the address and the landmarks to look for. I knew some of them so I thought its easy to find.

So I got dressed up, wearing a tie and all. Walked down, got a little lost, but eventually I found the school, it has a big W logo. So I interviewed with the owner, she is very friendly with a kind face and attitude. I think we get along so she explained the job and all that. Basically I can tell she is ready to hire me as long as I give a good impression. I know I am prepared and will do a good job, so I don't feel very nervous. So she basically hired me right away, not sure if she even offered the job, just started getting my information for the ARC forms.

Then she decided, hmm- chinese new year is coming so everything will be closed, maybe we can do the health test today! I said - sure! If you can take me there, that's fine. So we jumped in the car and went to the hospital, they X-Rayed me, took my blood, and poked me in the stomach. Asked a few funny questions and then I was outta there. I guess I will have an ARC very soon.

After that we went to take the photos we needed too. That was quick, although I don't think my hair was as perfect as I wanted.

Then Tammy and her Husband took me to MOS BURGER. It's a japanese burger place, some weird burgers, but actually really tasty, better than McDonalds of course. I had like a pork and cabbage burger...

So yeah, the pay is like $580 NT an hour and about 15 Hours a week. $580 NT = $18 US, so that's about $1080 US a month, which is $34,000 NT. My Rent is $10,000. So even with only 15 hours a week I can pay the rent with a 3rd of my salary. Later they can offer me around 20 Hours a week, once I know what I'm doing.

So yeah, I will be all legal, easy to get a legal scooter, easy to do everything after I got an ARC.
I think their book seems good too. It a work book for the kids, a homework book, and a teachers guide, all made in the same system. I will get to see two other teachers first as well.

Okay, so go watch my video some more, I want more votes! Show it to your friends! Send them the link to the live video page: http://www.livevideo.com/video/2947CFC95DC746B49D001B6AE00575E3/taiwan-dreamin-promo.aspx

I will try to get it up on youtube as well.

MORE SCOOTER!

So now I am looking at scooters for sale in Taichung, they seem reasonable as well. Low prices, like 10 - 15k. They are in Taichung too so that makes it easier.

The thing is I still don't have an arc because I don't have a job yet. You know, having an ARC is really a big deal, its used for everything. I guess I underestimated, I need to hurry and get a job!

Well, maybe somebody can sell me a scooter and then settle the other stuff later. But I wonder if I get pulled over will the original owner get in trouble if they let an unlicensed driver use what is technically their bike?

Hmm- gotta figure this out!

Taiwan Prep - House Hunting

I went back to DC and got my Visa, nicely placed in my passport- awesome! So now I can arrive with no issues in that department. I will need to find if it is renewable like I think it should be. At least the first term is 60 days, so thats what I planned for. Hopefully I can get a job and an ARC (alien resident card,) that would allow me to apply for the resident Visa.

So now I am looking for apartments in Taichung City. I found two pretty different ones that are both suitable. One is a tiny studio, it is 8 pings (1 ping is about the size of a tatami mat.) It comes furnished and has 1 bathroom and a washing machine. The rooms in this complex cost about $7400 - 8200 NT which is about $320 - 350 US per month, a decent price. Here is a photo:



This other place, its only $50 US more, $10,000 NT but its 50 PINGS! Thats very large, about 166 square meters. My taiwanese friends are warning me to find out more about this place, possibly a bad location or something else would cause a large studio apartment to go this low, possibly it just has extra fee for everything, such as cable, apartment fee. I will find that out and get photos too. I might just be lucky! They mentioned there are 2 French people and a South African living there.

Anyway, at least I know there are places available. Actually there are some Chinese Language only sites that have tons of listings in Taichung, but I am stuck with English sites. Tealit.com has plenty of places in Taipei, but not as many in other cities. Hopefully I can get a pretty good idea of where I want to stay before I am set to leave.