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Moon Slayer posted:It's not peak scooter until the guy is wearing a construction hard hat instead of a proper helmet and also has a propane tank strapped to the back. Thankfully all of the propane-laden scooters I've seen driven around here have been piloted by drivers who have the courtesy of not smoking while driving. Haven't seen the hard hat, yet.
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Apr 11, 2015 09:46
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YF19pilot posted:Thankfully all of the propane-laden scooters I've seen driven around here have been piloted by drivers who have the courtesy of not smoking while driving. Haven't seen the hard hat, yet. Have you seen one dragging propane tanks that occasionally spark on the road? Also something on the news about mrt construction in Taichung loving up and dropped a 200 ton piece on some cars
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Apr 11, 2015 13:12
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duckfarts posted:Have you seen one dragging propane tanks that occasionally spark on the road? No, but I have seen one that was dangling off the back of a motorbike rubbing against the rear wheel. Also, that sucks about the Taichung MRT. Just seems to be one thing after another for people to hate about it.
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Apr 11, 2015 14:32
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YF19pilot posted:
looool
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Apr 11, 2015 22:34
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I'm thinking of saving up and buying a proper motorcycle. Anybody have any opinions on specific models? There's a guy selling a 2002 SYM Wolf 125 on the cheap, and I'm curious if it's any good.
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Apr 12, 2015 03:29
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YF19pilot posted:I'm thinking of saving up and buying a proper motorcycle. Anybody have any opinions on specific models? There's a guy selling a 2002 SYM Wolf 125 on the cheap, and I'm curious if it's any good. Gotta ride it to know, 125cc is a good target. Also make sure it has papers unless you want to buy a potentially hot scooter. E: whoops, thought you were talking about buying a scooter duckfarts fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Apr 12, 2015 |
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Apr 12, 2015 03:41
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I had a KTR for awhile and it was a pretty reliable street bike. You're going to want at least 150cc since bikes are so much heavier than scooters. 125 just isn't going to cut it. Things to keep in mind: you'll want rain gear including rain pants and boots or shoe covers, parking and getting through traffic are going to be much more difficult, and manual gears in town are a super huge pain in the rear end. I ended up switching over to a scooter just for the convenience since they can weave better, you only need a rain coat, and you can squeeze them onto the line between other parked scooters if you have to. Plus I'm a sissy who prefers automatic.
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Apr 12, 2015 03:44
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Atlas Hugged posted:I had a KTR for awhile and it was a pretty reliable street bike. You're going to want at least 150cc since bikes are so much heavier than scooters. 125 just isn't going to cut it. Things to keep in mind: you'll want rain gear including rain pants and boots or shoe covers, parking and getting through traffic are going to be much more difficult, and manual gears in town are a super huge pain in the rear end. I ended up switching over to a scooter just for the convenience since they can weave better, you only need a rain coat, and you can squeeze them onto the line between other parked scooters if you have to. Plus I'm a sissy who prefers automatic. Just test drove the bike. I see what you mean about going bigger, apparently the Wolf 125 tops out around 60 or so (owner's words "it starts to shake at 60, but if you hit 70 it stops shaking, but I wouldn't recommend going that fast.") I'm thinking that I would probably hold onto my scooter if I got a motorcycle. I really want the motorcycle in part because I can get such a small bike (125/150) to learn on. I got the balance part down with the scooter, and I'm familiar enough with shifting from riding ATVs/quads, but I haven't put the two together yet. Also, a motorcycle seems like it'd handle the trip to Alishan or the other longish day trips I seem to take here and again much better than a scooter.
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Apr 12, 2015 13:51
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For long trips look into a Yamaha Majesty, but get the seat cover that's like wire mesh/springy. It's much more comfortable to ride than a motorcycle or scooter. Mine can hit 80 easily and up to 100 if I put my head down. The downside is you will need a good Yamaha mechanic. Do not ever take a Yamaha Majesty to a regular mechanic. It will end in total fuckwittery and wasted time/money. They were supposed to be doing the work at night on the Taichung MRT when the accident happened. Oops. This wasn;t quite as good as when a contractor flooded Sanchong due to making a barrier wall too thin.
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Apr 12, 2015 15:44
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I'm thinking its time for an upgrade. I've been teaching on the mainland for the last three years, and I've finally decided to move on to hopefully better -but at least different- things. I'll hit the usual spots for ESL jobs in Taiwan in this coming week, but I wanted to check here first to see if anyone has any positions they're looking to fill next term. My current contract ends in July. I've been teaching mostly middle school, but I've dabbled in tutoring at pretty much all levels at this point. I've got a certification and a degree, and I'm a U.S. Citizen and a native speaker, so I think I've got all the basic requirements out of the way. Anyone have leads/suggestions?
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Apr 16, 2015 03:32
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How's your Chinese? My buxiban is hiring.
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Apr 16, 2015 03:48
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quadrophrenic posted:How's your Chinese? My buxiban is hiring. Shabby. edit: but in all seriousness, it's pretty basic. I've picked up lots of things here and there, but I mostly just use Chinese for necessities or to check understanding in the classroom. Minus1Minus1 fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Apr 16, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 04:18
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Question regarding getting licensed to drive a scooter here vs. in the USA: I'm heading home for the better part of a month. I want to drive all over my state. I sold my car there, and I'm thinking about buying a scooter, because I don't know any place that would rent one. I want to be mobile while I'm back and frankly, I love long distance travel in and of the country side. It takes longer? OK. Good thing my home state is loving beautiful. So yeah I'm a naughty 外國人 but I haven't bothered getting a license here yet. I'm sure I'll need one back home. I heard if we move here with valid drivers licenses for cars we can just get them switched over. Does that apply for scooters, too? I'd much rather take a test written by native speakers of my own language without all those tricky morality questions on there. If not, do you reckon a license from here would get me a license back home? Or would that vary from state to state? Just a note, I'm only looking for advice on scooter licenses in Taiwan and the USA, not looking for advice on how to learn to write Chinese (stroke characters) (lol who ever writes chinese anymore I got technology for that) or how to discretely carry on an affair with my boss's wife without getting caught. Because apparently I have to note that.
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Apr 20, 2015 16:39
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poetrywhore posted:Question regarding getting licensed to drive a scooter here vs. in the USA: Valid driver's licenses for cars don't necessarily just switch over; it depends on your state's relations with Taiwan, and usually it means you need an International Permit(from AAA usually) and you get it stamped and you can drive for 6 months or a year until the permit expires. To get a license license, you still need to take the test, though your license will let you skip driving school. Getting a driver's license here(or using a permit) used to let you drive a 50cc scooter without additional testing/hassle, but I heard talk of them pulling that because just because you can pass a test for a car doesn't mean you can balance a 2-wheel vehicle. As for whether a scooter license here can translate to a motorcycle license in the US, I'm not sure, chances are it's a state by state thing if they allow it at all. To be fair, you should just take the tests so that you can work your way up to a 500cc license so you can write your Chinese name in skid marks to woo your boss's wife while on camera so we have another YouTube video about foreigners being bad for that guy to come bitch about. Disclaimer: some or all of this information may be outdated
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Apr 20, 2015 16:48
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With regards to Taiwan accepting an American license, it varies from state to state. You're right that some US states' licenses can automatically be converted to a Taiwanese license, but the list of reciprocating states is not that long if I recall correctly. I don't know remember which states off the top of my head (I think it was like 10 of them) but it was available on some Taiwanese government website, I got as far as seeing that my home state wasn't listed and that was the end of that. Again, it'd also vary from state to state what license you'd need to operate a scooter in America. In my home state it was just a standard driver's license, there was no special scooter license or anything but then again no one outside of the college campuses would be caught dead driving a That being said, it really is not that tough to just get a scooter license here, I did it completely by myself when I absolutely understood zero Chinese. The English wasn't even that bad (it was much better than the questions in the practice book they gave me to study) and I'm not sure what you mean by morality questions, there were like three or four that were like "If you see a body bleeding on the side of the road, what should you do? A) Stop and call for help B) run over them repeatedly C) drive away as quickly as possible and pray D) take out your cell phone and snap a few pics" that were so ridiculously obvious that I would say they were the easiest of the lot. The scooter test will also be getting harder in July I believe. That is also when car licenses will no longer automatically qualify you for 50cc scooters. So the time is now! edit: kinda beaten by the mighty duckfarts. the 50cc thing is definitely getting pulled, it was in the papers a few weeks ago, along with the new parts of the scooter test which will involve things like having to practice using a turn box for left hand turns. double-edit: just looked it up, and yeah, July 1 is when the new testing goes into effect. The written exam will have more questions, 50 rather than 40, randomly drawn from a question pool, which also increases to 1606 from 634! The road exam will have four new parts, a "hook turn" into a turn box, changing lanes, "negotiating right-angle turns" (whatever that means) and more intersection work. Take the test before then for maximum easiness!  http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/03/28/2003614601 POCKET CHOMP fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Apr 20, 2015 |
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Apr 20, 2015 16:53
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I got told there were a bunch of questions about what the signs mean and how the meanings changed based on shape/color of the sign, etc. When I read over the questions online, it included nonsense like "Why should you follow driving rules? A) Because that's how you keep your license and don't have to pay a fine B) Because it's the right thing to do and C) I don't I'm a rebel rawr" Like obviously my answer is A but am I supposed to pick B? Also I hear the bit where you have to drive slow for seven seconds is tough. Also also I hate tests they make me nervous.
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Apr 20, 2015 17:04
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Um obviously your answer should be C, actually! Your post made me go check out my study book they gave me, which is still on my bookshelf next to a bunch of super outdated travel books and other guidebooks I acquired during my first year in Taiwan. I just flipped to a random page looking for questions about morality or whatever and this one made me laugh:  As you can see my practice tests had the correct answer on the side, so even if my instinct told me something else, as long as I could remember "they expect an answer like X", I could pass the test without literally memorizing every question. I mean, yeah, I don't know what every sign means but if you know 90% of them just by not being a vegetable, your odds are pretty good when you're only getting a small % of questions on the test. I didn't get 100 on the test or anything, nor did I study beyond flipping through that book once. And yeah, the English was really quite horrid in this book but when I went to take the test it was much better, so they must have revised it at some point, and this was years ago now. Ah, memories. 
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Apr 20, 2015 17:19
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poetrywhore posted:I got told there were a bunch of questions about what the signs mean and how the meanings changed based on shape/color of the sign, etc. When I read over the questions online, it included nonsense like "Why should you follow driving rules? A) Because that's how you keep your license and don't have to pay a fine B) Because it's the right thing to do and C) I don't I'm a rebel rawr" Like obviously my answer is A but am I supposed to pick B? Also I hear the bit where you have to drive slow for seven seconds is tough. Also also I hate tests they make me nervous. Do you have a link to the guide online? I'm thinking of getting a license since my IDP expires in September and I might not make it back to the US to renew. Otherwise, I'm thinking of switching my license back home to Texas, since they apparently have reciprocity with Taiwan, and I have family there. And I can renew online. Not like Ohio, where my license will expire next year and I'm only allowed to renew by mail if I'm active duty military, so I literally have to make a trip back home just to get my license renewed.
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Apr 21, 2015 00:25
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Seriously it's so insanely easy to get a scooter license in Taiwan. I can't drive a car and I got one. The questions are not hard at all and if saying you would help somebody out if you saw an accident is morally offensive to you then I think you have bigger issues that Taiwan cannot solve(welcome to join a buxiban though) I looked into transferring the license too, it varies by state but one issue I remember seeing is that while Taiwan divides into three categories (50 cc, 100-150, and huge) it seems like some places would just have licenses for the 50 cc and huge only. I don't want to drive a Harley 
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Apr 21, 2015 03:39
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hitension posted:. The questions are not hard at all and if saying you would help somebody out if you saw an accident is morally offensive to you then I think you have bigger issues that Taiwan cannot solve(welcome to join a buxiban though)
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Apr 21, 2015 03:45
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YF19pilot posted:Do you have a link to the guide online? I'm thinking of getting a license since my IDP expires in September and I might not make it back to the US to renew. Otherwise, I'm thinking of switching my license back home to Texas, since they apparently have reciprocity with Taiwan, and I have family there. And I can renew online. Not like Ohio, where my license will expire next year and I'm only allowed to renew by mail if I'm active duty military, so I literally have to make a trip back home just to get my license renewed. You could let your US license expire like all the cool kids 
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Apr 21, 2015 03:50
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Yeah my home state usually does renewals by mail but in the time since I left, they added some new "proof of birth" (thanks Obummer?) requirement that means I have to go in person and show my birth certificate at least once before I am eligible to use renewal by mail. So I can sleep easy knowing that my expired license will cost me $5 per month past its expiration to renew, if I ever do go back to get it renewed. I have already accrued several hundred dollars in potential revenue for my state. I should...probably...go home at some point. Nah.
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Apr 21, 2015 04:00
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POCKET CHOMP posted:Yeah my home state usually does renewals by mail but in the time since I left, they added some new "proof of birth" (thanks Obummer?) requirement that means I have to go in person and show my birth certificate at least once before I am eligible to use renewal by mail. I was being kind of facetious but jeez what state is that? In my state you can renew within 4 years of the thing expiring online (no mail option even exists) and after that you just have to apply for a new one as if you never had one--which while annoying isn't a 5 buck/month fee.
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Apr 21, 2015 04:04
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I timed my first vacation home in two years to be the week before the one-year mark after my licence expired, which in my home state meant I didn't have to take the driving test again. Still had to go in person to the DMV and fill out the paperwork though.
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Apr 21, 2015 04:19
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Self-quoting due to relevance:duckfarts posted:I drove a 50cc for about 3 years and drove that fucker into the ground, and happened upon buying a very lightly used 125cc scooter(standard, nothing sporty but was reasonably current at the time) and still use it now. 50cc scooters are fine for commuting and have enough power to let you zip through traffic and get speeding tickets just fine. I wouldn't take those up a mountain though because at some point you'll be walking it up like the Flintstones. They're tiny and you can pretty much make your own parking spaces by moving scooters around. They're also really light pretty much to the point where you could probably throw one if you wanted; it makes moving it around for parking and such a snap. duckfarts posted:Some gems from the written test question set: Not quite fully Taiwan related, but there's an NPR article about a site/service to help Chinese people choose less-terrible English names. i think morphine was a cool name though  http://bestenglishname.com/ (trigger warning: simplified)
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Apr 21, 2015 04:40
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http://bestenglishname.com/blog-category/bu-yao-zuo-de-shi Well, these are all great
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Apr 21, 2015 04:50
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Magna Kaser posted:I was being kind of facetious but jeez what state is that? In my state you can renew within 4 years of the thing expiring online (no mail option even exists) and after that you just have to apply for a new one as if you never had one--which while annoying isn't a 5 buck/month fee. It's Hawaii. I'm sure there is probably some upper limit on time where I would just have to take the test again as if I never had a license, but I don't know. To be honest, I intended to go home at some point before it expired, or within one year, or two years, or...it's 2015 now? gently caress.
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Apr 21, 2015 06:53
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Well, the good (bad?) news is, you'd have had to retake the test and apply for a new one after it had been expired for 1 year, so..
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Apr 21, 2015 07:04
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Are you sure about that? I'm almost certain that was not the case when I checked for Hawaii, specifically because I had a 1-year grace period after the license expired but before the $5/month fee kicked in, so that doesn't make sense. ...Not that this has anything to do with the thread!
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Apr 21, 2015 08:29
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POCKET CHOMP posted:Are you sure about that? I'm almost certain that was not the case when I checked for Hawaii, specifically because I had a 1-year grace period after the license expired but before the $5/month fee kicked in, so that doesn't make sense. City and County of Honolulu posted:21. What happens if I let my Hawaii license expire? Stupid quote code adds a " to the end of the URL that keeps it from linking directly to the section of the page. hailthefish fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Apr 21, 2015 |
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Apr 21, 2015 08:41
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Ah, well it certainly does seem like it has changed, which goes to show how long ago I was checking. Thanks for the heads up, though it doesn't really matter anyways, haha. The chances are much better of me getting a Taiwanese car license plus an international license if I ever need to go back and drive in America rather than me renewing my American license.
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Apr 21, 2015 09:30
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whoa, check this awesome poo poo out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKKDh2LrNI0 Straight-line test is at 4:00 in. Other videos include car driving tests, complete with VERY detailed descriptions of scoring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X3tRH1UFls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--ZYkTKyVDM
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Apr 21, 2015 09:47
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duckfarts posted:Not quite fully Taiwan related, but there's an NPR article about a site/service to help Chinese people choose less-terrible English names. ffs
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Apr 21, 2015 10:12
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So right now there's about five satellite TV news vans sitting around the block outside my apartment. Anybody know of anything that's supposed to be happening near Xinyi-Anhe station today?
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Apr 22, 2015 06:55
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Moon Slayer posted:So right now there's about five satellite TV news vans sitting around the block outside my apartment. Anybody know of anything that's supposed to be happening near Xinyi-Anhe station today? To Capture a Laowai.
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Apr 22, 2015 07:23
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Moon Slayer posted:So right now there's about five satellite TV news vans sitting around the block outside my apartment. Anybody know of anything that's supposed to be happening near Xinyi-Anhe station today? Hello Moon Slayer, have a seat.
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Apr 22, 2015 08:10
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Maybe they're doing a story on The Most Boring Foreigner in Taiwan and they're waiting to interview me.
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Apr 22, 2015 08:24
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I actually had a camera crew from CTI come and film me yesterday in a staged class for some program about international schools compared to the regular chinese system.
GoutPatrol fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Sep 8, 2021 |
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Apr 22, 2015 09:12
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I have a friend that grew up in the US but now wants to move back to Taiwan to be close to her parents. She's spent a few years teaching at public schools in the states and I believe has a degree related to education (from what I can tell that doesn't really matter?). Do you guys think that she should go the cram schools route or look for something different with that background? She's Taiwanese so she won't have the "foreigner" look going for her at cram schools.
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Apr 22, 2015 09:29
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mirror123 posted:I have a friend that grew up in the US but now wants to move back to Taiwan to be close to her parents. She's spent a few years teaching at public schools in the states and I believe has a degree related to education (from what I can tell that doesn't really matter?). Do you guys think that she should go the cram schools route or look for something different with that background? She's Taiwanese so she won't have the "foreigner" look going for her at cram schools. Just teach at an international school, much better pay and conditions. The only downside is the increased work load and dealing with rich snobby kids
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Apr 22, 2015 09:30
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