Tag: moving abroad

Ramblings

New School Year, New Adventures? 哥哥 Edition

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C and O have been back in school for over a month now, so I thought it’d be a good time to share a little recap. I’ll start with big brother C (哥哥) first.

In Taiwan, elementary students switch teachers and classmates every two years, a transition that can feel nerve-wracking for families. This year, both C and O had to change classes. Knowing this, Baba and I met with the Director of Academic Affairs to request a more “relaxed” teacher for C. Since he was already doing about 2 hours of homework in 4th grade everyday, we couldn’t imagine what it would be like for the next two years.

The Director assured us that teachers are randomly assigned (which we weren’t entirely convinced of but let go) and said we’d need to work directly with C’s teacher. In August, classroom assignments were released and C was placed with the most notoriously strict 5th-grade teacher 😆. And we knew she was strict because she mailed every family a 4-page letter outlining expectations and sent daily reminders all summer.

We reached out to the teacher share our situation. She asked if C could try completing all the homework for a month and then see if adjustments are needed. We replied that he will do the best he can within the time we allocated for him (~1 hour a day), with the condition that he wouldn’t have to stay in class during recess if he couldn’t finish (a common practice here).

I was nervous about how she’d respond. In Taiwan, homework and tests are the ultimate measures of success, and this teacher seemed stern and unyielding. But to my surprise, she’s been understanding. Even when C couldn’t finish his homework, she didn’t scold or embarrass him (though she still has to grade him fairly). Over time, C has grown to appreciate that she allows students to start homework in class, has a structured schedule, and even her humor while scolding students. I’m grateful he’s kept such a positive attitude through all these changes.

Left photo: C doing homework in class. Right photo: His nightly stack of homework books. 😯

This year has been a bit more challenging since we decided not to bring back our tutor. Combined with our limited schedule for C’s Chinese homework, it’s led to lower grades, which was something we expected. We keep reminding C that this choice is intentional: we want to prioritize his well-being and focus on what will benefit him in the long run. Of course, once we’re back in the US, homework can’t be left unfinished and grades matter more. I just hope he’s not going to think that skipping work or poor grades are acceptable… 😣

For extracurriculars, C is on the badminton team, Global Scholars Program, and an ambassador 小小外交 at school. He also had the opportunity to visit Kinmen 金門 (an outer island of Taiwan) for 3 days in September with classmates. Outside of school activities, C (and O) still practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has gotten really interested in Minecraft and making Lego stop motion videos. Baba has also been working with the boys on simple engineering projects, while I’ve been focusing on reading and writing. It’s been busy in a good way!

Ramblings

Homework vs. Happiness

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Oof. I haven’t had the motivation to write anything as of late. But with the school year is slipping away (less than 2 months to go!), I wanted to record our second-year experience at our school in Taiwan.

Students in elementary school have the same teacher, classmates, and schedule for two consecutive years, so there were no changes there. O is in 2nd grade, comes home at noon on most days, and homework is still about 20 minutes each day. This schedule is great because it allows him to relax and pursue his interests. For awhile he was into Rubik’s cube, and now he’s into reading (current favorite genre is fantasy) and coding.

Coding on Scratch.

O also participates in a lot of after-school activities like swimming, Lego, balloon modeling, and Go 圍棋. He enjoys Go so much that we signed him up for a competition outside of school and he won 2nd place in the beginner’s group!

We’ve also been able to tutor O in English and math more at home due to his relaxed schedule. He is progressing a lot faster than C in this regard.

On the contrary, 4th grade for C has been filled with homework, homework and more homework. Even though he has the same teacher as last year, the volume and difficulty has increased. It also doesn’t help that 4th graders have school until 4pm on most days, and then C has badminton team practices and after-school activities until 5:45pm everyday. By the time he eats dinner, showers, and finishes homework, it’s already time to go to bed. C doesn’t have a lot of free time to relax and just be a kid. If this is what school is like in 4th grade, I’m nervous about what’s to come in 5th and 6th. 😬

Surprisingly, C hasn’t complained much about the long hours of Chinese homework—or even when Baba and I try to squeeze in extra math and English. I’m grateful he’s so diligent, but we still wrestle with how to balance the endless grind of schoolwork with simply letting him be a kid.

We’ve had to postpone projects because he’s busy all the time. Most weeknights, there’s no time for reading or playing because he’s doing homework right up until bedtime. And when he does get a sliver of free time, I feel guilty asking him to do more. Sometimes, people just need the space to switch off.

We’ve considered working with his teacher to reduce homework, but C didn’t want to. He wants to complete every assignment, and do it as well as he possibly can. (Honestly, he spends more time than necessary perfecting every stroke and sentence!) And so we find ourselves stuck again: we don’t want to temper C’s desire to excel, but we also want to make sure he doesn’t burn himself out.

Going to school in Taiwan has undoubtedly been a life-changing experience for the boys, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder how much more carefree their lives might have been if we had stayed in the U.S. No homework, no midterms and finals, just free time to explore. In the end, we’re still trying to strike that everyday balance between homework and happiness.

Ramblings

Summer 2024 Activities in Taiwan: Zongzi, Fencing, and Monkey King Opera

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This summer, Baba’s sister (my SIL) came to Taiwan and stayed with us for 2.5 months. Prior to her arrival, the boys excitedly came up with a list of places to take her around Taipei and beyond. This is one of the few times we get to play host. Since most of our friends and family are from the Bay Area, we never had to take anyone around until we moved here.

Luckily, my SIL was down for everything. Even though we didn’t sign the boys up for any full-time camps, they still had a busy and productive summer! This is just a snippet of the things we did, in addition to Alishan and Indonesia (which I’ll blog about next!).

Zongzi Cooking Class. We had such a fun time learning how to wrap zongzi 粽子 at CookingFun Taiwan. At the time, the Dragon Boat Festival holiday had already passed so it was just the four of us in the whole class!

Making zongzi is extremely labor intensive since each ingredient needs to be prepared separately and in advance. The process can take days. Our teacher had already prepared some ingredients for us beforehand, so we were able to make 26 zongzi’s during the 2.5 hour class and take them all home with us!

Fencing. Fencing always looked like sword fighting to me so I thought the boys would enjoy it. I found a one-day trial class and signed the boys up. The class was really fun, but it’s quite a journey from our place and I’m not sure if we want to manage another extracurricular during the weekend. But how adorable are the fencing uniforms? 😍

Monkey King Chinese Opera. The Monkey King opera is put on by Taipei Eye Performing Arts. The show was really entertaining but I’m also glad it was only an hour. 😅 While there were English subtitles displayed on the side of the stage, Chinese opera can be rather hard to follow! The pre and post show activities were so much fun. We got to dress up in traditional Chinese costumes, participated in a print-making activity, and even met the actors.

Shrimping. Believe it or not, one of Taiwan’s pastimes is indoor shrimping. You rent fishing rods for about $13 an hour, and can catch as many shrimp during that time. The first time we went, we only caught 5. This time, we caught 9! You can then grill and eat the shrimp onsite. Despite how peculiar this all is, we always get a thrill whenever we catch a shrimp. The shrimp pool we went to this time was called Fun蝦休閒釣蝦場. It was clean, had AC and the staff was kind – highly recommend!

Tainan. Baba and I already took the boys to Tainan last October, but my SIL wanted to visit the city with the boys. They went for 2 nights, which gave Baba and me some much appreciated time off! 😊

Staying Active. It’s absurdly hot and humid in Taipei during the summer, so we had to find ways to stay active indoors. We played badminton, ping pong, swam, and went to the gym at the nearby sports center. On occasion, we would join a group of visually impaired people at Sun Yat Sen for a run at night. (Ok full disclosure: I did it once and couldn’t stand the humidity but Baba, my SIL and the boys went a few times!)

Glass Blowing. It never occurred to me to try glass blowing, but I wanted to find indoor activities to avoid the heat and this popped up on a blog. Guests get to take part in the entire process, from gathering molten glass from the furnace to forming the glass with the blowpipe. It was a fun, educational experience – but didn’t come cheap! Depending on the shape you want to make, the cost can be $30-$100 per person. Initially, we weren’t sure if we wanted to do it, until we realized the same experience in SF would cost around $200! Gotta take advantage of the benefits of living in Taiwan while we can. Our glass blowing experience was done at Kun Crystal.

There were more activities we did but I don’t want this blog to get too long. We had a pretty fun and productive summer, right? Except I’m sure if you asked the boys what we did all summer, they’d say, “Nothing. We just sat at home and played with our tablets.” 😒 Why do I even bother? 😂

Ramblings

Lessons Learned from Taiwan Public Schools: One Year Later

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Hours and hours of homework everyday. Tests each week. Instruction based purely on rote memorization. Berating from teachers.

These were the kinds of “horror” stories I read about Taiwan public schools before coming here. I mulled over our decision to send the boys to a public school, but ultimately agreed with Baba that it’s probably the best way for them to learn the language and culture.

Now that we’ve gone through one year in a Taiwan public elementary school, I can say that while some of the stories are true…it also isn’t nearly as bad as I imagined? Above all else, the boys learned many valuable lessons through this experience.

Time Management. Yes, there is homework everyday. O (1st grade) gets about 15-20 minutes of homework on average, while C (3rd grade) gets about 1.5 hours each day. Even more homework is assigned on the weekends and long holidays. On top of this, there are tests every week. Then the boys have extracurriculars and additional tutoring in math and English (from Baba and me).

This is a 180° from our life back in San Francisco. But with this shift, C and O have learned a lot about time management. They know to do homework when they come home. They know to ask Baba or me to double check their homework. When there is an upcoming test or more homework than usual, we strategize how to tackle everything. We complete the homework on Friday, then we spend Saturday and Sunday reviewing for the test. Yet through all of this, they never seem daunted by the workload.

C’s homework assignment book. He makes a habit of checking off assignments he’s completed.

How to Study. I honestly didn’t know how to properly study until college. I used to aimlessly flip through my textbooks and call it a day. 😅 In Taiwan, teachers make students correct errors on homework and tests (訂正). So when it’s time to prepare for an exam, we’d review the problems the boys got wrong before doing new practice problems. In reading comprehension, they both know to preview the questions first before reading the passage so he knows what to look for. If they write a character incorrectly on at practice test at home, they know to write it again three times for me, just like they do at school. Education is taken very seriously in Taiwan and I think this principle has rubbed off on the boys.

Facing Challenges. The task of learning a new language is a challenge in and of itself, but the overall curriculum in Taiwan is more challenging than what we had in the US. O had to learn 10+ vocabulary words each week, including how to write the character and their definitions. C, for example, learned geometry and started using a protractor and compass. In science, C learned about magnetic fields and plant biology. On top of generally harder coursework, remember that everything is also written in a foreign language.

The boys started off not understanding anything in school. But day by day, they showed up to school without feeling discouraged or defeated. And in just one academic year, they have not only adjusted well at their new school but more importantly, learned that they can take on any challenge.

O’s first day of school and not understanding a single word. 😂

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the factors that played into our mostly positive experience in a Taiwan public school. First, we never put any pressure on the boys. We just want them to try their best and if they end up failing their exams, that’s ok too. Second, we were lucky to find a school and teachers that have been supportive. Our school is known to be less intense than other nearby schools. We were also lucky to find a great tutor to help C with his homework. But I think the most important factor is C and O’s personalities. They are generally carefree, easy-going, can make friends easily and are at an age where they can still quickly adapt. When things get tough, they shrug it off and move on. Their resilience never ceases to amaze me.

Are Taiwan public schools the best fit for our family in the long run? Probably not. Like I mentioned, there is some truth to the stories you hear about schools here. Much of the curriculum is based on rote memorization, with homework and tests getting more and more intense in the upper grades. It’s not for everyone. And since we want to eventually move back to the US, we want C and O to hold on to values that are important for their growth in the future – things like creativity, project-based learning and critical thinking.

In the meantime, we are happy here and could not have asked for a better experience. The boys even said they like school in Taiwan more than in the US. 😶I always remind C and O how lucky they are to be able to go through two very different education systems that will only enrich their life experiences.

Ramblings

One Year Ago

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One year ago on this day, we left our home and went on the biggest adventure of our lives.

I still remember the days leading up to June 3rd last year and realized I never documented it. I remember tossing and turning every night, wondering if we were making the right decision. I remember my anxiety building up as we slowly gave/sold/stored away our belongings until our home of 7 years no longer looked like ours anymore.

On the day of, I woke up in disbelief – which as I later discovered, became a constant theme throughout the day. Is it really June 3rd? Are we really doing this? Is it too late to change our minds? 😂

In the morning, Connor’s good friend stopped by for another goodbye. Baba’s sisters and BILs came over to spend time with us and help us get rid of any remaining furniture. We ate lunch together and at around 4pm, my sister and BIL came to pick us up for the airport.

It was hard. We did one last walk through of a now empty apartment, a place that carried so many memories. My SILs cried as we left. I felt terribly guilty, like I was prematurely cutting short their relationship with the boys. They played a huge part in helping us raise C and O, and that is something we’ll sorely miss.

Although I told them not to come (because airport parking is crazy expensive!), my family met us at the airport to send us off. Everyone was in good spirits and excited for us, which made leaving a little less hard. They will always be my biggest cheerleaders, and I am so, so thankful for their support.

Going through the gates was surreal. I was flooded with anxiety, excitement, shock and everything in between. I couldn’t eat or sit still. Or breathe. (On the other hand, Baba and the boys seemed oblivious to it all. 😒)

When the plane took off, I looked over at Baba in disbelief. Did we really just leave the place we called home for most of our lives? Are we really not going to see our families for 3 years? I dozed on and off throughout the flight but every time I woke up, I wondered if this was all a dream. I simply could not believe this was happening.

Now, a whole year after that pivotal day, I wish I could tell the 2023 me that it’ll all be ok. It’s kind of funny how much I worried back then, when this has turned out to be such an incredible and transformative experience for our family. We began this journey long before we stepped foot in Taiwan. Looking back, the conversation Baba and I had could’ve gone in a totally different direction, but whether it’s through some divine intervention or just pure luck, I’m forever grateful that we decided to take the chance.

Ramblings

Learning Chinese: 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back

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This post only pertains to my Chinese learning journey. I’ll write about the boys’ progress in another post.

We’ve been living in Taiwan for 9 months already 🤯, and for the most part we’ve adjusted to the Taiwanese way of life. We’ve made friends, are comfortable navigating around the city, and have our daily routines nailed down.

The biggest challenge has been, and continues to be, learning Chinese. I wrote about first learning Chinese 6 months ago, and while my Chinese has improved drastically since then, I feel like it’s plateaued. I can comfortably order at a restaurant, exchange simple pleasantries with strangers, and introduce my background. But beyond that, it can be a struggle holding conversations.

My conversation skills are completely dependent on the topic. I can chat about the kids’ school and about daily life, but if the topic shifts to say, skincare, I am clueless. (This actually happened in real life: I went in for a facial and had zero clue what the aesthetician was telling me about my pores and moisturizing. 😅) This is because I have been learning vocabulary by subject matter. I write down words that are useful or related to a topic that interests me. For example, after the earthquake, I learned the Chinese words for “damages”, “aftershock”, and “predict”, knowing that this subject might come up.

My notebook of Chinese words. I’m already on my second book!

So on days when I’m chatting about kids or eating out, I feel pretty good about my Chinese. Other days – like today, when a sales person tried to introduce me to different types of sneakers- I feel like I took 2 steps back.

All is not lost though. Because I have been writing down words and reviewing them consistently, my reading and writing skills have improved a lot. I can read signs and simple text messages without having to copy and paste into Google translate. I can write messages using pinyin (though it still takes me awhile to do). An indirect effect to all this is that my mom even noticed that my Cantonese got better! 😊

Aside from learning vocabulary words, I have been listening to podcasts, meeting language exchange partners and doing weekly sessions on italki. (I’ll list these resources at the bottom of this post.) I still volunteer at the boys’ school and it’s a great way to chat with locals, but our conversations are usually pretty perfunctory. I stopped taking in-person Chinese classes after the boys’ winter break. The classes gave me a great head start, but I wanted to try other things.

Baba asked me what my next goals for Chinese are, and honestly I’m not sure. To feel confident enough to just speak without mulling over every word? To be able to have deeper conversations with people? I don’t really have a definitive, measurable goal other than continuing to improve. It’s hard, but to be able to connect with people using their language is an amazing feeling.

Resources for Chinese Language Learning:

  • Learn Taiwanese Mandarin podcast – Probably my favorite podcast so far. The best part is she has a website with transcripts of each episode that includes pinyin and the English definitions.
  • Talk Taiwanese Mandarin with Abby podcast – Another good podcast for Chinese learning. You do have to join her Patreon to access the transcripts.
  • italki – An online language platform where you can schedule 1:1 video chats with teachers. It’s convenient – you can schedule classes according to your schedule – but classes can be expensive. I found a teacher I really like on there.
  • Tandem – A free language exchange app where you can find people to chat with. (Conversely, I’d help them with English.) I’ve met a couple of people through the app, but the problem is finding someone who can regularly practice with you.
Ramblings

The New Normal

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Almost a year ago, I wrote down my prediction for how I’d adjust to moving abroad. Knowing how I normally react to big changes, I predicted that I would hate it the first couple of months, then learn to love it, then finally reach a plateau. Now that we’ve been in Taiwan for half a year, I thought about this post and how far or close it was to reality.

When we first arrived in Taipei after a 2-month trip in Europe, I didn’t really like our new home. Compared to places that we had just visited like Florence and Barcelona, I’ll be completely honest – Taipei isn’t the most visually appealing city. 🙊 Some buildings look run-down and grubby, electric wires hang haphazardly, and the skies were grey and gloomy (at least during August when we first arrived). I even began to wonder if we should have moved to Spain instead.

Luckily, that feeling lasted for only a couple of weeks and not months. I started to appreciate how safe, cheap and convenient it is to live here, and how quickly we felt at home in this foreign place. I had worried about how the boys would adjust, but the move was like any other day to them. 😂 From when we first landed in Taiwan to their first day of school, they remain completely unfazed. I’m beyond grateful and proud of their resilience.

I already shared what we love about Taiwan so I won’t repeat that here, but it’s safe to say that my old blog post is pretty inaccurate. Six months in, the honeymoon phase still hasn’t ended for us. We are always discovering something new and fascinating. We miss the energy and comfort of Taipei whenever we’re traveling. The language barrier is still a challenge but living here only motivates us to continue improving.

Maybe one day, Taipei will lose its shine and we’ll grow to be nonchalant about it. But for now, Taipei is our home, our new normal. And I already know that when we leave this place, I will miss it immensely.

Ramblings

Lunar New Year in Taiwan

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Even though our winter break was packed with activities, we made sure to schedule time in Taipei during Lunar New Year. We were curious how the locals celebrated this important holiday.

Turns out, it’s pretty tame. 😆 But it’s also because LNY is a family-oriented holiday, and since we have no relatives here, we didn’t get to partake in many festivities. Still, we have been enjoying the lovely decorations around the city, and of course we visited Dihua Street to buy LNY snacks and goodies.

A lot of Taiwanese locals warned us that Taipei becomes totally vacant during LNY. It was noticeably quieter, but the places that remained open were very busy. I guess those of us who stayed in Taipei were all looking for somewhere to go!

On the first day of LNY, we went around the neighborhood to watch lion dances. The most popular one was at Grand Hyatt. But it was so crowded that we could only see the lion when it was up on stilts. Luckily, we saw another lion dance not too far away and this time, we had a front row view.

The next few days were surprisingly normal, and the majority of stores and restaurants opened back up. The only real disruption was the garbage service. Normally, garbage trucks come around everyday except Wednesdays and Sundays, but during the first week of LNY, the schedule was erratic. Whenever we heard the garbage truck music play, Baba and I rushed downstairs because we just never knew when the next garbage day would be!

About a week after LNY, the Lantern Festival 元宵節 began. The Lantern Festival is not hugely celebrated in SF, so this was an eye-opening experience. The festival celebrates the end of LNY and welcomes the coming of spring. People enjoy fireworks, lanterns, and eating glutinous rice balls (湯圓) during this time. The national Lantern Festival celebration was held in Tainan this year, but Taipei also had its own festival in Ximen.

The lanterns were gorgeous! Some of them were actually created by students in a lantern-making contest too. The whole Ximen area was sprinkled with lanterns everywhere; it was fun spotting them while we roamed around.

The year of the dragon – especially when it meets leap year – is considered very auspicious in Chinese culture. We wish everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous new year!

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

5 Things We Love About Taiwan

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We shared what we don’t love about Taiwan in the last post, now here’s a list of things we do love!

Safety. Baba and I were born and raised in SF, so being alert of your surroundings, guarding your belongings, locking all doors and never leaving anything in the car – all seemed like a normal way of life.

It’s not until we started living in Taiwan that we realized, “Wow, this is how life should be.” We never have to worry about our safety. I walk on the streets at night alone wearing my AirPods. The boys go to the playground by themselves. I am almost always daydreaming on the MRT, never worrying if someone suspicious is sitting next to me. Baba has left his backpack in the park and it’s still there when we go back for it. Feeling safe is so liberating and we never realized how much stress we were under until we moved here.

People. The safety of a place is largely dependent on its people. Taiwanese people are incredibly respectful, kind and friendly. The most frequent phrase you’ll hear in Taiwan is “不好意思”, which means “excuse me” or “sorry to bother you”. Good manners is an important value here, emphasized in schools and at home. We’ve seen people pick up trash on the street that wasn’t theirs. People have gone out of their way to help us. One of the reasons the boys love school in Taiwan is because the kids are so nice and enjoy helping one another.

Convenience. Before moving to Taiwan, I was hesitant about giving up the convenience of living in SF, with its Amazon 2-day delivery, public transport and grocery stores nearby. But it turns out that Taipei is just as convenient, if not more.

1. The public transportation is amazing. The MRT is efficient, cheap, clean, and on time. There are also local trains and a high-speed rail that take you all around the island. Super easy to book tickets and navigate the train routes.

2. Online shopping is a breeze. Momo is Taiwan’s version of Amazon. Items get delivered within 1-3 days (no “prime membership” is required!), and for returns, Momo sends someone to your home to collect the item. 😮 Most major retailers like IKEA and Costco also deliver within a few days for a small fee.

3. Convenience stores like 7-11, Family Mart, etc. here are truly convenient! There is at least one convenient store every 2-3 blocks. And unlike the 7-11’s in the US, the ones in Taiwan aren’t gross and sketchy. There are ATMs and copiers/printers available, where you can also print train or plane tickets. You can pay your bills there, and have packages delivered to your nearby 7-11 if you aren’t home. People can also grab a quick lunch there because there is hot water, microwaves and utensils.

Cost of Living. Generally, the cost of living in Taiwan about 20-30% less than SF. Some things like meat and seafood can be expensive but eating out, healthcare, transportation, and household goods are very cheap. For reference:

  • Casual meal for our family of four: $20-$30 (In SF, this amount would be per person. Before taxes. And before tips. 😂)
  • Boba tea drink: $1.50-$2
  • Dentist visit with cleaning: $45 (This is with no insurance)
  • One-way MRT ticket: $1
  • Thirty minute Uber ride: $8-$10
  • Rent for our 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom in a nice neighborhood: $2,200 (Though, many locals have told us we overpaid so it’s possible to find something cheaper!)

Food. Taiwan is absolutely food-obsessed….and we love it!! There are streets and alleys literally packed with so many restaurants and cafes I often wonder how they can all stay in business. Every time we venture to a new area, we find something delicious to try, whether it’s a food stall selling 粽子 (rice dumplings) or a cozy bakery selling fresh breads. It’s a good thing eating out is cheap here, because we want to eat EVERYTHING!

To us, the pros outweigh the cons of living in Taiwan. Taipei may not be as glamorous or famous as some of its neighbors, but it’s a remarkable place once you peel back the layers. It’s truly a privilege to call Taiwan our second home. ❤