Tag: expat life

Ramblings

Volunteering in Taiwan

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I’ve always enjoyed volunteering. It’s a great way to spend time with the family while doing something good, often doesn’t require a huge time commitment, and you get to meet interesting people.

I already knew I wanted to volunteer in Taiwan somehow before moving here. The trouble was finding organizations that speak some English and could accommodate children. I scoped out some non-profits on social media and found two organizations: SALT Collectiv and Mary’s Doggies.

SALT was founded by a group of foreigners living in Taiwan who strive to feed the homeless (among other initiatives). When I first told the boys about SALT, they couldn’t believe there were homeless people in Taiwan. While definitely not as common as in SF, there are indeed homeless people in Taiwan! We want the boys to realize that regardless of where you are, there will always be marginalized people who need help.

At SALT events, we write encouraging notes and prepare 100 bento boxes, which we distribute to the homeless at Taipei Main Station. We’ve participated in 5 or 6 events now and surprisingly, the boys really enjoy it – even O, who normally hates being near the kitchen. 😂 The boys also donated some of their own money to SALT’s fundraiser this year. SALT events can be pretty tiring for Baba and me (they usually take 4-5 hours) but seeing the boys wanting to help others makes it worthwhile.

Mary’s Doggies is an organization that rehabilitates abandoned and abused dogs and prepares them for adoption. I’ve participated in several of their volunteer events like dog walking and socializing dogs, but most events were on school days so the boys couldn’t join. (Or when an event was on a weekend, it was too hot. Weather in Taipei is unfortunately not conducive to outdoor activities.)

But now that the weather has somewhat cooled down, I was able to sign us up for a weekend dog walking event. Many of the dogs are extremely timid, so it took some time for them to get used to us. We played with and walked 3 dogs for about an hour. Like me, C and O love dogs so this was a wonderful way for us to get our dog fix while helping to socialize them.

Other than volunteering with these organizations, Baba and I continue to volunteer at the boys’ school. Baba still volunteers as a crossing guard and this year, I’m volunteering as a “school lunch taste tester.” 😂 There is really such a thing!

Unlike the US, public schools in Taiwan take nutrition in lunches very seriously. They invite parents to taste the lunch and then fill out a form where you detail whether the food is too salty or not salty enough, too fibrous, too soft, etc. You also have to take photos of the food and upload them along with the completed form to a central system.

I find this fascinating as it’s so different than in the US. The lunches are pretty good too! The food is not unlike the simple mom-and-pop restaurants in Taipei. There’s always some kind of protein, carb, lots of vegetables, soup and fruit. Lunches aren’t free though – families have to pay $2 per meal but I’d still say it’s a good deal!

Ramblings

Becoming Bilingual

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Before coming to Taiwan, the boys had minimal exposure to Chinese. They took several online classes (inconsistently) and went to an after school Chinese program that had only one hour of language instruction each day. We tried to supplement with Chinese books and shows at home but both boys showed little interest. We also spoke English exclusively at home because I was not confident in my Chinese at all.

After almost one year of public schooling in Taiwan, two things have proved to be true:

  1. Kids are truly like sponges!
  2. There is no better way to learn a new language than in an immersive environment.

At the start of the school year, I had trained both kids to introduce themselves in Chinese (their name, age, where they’re from), but that was pretty much all they could say. They could not understand what was going on in class and had to depend on classmates and teachers to help them translate. C could read/write a few characters, but O could barely remember to write his name in Chinese.

Flash forward to nine months later, C and O can understand their teachers, chat with friends, and read/write basic Chinese. O can do homework all by himself, from reading the problems to writing the answers. O’s teacher no longer needs to translate for him, and he still gets good grades on his tests and homework. With the help of zhuyin, O can also read a lot of text (see below for one of his assigned reading books) though he probably only understands 60% of it at this point.

C’s homework is a lot more challenging, but he can often complete more than half of his assignments by himself. (The rest is with his tutor’s help.) The fact is he is able to read, understand and answer difficult problems in Chinese is already a huge improvement from nine months ago. What I’ve noticed about C is that he’s able to retain information better as well. Almost every week, there is a dictation test on new vocabulary at school. At the beginning of the school year, I would help him study and man, it was a struggle! He would maybe get 20% right on the first try. Now, we wouldn’t really need to practice and C would still get almost every word correct.

This is why an immersive environment is so helpful when learning a language. In the US, both boys were SO resistant to doing anything in Chinese because it wasn’t the norm. Family and friends there all spoke English. Here, their friends speak only Chinese. Their teachers speak only Chinese. Everywhere they go, people speak only Chinese. If they want to watch TV, it will be in Chinese because there’s no other option. In this sink or swim environment, they learned they had to swim.

It’s been amazing witnessing C and O’s progress. I love hearing them talk in Chinese; it’s like reliving the time when they were toddlers first learning how to speak. As much as I am amazed at how quickly they’re learning, I am also incredibly proud of their attitude. They never once complained about not understanding anything, or all the homework and tests at school. They never seem frustrated when they have to read an entire page of Chinese, or have to write pages and pages of characters.

C and O are not fluent (I think my Chinese is still better than theirs 😅) and I honestly don’t expect them to be. But what I hope they’ll extract from this experience is that they can learn and do anything with patience and grit.

Ramblings

Taroko Gorge

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After coming back from Malaysia, we had a few days in Taipei before heading to our next destination: Taroko Gorge! Taroko is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan. The dramatic limestone mountains, clear blue water and scenic hikes make it the most popular national park among locals and tourists.

We took the Taiwan Rail to Taroko, not to be confused with the High-Speed Rail, but just as convenient and efficient. We left from Taipei Main Station and got off at Xincheng, which was closest to our hotel. The ride took approximately 2 hours.

Many people advise renting a car or hiring a driver to visit Taroko Gorge. We ended up just taking the shuttle around the park, but a word of warning: shuttles don’t come frequently and the schedule can be inconsistent due to current roadwork. When we were there, the shuttle came every 30-45 minutes, so you just have to plan your hikes accordingly.

We stayed in Tienhsiang Youth Activity Center which is a basic hotel but fairly priced and located within the park. The room fee includes a breakfast buffet, and dinner costs an additional $8 per person. Don’t expect good food in Taroko! Restaurants are scarce and food is very basic. But people don’t come here for the food.

We stayed in Taroko for 3 nights and 4 days. The park isn’t huge so you could technically do all the hikes in that time if you’re determined enough.

As for the park itself: it’s beautiful! But then again, can you really go wrong with mountains and crystal blue rivers? 😍

The park is also well maintained. Many of the trails are paved, making it easy for all types of hikers to explore. Everything is well marked, and most signs were in both English and Chinese. Bathrooms, even on the most remote trails, were clean too!

More pictures of Taroko because it’s so damn photogenic. The layers of fog added a level of mystique.

Taroko has many fun suspension bridges. The boys loved the buoyancy of the bridges, but that just made Baba even more nervous. 😅

After planning the Malaysia trip, I didn’t do very much research on Taroko. But the night before we left, Baba started researching Taroko and found that there is a famous hike (Zhuilu Old Road). Unfortunately, the hike requires a permit and there were no more spots left during the days we were there. We put ourselves on the waitlist anyway.

Well, we lucked out because at the last minute, we received a notice that we got the permits! Zhuilu Old Road was voted one of the best hikes in Asia because of its views and historical significance. The trail was once used by aboriginals to commute between villages.

The hike is considered challenging so we wanted to get there as early as possible. However, the park shuttles don’t start running until 11am and the trailhead was far from our hotel. We asked the front desk if they could find a driver, but we were told that taxis are few and far between. For awhile, we weren’t even sure we could do the hike.

Then, a few hours later, the front desk called and said they found a driver! Hurray! A man who works at the hotel simply volunteered to drive us. He didn’t even want any payment (though we still gave him something) – this is another example of how friendly Taiwanese people are!

We were the first group to arrive at Zhuilu. Even though it’s a famous hike, we often felt like we had the whole trail to ourselves, which was so nice. The first 1.5 miles of the hike was a steep climb. It will make your legs BURN! We were also lucky that the morning of our hike was a clear day, because if it were wet (like it had been the prior days), it would be a much trickier hike.

After hiking up the mountain, we arrived at the crescendo: a narrow 3 feet wide trail along a cliff, looking down 2,600 feet into the gorge. There is no guardrail, but there is a cable for you to hold onto. It’s not for those who are afraid of heights, but I think I was more worried about the kids messing around here.

The hike took us 5 hours roundtrip, with many breaks for water and snacks in between. We later went on two other hikes that same day, with one that required climbing a lot of stairs (not sure why I agreed to this). My old lady knees were dying at the end of the day.

On the day we left, we squeezed in one last hike: the Baiyang Trail. This hike was relatively relaxing as the trail was paved and flat. We were told by another hiker to wear a raincoat because of the waterfall, so we went to 7-11 to get ponchos. None of them were small enough to fit O however, so being the responsible parents that we are, we used a plastic bag instead. 🤣

The Baiyang Trail was a lot of fun. It requires walking through a series of dark tunnels (so it’s best to bring flashlights). During the summer and fall, there are bats that live in the tunnels too!

Towards the end of the hike, we were wondering if we needed the raincoats at all. It provided more protection from that day’s rain than any mist or trickling water we found in the tunnels thus far.

But then, we arrived at the last tunnel. We saw a shallow river flowing through it. There was a narrow path against the tunnel’s wall, which we started to go through. It got wetter and wetter, and at this point, all our shoes were soaked. Suddenly, we heard and saw it: several waterfalls gushing out from the cracks of the tunnel! There is no way around them, so we walked under the waterfalls and got more soaked! 😂 With the darkness of the tunnel, sound of the rushing water echoing against the walls, and water pouring down on us, it was an exhilarating experience to say the least.

I wish I took better pictures of this part, but I was worried about my phone getting too wet (and me trying not to slip! 😅)

A lot of people just go to Taipei when they visit Taiwan, but if you have more time in your schedule, we highly recommend visiting Taroko too! Taiwan is actually known for its nature, and Taroko is a prime example of that.

Ramblings

Holidays in Taiwan

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Happy New Year! It’s been awhile, so thought I should recap our first holiday season in Taiwan.

Thanksgiving was pretty low-key, but it always has been. Even while in SF, we’d just have dinner with our families. Thanksgiving in Taiwan is non-existent, so we spent the day at home just like any other day.

Christmas in Taiwan was interesting. There were many festive decorations and activities leading up to Christmas, but students (and workers) do not get any time off. Yes, the boys had school on Christmas Day! 😮 They were initially shocked but like everything else, they shrugged it off and went to school as usual. I’m constantly amazed at their ability to just roll with the punches.

Our school put together a little market on Christmas Day for students. There were booths from various countries – Japan, Germany, New Zealand, etc. – that offered activities or food commonly seen in that country during the holidays. I really like how our school is always mindful of other cultures.

Baba and I volunteered at the event and were assigned the snowball throwing booth. We basically had to run after balls and restack the snowball targets for 3 hours straight. 😂 Thankfully, a couple of kids later helped out and gave us old folks a break.

I opted not to get Christmas decorations this year. Decorations are quite pricey in Taiwan, and we have no space to store them. But the boys wrote letters to Santa (in Chinese because they believe the Taiwan Santa can only understand Chinese), and “Santa” brought gifts for them this year. C also bought O a stuffed dolphin for Christmas using his own money, which was really sweet.

Since we live very close to Taipei 101, our neighborhood was really festive on NYE. Apparently people park their cars in the area the night before, and start camping out in the morning for a good viewing spot of the fireworks show.

We met up with friends to explore the surrounding night market (built just for NYE), and then went home at around 9:30 to rest because there’s no way we can stay up the whole night!

At 11:30, we woke the boys up and went up to our building’s rooftop for a fantastic view of Taipei 101. By this time, there were a lot of people sitting on the streets waiting. And the fireworks did not disappoint! The firework show lasted five minutes and every moment was SPECTACULAR.

Baba and I don’t even remember the last time we stayed up for NYE countdown. When we did, it was probably spent at home watching the Times Square ball drop on TV. But ever since having kids, we just slept through NYE. This was the boys’ first time staying up for NYE countdown, and it was certainly a special one.

As we stood on our roof watching the fireworks, I couldn’t believe my luck. Here I was, spending new year’s with my loves in Taiwan, and living the life I always dreamed of. The boys are thriving in school and Baba is loving life here. Just a few years ago, I would’ve never thought this life was possible but here we are.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and unforgettable 2024! Cheers!

Ramblings

Halloween in Taiwan

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Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love all things spooky and creepy, and I’m always amazed at people’s creativity with their costumes and decorations.

I knew we weren’t going to experience the same kind of festivities in Taiwan as we had in the US (because Americans can get really serious about this holiday 😆). I wasn’t sure how kids would even trick-or-treat because most people live in secured apartment buildings. But Halloween has always been a fun holiday for kids, and I didn’t want to take that away from the boys while we’re abroad.

I searched for activities and was pleasantly surprised to find many events in Taipei leading up to Halloween. There are pockets of shopping areas like Yong Kang Street, Tienmu, Maji Square, Zhongshan Station, etc. where shop owners participate to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. We went to the event at Yong Kang Street, which was mostly for locals and had a lot of fun. We even got freeze dried strawberries and longan as treats!

Later on, I found out about an expat parent group organizing a Halloween event at the Garden Maze at Xinsheng Park. It’s not the typical Halloween hay mazes you’d find in the US but close enough! Parents donate bags of candy and hide in the maze to pass out to trick-or-treaters. There was a large turnout!

The boys’ school also had a Halloween activity the week prior. The PTA decorated an area of the school and classes took turns to visit. Students can wear costumes to school too but because C and O’s costume is pretty tricky to get in and out of, they decided not to wear it. Plus, they absolutely hate wearing the mustache. 😆

Because this year’s Halloween landed on a weekday (Tuesday), there wasn’t any trick-or-treating on the day of. People in Taiwan take school and work very seriously, so it makes sense they wouldn’t want to take time away from homework or work. Plus, C had midterms this week! 😬

I had wondered if Taiwan celebrated Halloween at all, and while of course it’s not the same as the US, we had an awesome time exploring the different Halloween activities around Taipei! We’ll definitely check out other Halloween events next year.

Ramblings

A Day in the Life

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Quite a few people have asked what Baba and I do while the kids are at school since we’re not currently working. Well, here’s an idea of what a typical day looks like for us in Taiwan. (Why do I feel like an influencer making this post? 😂)

6:45am: Wake up and make breakfast.

7:30am: Walk the kids to school. We’re lucky that we’re just a 5-minute walk away. School doesn’t officially start until 7:50am, but C likes getting there early.

8:00am: Baba studies Chinese at home. I either practice Chinese, read, or surf the internet. On Thursdays, Baba would be doing traffic control at school and I’d be volunteering at the school library.

9:30am: Buy groceries at the nearby traditional market or PX Mart, which is like a smaller version of a Safeway here. These are the two places where we shop for groceries the most.

10:00am: I attend Chinese class in Da’an. Some days, Baba and I may use this time to take a mid-morning nap. 😆

12:00pm: Pick up O from school and have lunch. C has school until 4pm for most days out of the week.

1:00pm: We help O complete his homework. (Yes, it takes two adults to do a 1st grader’s Chinese homework. 😂) Most of the time though, O has already completed a portion of his homework at school. Depending on the day, Baba may have Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class in Zhongshan district.

1:30pm: O plays by himself, we go to the library, or buy more groceries for dinner.

2:30pm: Swim at the sports center across the street. Again, we’re super lucky to be living so close to a pool!

3:45pm: Bring O back to school for his after school club. Depending on the day, he may have ping pong, STEM, in-line skating, taekwondo, or magic. C is already at school so he goes straight to his after school club.

4:00pm: I cook dinner. Baba practices more Chinese.

5:45pm: Pick up the kids from after school club.

6:00pm: Dinner and shower before C’s tutor comes. This is usually the most hectic time.

6:30pm: C’s tutor arrives and helps him with his homework.

8:00pm: Kids pack up for school the next day. Brush teeth, and get ready for bed.

8:30pm: Bedtime for the boys.

9:00pm: Garbage trucks come, and Baba and I take the garbage and recycling downstairs. The garbage disposal process in Taiwan is quite an experience! You can read about it here.

10:00pm: Bedtime for Baba and me.

Ramblings

Tips for Apartment Hunting in Taipei

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Now that we have a bit of experience apartment hunting in Taipei, we wanted to share some tips for those who might be in our shoes.

Tip 1: Rent.591.com.tw is the most popular website in Taiwan to search for apartments. You can filter by city, district, number of bedrooms, price, parking, and so much more. There is no English version of the site, but you can use Google to translate the text into English.

I’ve seen people use dd-room.com as well, but 591 is by far the most popular website for apartment listings.


Tip 2: If Chinese is not your native language, it’s best to bring a Taiwanese friend with you to view apartments and negotiate with the landlord. But if you’re like us and don’t have any close friends or family in Taiwan 😅, then work with a real estate agency that caters to expats. We worked with Elegant Realty and UR House (and ultimately found a place with UR House). There is a one-time fee of a half-month’s rent when working with agents.

Note that agencies will typically only show you apartment listings from their inventory. So, you’d have to do your own research on rent.591.com.tw if you want to explore other options.

Tip 3. On top of rent, pay attention to the monthly management fee on the listing. Management fees include general maintenance of the building and security. They can be exorbitant, but can also be negotiable with the landlord.

Tip 4. Reduce the number of pings listed by approximately 30% to get the actual living space. This is because listings often add in common areas like hallways, lobbies, etc. into the total number of pings.

Tip 5: Look for an apartment that uses natural gas or piped propane. Some of the older buildings still use natural gas cans, which means you’ll be taking cold showers if they run out and until you get them replaced.

Tip 6. Get an apartment with an individual electricity meter. If it’s a shared meter, there’s no control over how much you pay per month as the meter is shared by everyone in the building.

Tip 7. If you don’t have a car or scooter, make sure the apartment is close to public transportation (either MRT or bus). Taipei is a huge city, so you’ll need access to public transportation to get around.

Tip 8. This may not be applicable to everyone, but having an apartment with natural light was important to us. Look at whether there is ample light in the living areas. Are there bars over the windows? Are the windows frosted?

Tip 9. As mentioned in my previous post, everything is negotiable in Taiwan. You can negotiate rent, management fees, furniture, etc. I’ve also heard people negotiating for the landlord to pay for the internet and cable fees. Of course, this is dependent on whether the apartment is highly sought after.

Tip 10. This is a great, and much more exhaustive guide for foreigners looking for an apartment in Taiwan: https://www.foreignersintaiwan.com/blog-370963385326684/taiwan-apartment-rental-guide We referenced this guide many times during our apartment hunt.

If I think of any more tips, I’ll add it to this post!