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There hasn't been a piss test (for non-mainlanders) in years, AFAIK.
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Sep 15, 2014 07:42
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The best part about the health check is that it is literally a test. As in, it is marked on a pass/fail basis. As in, if you have HIV, you fail. There's a little box below that gets a check mark for pass/fail. Luckily I studied in sex ed. and passed the HIV portion of the test, and they checked the 'pass' box. Whew! There is a chat with a doctor/senior nurse about medications and general health, then a height/weight check, then a BAM surprise thermometer in your ear motherfucker! then blood test, and chest x-ray. You just need to bring some passport sized photos, 2 or 3, there's a photo machine there anyways.
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Sep 15, 2014 08:39
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And an eye check. If you're awesome like me they'll ask you about your contacts and you'll get to say, "All natural baby."
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Sep 15, 2014 13:05
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I've taken the medical twice in the past year. There is no urine test, just blood. And the typical eyesight, height, weight poo poo that you can't fail. Taoyuan is about an hour from Taipei. If you're near the High Speed Rail, you can get into the city a lot faster, but it's pricey. I've never lived there though, so I couldn't tell you much about it. People in Taipei don't go to Taoyuan unless they are going to the airport.
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Sep 15, 2014 13:06
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It's actually less than an hour via train. It's about 40 minutes, give or take a few minutes from Taoyuan station to Taipei Main station, on a local train. Express trains can get you there in about 30 minutes. Fair bit of warning, it's typically a crowded, uncomfortable ride, especially when you add in the typical commuters and all the migrant workers. The HSR is way far away from downtown Taoyuan, so if you're choosing to live near Taoyuan's HSR station, you're not really gonna get any of that city experience. I spend a lot of time in Taoyuan, though I live in Yingge. It's not a great city in my opinion, absolutely nothing special or positive about it other than the fact that it has most of the urban amenities you may want. It's a crowded, dirty city, even by Taiwan's standards. As for the health check, man am I glad I'll never have to deal with that again now that I've got my APRC. I don't really have any health problems, but I seriously hate hospitals, which mega elevates my blood pressure. The hospital I always went to had a rule that they weren't allowed to draw blood if your systolic blood pressure was over 180 or diastolic was over 80. Which mine was, always. So they'd have to check me on average 4 or 5 times, letting me relax and try to calm down to get it down enough so they could take a blood sample. One time they seriously had me go into a room and take a nap for 15 minutes and then a nurse came and measured it by hand. They definitely earned their fee that time. But yeah, since I hated the health test to death, I've pretty much got the process memorized: height/weight check. eye check. temperature check, blood pressure check, blood sample. chest x-ray. doctor looks you over real quick and basically asks "uh did you ever have any of these major diseases?" you say "no" and then a week or two later you get a letter saying you passed. That only applies if you're actually in Taiwan, if Hess is having you do a health check in the states before you even come here, your hospital's procedures may vary. POCKET CHOMP fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Sep 15, 2014 |
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Sep 15, 2014 13:48
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POCKET CHOMP posted:That only applies if you're actually in Taiwan, if Hess is having you do a health check in the states before you even come here, your hospital's procedures may vary. It looks like the medical exam will be in Taiwan. Thanks for the advice everyone. 
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Sep 15, 2014 14:46
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Hey guys Taiwan is a really nice place to live, you know?  TheRamblingSoul posted:It looks like the medical exam will be in Taiwan. Yeah they take you to the hospital the day they send you to your branch. God knows what they'd do if it turns out on Monday morning you failed it... HSRchat: Aren't they all miles from the actual town? Here there's a shuttle bus that takes half an hour to get there.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:47
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My boss was incredibly vague about what exam I needed to take, so I just took the most expensive one. I had blood work and a piss test as well as X-rays and all sorts. I couldn't read any of the Chinese but I seemed to pass and my boss and the government seemed happy so I don't THINK I have any horrible illnesses I'm unaware of...
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Sep 15, 2014 16:58
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House Louse posted:Hey guys Taiwan is a really nice place to live, you know? Taipei Main Station/Banqiao/Zuoying are all connected to the rail station where you'd expect them. The others are all a bit far off, though it varies how easy it is to transfer onto them. You either need to take a shuttle bus or a lot of the TRA (normal rail) trains have little spur lines or whatever to link you to the HSR.
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Sep 15, 2014 17:11
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Random question: how is climate change viewed in Taiwan? Have there been noticeable changes in weather patterns in Taiwan? I know in Himachal Pradesh in northern India there was no doubt in anyone's mind about climate change, you can literally watch the foothills of the Himalayas melting over time.
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Sep 16, 2014 00:02
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Ever since the HSR came to the Hsinchu area, both residential and commercial development have been slowly gravitating toward Zhubei/Chupei/Jubay/Jubjub.duckfarts posted:I think there's a pee check. That's an individual employer thing and not required by the NIA I believe? TheRamblingSoul posted:Random question: how is climate change viewed in Taiwan? Have there been noticeable changes in weather patterns in Taiwan?  Joking aside, people don't seem to have strongly formed opinions on macro climate change in my experience. In so far as it visibly and directly impacts lives, Taiwan has made great strides. Back when most people on this forum were being born, Taipei was by all accounts a smoggy shithole environmentally speaking. The air is now fairly clean especially compared to the People's Republic across the strait, and many of the municipal water sources are potable. (Be careful about piping in old buildings though.) There is still plenty of room for improvement though compared to fully developed countries like Western Europe. Disclaimer: my appraisal on the lack of opinion is anecdotal and I have not done real research of any kind.
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Sep 16, 2014 00:33
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TheRamblingSoul posted:Random question: how is climate change viewed in Taiwan? Have there been noticeable changes in weather patterns in Taiwan? In my experience people are aware of the green movement, and the ideas are (sort of) supported. However, the average Taiwanese person is very... naive, about political issues like that. Edit: Though really people everywhere are pretty naive about that poo poo. Also many Taiwanese people only really care about things that have a direct influence in their lives. Students have mountains of homework to worry about, and adults are busy working 6 days a week 10-12 hours a day. Not a lot of time to ponder things like global warming.
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Sep 16, 2014 04:11
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TheRamblingSoul posted:Random question: how is climate change viewed in Taiwan? Have there been noticeable changes in weather patterns in Taiwan? Yes, there have been big changes over the last decade and everyone knows that and what it's from. An interesting note: originally the geckos in the northern part of the island didn't make any sounds but the ones from Taichung and below did (different species). A professor of zoology at NTU says that you can now hear the crying geckos in the northern part of the island because climate change has allowed them to migrate upwards. It's loving hot here, and more so every year.
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Sep 16, 2014 04:29
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There most assuredly *is* a pee check - if you're female. Or, in my roommate's case, if you present as female no matter what your paperwork identifies you as. They want to make sure we aren't smuggling babies in. Not sure why people would want to smuggle in babies to a country that may or may not actually even be a country, but whatever. Request Pingdong. Then you can be a Pingdonger. We're the coolest. We get up to antics and poo poo. And my Thanksgiving dinner is UNPARALLELED. Edit: Reasons Pingdong is perfect: Not too big that it doesn't get quiet and empty-streeted at night, not too small that you can't find a good grocery or other expat friends. But not too big that there are so many expats you never hang with locals and improve your Chinese/Taiwanese. The cost of living is so cheap it's stupid - my roommate and I split a three-bedroom two-bath apartment as well as the NT$8K/mo rent. So my income is literally more than ten times my rent. Second biggest city in Taiwan (Kaohsiung) is less than an hour away and apparently extending its MRT to us soon, super crazy beautiful beach area (Kenting) and cool history pretty big city (Tainan) both less than two hours away. Seriously, I don't have any desire to move elsewhere. But I haven't been to the east coast yet. Planning a campscoot for the Chinese New Year holiday week, we'll see how I feel after that. poetrywhore fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Sep 16, 2014 |
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Sep 16, 2014 05:47
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Barto posted:It's loving hot here, and more so every year. On the positive side, similar to the Taipei clean-up, in the past decade-plus Kaohsiung's gone from industrial shithole straddling a river of poo poo to a place people actually want to be.
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Sep 16, 2014 05:54
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poetrywhore posted:And my Thanksgiving dinner is UNPARALLELED Fixed that for you.  Though,since I retired from 40 person dinners I guess the title is open.
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Sep 16, 2014 05:55
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DontAskKant posted:Fixed that for you. Uninvited. I have ThanksGiven all over this globe and also btw am an ex-chef and an ex-pastry-chef. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but beep beep.
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Sep 17, 2014 21:08
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poetrywhore posted:Uninvited. I have ThanksGiven all over this globe and also btw am an ex-chef and an ex-pastry-chef. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but beep beep. Me too. Toot toot. Only way I did such numbers. Unfortunately culinary professorships in Korea are getting tighter and more Korean, because that is the most fun I had teaching. Wait for Caberham to pop in and suggest a panAsian Thanksgiving collaboration in a middle locale so he doesn't have to come to Korea again.
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Sep 17, 2014 22:25
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Counting down guys. Flying out on Friday, landing in Taipei Sunday morning. Looking forward to chilling for a week before training and maybe meeting a few of you guys. TheRamblingSoul, I'll try to beat a smooth path for ya!
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Sep 17, 2014 22:53
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YF19pilot posted:Counting down guys. Flying out on Friday, landing in Taipei Sunday morning. Looking forward to chilling for a week before training and maybe meeting a few of you guys. TheRamblingSoul, I'll try to beat a smooth path for ya! Awesome, glad to hear it. Keep us updated with first impressions and all! I'd enjoy hearing about it.
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Sep 17, 2014 23:56
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Speaking of the campscoot, tell me what I should put down on my east coast roadie.
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Sep 18, 2014 19:15
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Alright, guys, I'm out. See you Sunday.
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Sep 19, 2014 02:44
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YF19pilot posted:Alright, guys, I'm out. See you Sunday. You might get put in pingtung. Our weird new teacher's last day is the 30th. Hit me up if that's the case.
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Sep 19, 2014 19:21
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I'm in Taiwan! Well, I've been in Taiwan since noon, Taipei since 1pm, couldn't check into the hotel for two hours and couldn't find a nearby wifi spot (not even the nearby coffee house), when I did check in, wifi here wasn't working and I was pretty well beat (48hours of non-stop with only about 3 hours of sleep to go on) so took a nice nap. Anyways, chilling in my hotel room for the moment, I will probably go back to sleep to catch up on much needed rest and hopefully start getting myself in synch with the sun here. Probably going to check in with the school tomorrow, but besides that, I'm pretty much up for anything.
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Sep 21, 2014 13:26
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YF19pilot posted:I'm in Taiwan! Well, I've been in Taiwan since noon, Taipei since 1pm, couldn't check into the hotel for two hours and couldn't find a nearby wifi spot (not even the nearby coffee house), when I did check in, wifi here wasn't working and I was pretty well beat (48hours of non-stop with only about 3 hours of sleep to go on) so took a nice nap. Anyways, chilling in my hotel room for the moment, I will probably go back to sleep to catch up on much needed rest and hopefully start getting myself in synch with the sun here. Probably going to check in with the school tomorrow, but besides that, I'm pretty much up for anything. Enjoy the rain.
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Sep 21, 2014 13:51
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YF19pilot posted:I'm in Taiwan! Well, I've been in Taiwan since noon, Taipei since 1pm, couldn't check into the hotel for two hours and couldn't find a nearby wifi spot (not even the nearby coffee house), when I did check in, wifi here wasn't working and I was pretty well beat (48hours of non-stop with only about 3 hours of sleep to go on) so took a nice nap. Anyways, chilling in my hotel room for the moment, I will probably go back to sleep to catch up on much needed rest and hopefully start getting myself in synch with the sun here. Probably going to check in with the school tomorrow, but besides that, I'm pretty much up for anything. A monkey escaped from the zoo last night and has been wandering around Taipei biting people. If you see any strange monkeys, don't talk to them.
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Sep 21, 2014 13:54
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Yeah enjoy the typhoon. Are they still putting you guys up in the First Hotel?
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Sep 21, 2014 16:25
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lokk posted:You might get put in pingtung. Our weird new teacher's last day is the 30th. Hit me up if that's the case. He was over buying a roll from Spicy Mom when I pulled up to work the other day. She about jumped out her skin trying to wave me down to come over and talk to him. Definitely pretended I didn't hear.
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Sep 21, 2014 19:13
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Slowpoke! posted:Yeah enjoy the typhoon. Typhoon ain't no thing for me. I've lived through hurricanes, can't be any worse than riding out a Cat 4. And yup, at the First Hotel. Stuck me in a room that feels like a hole in the corner of a corner. Breakfast was a bit of a joke. If they at least stuck me in a room with a balcony I could see chilling out for a week in my room, but this little rat-hole of a room gets no natural light through it's fogged glass window facing into the back alley of the building. Already made my first expedition to find the Hess office, and I found it. Going to try poking around and getting lost in the city a bit. Currently resting, five years since I lived in Florida and I've lost my acclimation to the humidity it seems. Next thing I suppose is to actually go to the Hess office when they're open and introduce myself. It's not uncouth to do that is it? Figured I'd hand in whatever extra paperwork they need and get an early start on my visa. Otherwise, I suppose I should get to looking for a bank and a cell phone so that I can actually call people and pretend I'm in the 21st century again. Thinking I may hit Taipei 101 sometime today or this week. No kidding, driving into Taipei for the first time, overcast clouds, light rain, that silhouette dominating the landscape, the Tower of Sauron description seemed pretty apt. e: Is Mos Burger any good? There's like two or three within walking distance of the hotel, and I'm curious if it's the Taiwanese version of McDonald's or if it's any better. CovfefeCatCafe fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Sep 22, 2014 |
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Sep 22, 2014 02:05
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It's more like Japan's version of McDonald's. Personally, I am not a fan.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:24
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MOS Burger is definitely fancier than McDonalds with prices to match. Their specialty is a burger patty made of rice which McDonald's obviously does not have. They also have the potato 可樂餅/korokke/croquette. I think they're pretty tasty but I wouldn't object to McDonald's either. However, you will almost certainly live near a MOS Burger wherever you are in Taiwan, it's definitely not an urgent must-have. Somewhat unrelated: I remember back in language school days they made us read the works of Taiwanese author 黃春明 who would write about incredibly pitiful Taiwanese people back in the 1970s or so (like a boy who is too poor for a children's bike, so he rides an old adult bike, but he is too short to reach the seat... or a man who walks around in the Taiwanese sun dressed up like a clown for work, because he couldn't even qualify for a factory laborer job). Anyway, sometimes when I'm bored I make "modern 黃春明" stories up in my head. One of them I have is a Taiwanese college student who asks out a girl on a date to MOS Burger(~$150) because he knows McDonald's (~$100) is not fancy enough but he can't afford a Japanese curry restaurant(~$200). Yeah...
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Sep 22, 2014 02:32
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MOS Burger is fuckin' great, though it'll get pricey if you're going for volume. They might still have those tonkatsu sandwiches for breakfast, though they usually sell through them before I can grab one.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:58
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MOS burger had an okay hot dog with jalepenos on it. Wouldn't have called it a chili dog but I'm pretty sure they did.
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Sep 22, 2014 03:16
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If anyone is (or knows anyone who is) looking to pick up some extra teaching hours in October, I'm going to be on vacation from the 8 - 22 and need someone to sub. Three classes available, choose any combination! Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 1:30 - 3:30 (ages around 8) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 4:20 - 6:20 (ages around 10) Monday, Wednesday, Friday 6:30 - 8:30 (ages around 12) Lesson plans and material already good to go; get in, teach what's in the books, get out, collect your money. School is out in Luzhou about a 5 minute walk from the terminal MRT station. NT$600/hour. Hit me up through pm or just post here, whatever.
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Sep 22, 2014 03:20
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One last question, since I'm going to be poking about Taipei for the next two weeks, should I get a MRT Easy Card? Also, if anyone is up to doing anything this week, I'd appreciate the assistance in spending a good amount of time away from my hotel room. It's a tad depressing, even with the AC. I'm probably going to take off here in the next 20~30 minutes and poke around Taipei 101, but I'll check back later this afternoon.
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Sep 22, 2014 03:38
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YF19pilot posted:One last question, since I'm going to be poking about Taipei for the next two weeks, should I get a MRT Easy Card? Yes.
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Sep 22, 2014 03:46
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POCKET CHOMP posted:It's more like Japan's version of McDonald's. Personally, I am not a fan. This is a ridiculous post cause Mos Burger is way way way better than McDondald's and is super good. Why are there no mos burgers in China? Why do we only have crap-tier western things like Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa John's, McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts?!
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Sep 22, 2014 03:53
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Magna Kaser posted:This is a ridiculous post cause Mos Burger is way way way better than McDondald's and is super good. There is like a Papa Mike's or something like that "International School" around the corner from here. I honestly thought it was a Papa John's rip-off.
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Sep 22, 2014 03:58
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Forget about MOS Burger. Find a 八方雲集. Eat there every other day for the next year and a half. Welcome to Taiwan.
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Sep 22, 2014 04:52
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quadrophrenic posted:Forget about MOS Burger. Find a 八方雲集. Eat there every other day for the next year and a half. Welcome to Taiwan. Ate at MOS Burger tonight. Got the chili-cheese burger? I don't know if that's even classified as chili, but that's what it looked like. The chicken nuggets they gave as a side (looked like hashbrowns in the picture) bland, but are saving me from starvation. There's a 八方雲集 up the road around the corner, will try that tomorrow. Otherwise, I may lose a little weight while my taste buds acclimate to the local cuisine. I will try my best not to succumb to McD's (I don't like them state side anyways), but if I find a KFC I can't make any promises about what will happen. Still, I really need to hurry up and learn how to read/speak Mandarin so I know what I'm ordering.
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Sep 22, 2014 12:54
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