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Haraksha posted:I am not bringing my girlfriend and I don't think URL is. It's possible mad carl might bring his. No idea! There's no reason you can't and I think mad carl even invited lady friends to come along as well. It's a personal choice. How does your girl tolerate horrible neckbeards? Heh that's exactly it. I'm really just worried she'll be beyond bored as gently caress. I'll probably come and she probably won't.
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Jun 29, 2012 16:08
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I'm on facebook (Eric) but I don't see any event or the like to sign up for unless you're talking about the Brian/Frank/Max exchange. Anyhow yeah I'll be going but GF probably still isn't. See you all by exit 6 ~7:30-7:45. edit- Looks like she will be coming. Also I'm wearing a blue shirt that says Piranhas on it for what that's worth but I don't imagine you folks will be hard to spot. USDA Choice fucked around with this message at 08:19 on Jun 30, 2012 |
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Jun 30, 2012 07:37
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You are already considered to have the minimum required coverage if you are officially a foreign resident by the US code. You qualify for this if you were outside the US for 330 full days of the past year, or if you are a "bona fide" foreign resident, see below. Healthcare law ctrl-f for 911(d) Said 911(d), ctrl-f for qualified indvidual What is bona fide?
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Jul 7, 2012 18:58
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Entirely speculation, but to me it seems they don't want to bother rather than actually making any judgment about coverage. Actual enforcement and oversight would be quite expensive if they wanted to do a good job of checking up on foreigners. I suspect that income taxes are reasoned the same way; if you're making less than ~$90k a year, is it worth IRS time to go after comparatively little fish? I doubt it, I think they're more concerned about taxpayers who make seven figures and move to Singapore. And even if they are deciding it based on the coverage, it's still probably a wise decision. People who are able to stay abroad long enough to qualify under that definition probably aren't hurting for money even if we aren't exactly Bill Gates. The criteria provided are stringent enough that someone just visiting relatives in Mexico for an extended time or even a full academic-year student studying in Paris still wouldn't qualify.
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Jul 7, 2012 19:19
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Haraksha posted:You get used to it. You're going to need a scooter most likely and that's way more dangerous than being in a car. Doesn't anyone ever think about the paint job! Also, highway driving is totally fine. I drove Taipei->Kenting and back and it was pretty much identical to driving in America. The only odd thing we saw was a car in the opposite-direction lane that managed to flip itself over and wedge itself between where the offramp splits from the main highway. It had happened pretty recently too as it was still on fire.
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Jul 16, 2012 07:28
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I find it very helpful while walking and driving to pretend you don't notice people. Of course, be super vigilant and don't do stupid poo poo, but drivers here seem to be even more aggressive if you can see it coming and figure you'll get out of the way. I'd like to reiterate the "don't do stupid poo poo" and keep your eyes ultra peeled but I swear that helps the drivers cut down a little on crazy driving.
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Jul 16, 2012 19:54
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I subbed a friend's adult class for a few weeks and only one out of the five talked without being asked a direct question. These were all adults that took night school classes after work specifically because they they felt needed it and it was relevant to their jobs. You can take a horse to water...
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Jul 23, 2012 09:15
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HKG-TPE is actually called the Golden Route (seriously) because at one point it had the highest gross of any flight segment in the world. Cathay+Dragonair alone run ~20 flights daily in addition to tons of other airlines. With 7 days you've got a lot of time, you could go to Taroko Gorge, or some of the tiny islands like Green Island, Kinmen, etc... Or you could spend it all in Taipei. The 101, Danshui, and Shilin night market are 3 of the bigger tourist attractions. For lodging any of the hostel sites will work in the cities, maybe more rural places too.
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Jul 24, 2012 05:16
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What did you do? Are you licensed? IIRC the penalty for driving unlicensed is 6000NT which is a lot more expensive than most actual tickets.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:29
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url posted:My last chauffeur wouldn't do the 3am 7-11 run, and Miss url doesn't drive (yet). Did you get a ticket for being out past curfew?
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Jul 31, 2012 11:58
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You mean to tell me Taiwanese bosses do not care for the well-being of their employees? I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
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Aug 2, 2012 20:30
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Well it's also super common in southern China; in Guangxi, Guangdong and close-by provinces you'll find many speakers that lack a retroflex and the have their own messed up pronunciations of others too.
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Sep 7, 2012 13:44
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Sorry I'm just curious, where in South Carolina is rent more than Chicago and parts of NYC?
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Sep 20, 2012 02:49
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Gumog posted:What are the arguments of going to live and teach in Taiwan instead of mainland China? Do you think there any drawbacks? Taiwan is generally cleaner wealthier more open/friendly I've had people personally give me poo poo after learning I'm American for the declining value of the dollar because it lowered the value of their forex reserves.  People in Taiwan are a little bit better informed (though not by a lot) but even if 'wrong' about something not going to be so overtly hostile and VIVA LA CHINA  like in the mainland.It's cleaner, which is pretty simple. Less trash on the streets, air quality is better but still likely not as good as wherever you're from. For vacations it's not a big deal but for day-to-day living for a lot of people it's a factor. You'll also make more money here (fact) and get screwed around less by bosses (hearsay). China keeping the RMB artificially low hurts your wages denominated in RMB, so that 5000 RMB/month + rent subsidy or whatever in China is lower than 45000 TWD in Taiwan, even after cost of living. Those are the big points that most people decide on. Put together, it all adds up to a quite nice place to live and work. Main drawbacks: It's not 'real' China (re: tourism and job 'experience' mostly) Traditional Chinese is not terribly useful if you go home and put it to work. It is however fairly easy to get up to speed on Simplified. No one knows it (people will say "Taiwan? Oh I love eating Thai food!")
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Sep 24, 2012 03:12
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quadrophrenic posted:I think $2500 (~US$85) would be pretty okay, even a little on the generous side. Maybe $1000 for food, $800 for booze, $700 for tchotchkes and cab fare. You could keep it much lower if you eat like a broke resident, but you can get some pretty nice food over four days for $1000. You can definitely get "decent" for 20000. SH/SC thread as far as actual part selection: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3458091 They have a mid-range/sweet-spot setup but also a budget setup. To buy: Guanghua. I was trying forever to find decent prices online here in Taiwan but seriously just go to Guanghua. Go in with a list of parts you want and they'll have most of them available. You might want to have 3 potential graphics cards, 3 processors, 3 mobos, etc... picked out since they have decent stock but it's not like they have acres of warehouse space. I picked my new computer up yesterday in fact. 25000 for the tower (MiniITX actually) itself, +monitor was almost 5000, didn't buy an OS. The prices range from same as Newegg to 10% more expensive for most components, but that's okay since as far as I'm concerned Newegg is like a little gift from the computing gods. Some things were way more expensive like the Radeon 7870 was 10000+ TWD for no particular reason, but go in knowing the approximate value of each part and you'll be fine. BIOS will always be English unless you ask for Chinese. Which even then they might not have readily available? OS they'll just buy and install whatever you tell either Chinese or English. Also they put everything together for you free if you can wait a couple hours, so you don't have to deal with RMAs. (At least not immediately...)
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Sep 27, 2012 11:13
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Donraj posted:Can anyone tell me anything about Fo Guang University? I'm looking at it for language study and maybe their Master of Buddhist Studies program, but other than a semester in Hong Kong all of my Chinese Studies experience is on the mainland, so I don't know much of anything about the place yet. Fo Guang university posted:On average, a ten square meter apartment can cost NTD 1,000 to 2,000 a month.  I know you'll need more than ten square meters, but even extrapolating... That is monstrously cheap. I've never heard of Fo Guang before, but after some googling it appears to be way out in the sticks which makes the real estate market make sense. Yilan is already a pretty small city, and you appear to be a good 5 miles away from it based on Google Maps. If you like (really) small-town living it could be up your alley. Personally I'd be bored out of my mind. As for actual instruction, I don't know that they'd attract the same quality of teachers as NTU or NTNU would. That said, I suspect you'd be speaking plenty of Chinese out there, and perhaps even Taiwanese too!
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Oct 21, 2012 09:18
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url posted:Bugger! Absolutely works, did that this August. I just opted for 2-3 days, didn't get that same day service but it was an option. It costs an arm and a leg since you're basically paying for a private parcel service and for a guy to wait in line but it works.
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Oct 21, 2012 13:39
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dtb posted:Meh, I'm at NTNU right now for their language program. Just buy the books and study on your own. The teachers aren't particularly good here and I happen to have gotten the worst in the program. Class is just a waste of time that I could be using to teach myself the grammer, memorize vocab or practice conversation on my own instead of trying to figure out what the hell she is trying to teach, because she is horrible at it. I was at NTNU for 2 semesters and my first semester I had easily the best Chinese teacher I've ever had, probably among the top 3 teachers I've had in any subject at any level. The second semester teacher sucked, though the classmates I had that semester were also disappointed and said they had good teachers previously. I don't believe that Taipei schools are really that great, but a prestige/pay hierarchy exists in most any industry. I'd also disagree that school is just a means to a visa. Drilling/repetition is important, speaking with classmates and being able to ask questions about usage is huge. Even a crappy teacher will be able to answer a direct question about distinctions that won't at all appear obvious to a second language learner like us. 生活 vs 人生, 跨年 vs 過年 for example.
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Oct 21, 2012 17:56
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I don't think people are lying to Ravendas, praise is just handed out too readily here to foreigners speaking Chinese that it makes being complimented rather meaningless since it lumps together everyone that can toss out a 你好 and 謝謝. How common is this exchange?  : 你好 : 誒！？你的國語很棒喔，非常標準！: ？？？
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Oct 22, 2012 05:54
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JohnnyTreachery posted:so forumosa suggests ICLP is geared mostly towards people pursuing graduate studies in Chinese, and that its students end up speaking pretty stilted bookish Mandarin inferior to MTC, though they're obviously better at reading/writing by virtue of the massive workload. I really liked the MTC at 師大, and I really recommend the intensive classes if you go, no sense going halfway. I mentioned it just a few posts earlier, one of my teachers was absolutely amazing, the other kind of sucked, but great classmates are what made it for me. In my class we had: -Me -Half white/Taiwanese 40-year old guy who used to consult in the states, wanted something new -American guy, parents Taiwanese, was an accountant for a few years before deciding it sucked -Korean girl, had pretty much just graduated, wanted to teach Chinese back in Korea eventually -Russian girl, had studied in the mainland previously, went to study Economics in Urumqi after leaving Taiwan -Japanese guy, was sent to learn Chinese by his company Mitsui for a year -Vietnamese girl, planned on graduate work in Buddhist studies We talked about tons of different stuff and it was usually quite fun. We discussed current events mostly, but really anything we wanted. I can't speak to the ICLP's classes, but if you only do the ICLP work then retreat into a gooncave for the rest of the time I guess it's feasible your spoken Chinese would suck.
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Oct 29, 2012 03:55
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The short: Samsung S3 or HTC One X. Or Samsung S2 for a more 'budget' option. The phone thread in Inspect Your Gadgets is pretty decent if you want more depth. For plans and pricing: Like duckfarts said it's generally 2+ years, you pay a chunk for the subsidized phone upfront, and another chunk to prepay 5 months of service worth or so. I calculated mine out and I think my phone + plan were ~35k over the life of the 30 month contract. Unlimited data, a few free minutes a month, but also for me at least the first 3 minutes of every call are free, which is quite nice since few calls require much more than that. As a foreigner some carriers might want a deposit from you.
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Nov 19, 2012 06:34
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Haraksha posted:I honestly don't need a phone that's all that powerful. A media player and webfunction more or less do it for me. It will probably get more use as a wifi hub for my tablet than anything else. If that's all you need and you want to Wi-Fi tether, consider a Razr Maxx. It has a fuckoff-huge battery and does other smartphoney things decently enough. The gigantor battery lets you tether for a lot longer since that absolutely murders battery. If you're gonna be tethering around power anyway I'd go a little cheaper with an S2 or One S.
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Nov 20, 2012 10:13
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If I read your post right, I think you may be confusing the recent RAZR MAXX (dumbest name ever...) with the Razr from 2004 or whatever. I have no idea why they branded it a RAZR, I thought they were rebooting flip phones at first too, but it's a regular wide-and-flat touchscreen phone just like almost all recent handsets, and it runs Android 4.0. The screen and internals aren't super high-end so it's not some market beater, but it is definitely worthy of a look and is the battery phone. Tethering should work out of the box on Android phones in Taiwan too.
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Nov 20, 2012 14:10
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dtb posted:Yeah, each individual language input is fine Maybe you used an old version of Android? Android has literally the exact same functionality as the iOS, tap to cycle or tap and hold to choose. And I've never hit the home key going for space bar, it's pretty well-sized.
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Nov 23, 2012 08:04
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dtb posted:Galaxy Nexus running 4.1 now. Your wish is my command. Android 4.1.1 HTC One X  
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Nov 24, 2012 03:44
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TetsuoTW posted:Like basically anything that involves paperwork in Taiwan, it depends almost entirely on the person you deal with. I got a contract once without even a scan of my passport and a month or two into a one-year ARC, and I've been refused a contract just because I was a month or two into a one-year ARC. There's neither rhyme nor reason behind any of it beyond the individual's friendliness and their willingness to make any kind of effort for a foreigner. I just recently got my scooter license renewed. Last time it was only 4 months since I got it to the end of my ARC. I walked in with the proper docs and she gave me 5 years this time and told me not to tell anyone. She could have refused and made me retest because it had been so long since the original expired. Also when I applied for my ARC I went in with everything in triplicate and copies originals and had everything ready didn't need to use their copy machine. I only had a 1" photo instead of 2" but she said it was ok. She seemed hesitant and easily could have said no and been in the right. A smile and some preparation really go far with bureaucracy
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Nov 25, 2012 14:07
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Moon Slayer posted:What's the best way to get out to Taoyuan airport? My flight leaves next Wednesday at 9:00am, so I'm thinking I'll probably have to go to Taipei the day before and then spend the night. Are there any shuttles out there early in the morning? Or, someone at work suggested I just hire a car from here (DaJia, near Taichung) since Taoyuan is not all that close to Taipei anyway. Since Taichung is an actual city there should be a bus straight to the Taoyuan airport from somewhere downtownish. With a 9:00 AM flight if you want to arrive there at say 7:00AM you'd need to leave Taichung awfully early. If you stay up the whole night before a flight anyway, I'd go with that. There are always buses running. You could take the HSR too. I imagine you're familiar with the Taichung HSR in that it's a little out in the sticks, the Taoyuan HSR isn't close to the airport either (they're building a spur though!) but there is a convenient & super cheap bus from the HSR station to the airport which takes maybe 20 minutes. You could do both of those in the morning from Taipei too, it's ~3x closer to Taoyuan than Taichung is. I wouldn't take the normal train, there's no point. Bus or HSR should always be superior based on whatever your cost/convenience/time priorities are. Don't hire a car... that seems like a supreme waste of cash unless in addition to teaching you're also slinging coke on the side. But if for some reason money isn't an issue, go right ahead.
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Dec 4, 2012 13:58
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moflika posted:Awesome, I was planning to try to get to Taiwan somehow eventually. If I include teaching English, then my chances will be much greater! The tax hit will hit less if I know it's coming. You mentioned coming in on an Italian passport, I'd avoid that. Because America granted Taiwanese visa-free entry earlier in the fall, starting this past Nov 1st Americans now get 90 days visa-free in Taiwan like most other developed countries enjoyed previously. If you come to teach English, a work permit can only be issued to passport holders of English-speaking countries. Entering on an Italian passport would only complicate the immigration process, if not make it downright impossible.
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Dec 12, 2012 04:55
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Taiwan is doing comparatively well. As far as Taiwan being the next Greece, that was on some lovely evening news program. The broadcast was disgusting and dishonest. If I recall correctly the headline over the broadcast read: 希臘化嗎？ which is just plain fear-mongering. Getting slightly worse while other countries are getting hammered is not cause for running around like headless chickens. Numbers Haraksha touched on for others: Unemployment | Growth Some hot-shot analysts have projected Taiwan to have the 3rd highest per-capita income in 2050. That may or may not happen, but the fact that it's in the realm of possibility and is being discussed by heavyweight institutions shows that Taiwan incomes are indeed on the (steep) rise. Does a rising tide lift all boats? Well, sort of, but like skysedge noted, some more than others. From 1990-2006, Taiwan's Gini index rose slightly. The USA's rose by about the same amount. Over the same period, China's has risen far more drastically, starting around the same level as Taiwan in 1990 but breaking 40 for the same time period to 2006, and perhaps nearing 50 now. If anyone has more recent info for Taiwan I'd love to get a link, I couldn't find anything in the past 5 years since the global economy has soured. Speculation: I'd imagine it's nudged higher, but not astronomically so. Interesting to note is the % below poverty line. 1.16% seems to be incredibly optimistic, but if their methodology is sound and they are just generous with what is considered "poverty" then increasing by .26 points on .9% is the real eye popper. That could push the recent Gini index a lot higher and would definitely feed resentment. The healthcare system won't collapse since they actually have the political will to tinker with taxes here for things that need it (  ) even if there is disagreement as to what exactly the best remedy is. For the MRT honestly all I have to go on is hearsay that it's a clusterfuck because of politics and corruption, not because of any fundamental financial instability. If it really were that latter, a fare increase from the already-rock-bottom prices would be an easy fix. Pensions I don't know. As far as only finding low-wage jobs upon graduation, that seems pretty standard, Taiwan has experienced diploma inflation just like other wealthy countries. Westerners with college degrees are having a way harder time finding work, and entry-level is entry-level no matter where you are.From what's available, it seems to me that if people are getting angry about the larger situation (of course individuals will be angry at their job loss/whatever), then it seems to me that they don't understand Taiwan is weathering the downturn pretty well, and poised to really come on strong in the next few decades.
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Dec 14, 2012 05:27
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Echoing them. For example if you're in Linkou you're absolutely screwed, I hope you like getting stared at while drinking alone in a 7-11. Yonghe however is more urban/downtown than many other places that are technically in Taipei City.
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Dec 15, 2012 17:03
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Haraksha posted:the thermometer wasn't designed to get hot. 
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Jan 9, 2013 07:29
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Oh so they gave you those outdoor weather thermometers to measure boiling water? Are you sure your school isn't trying to kill you? 
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Jan 9, 2013 10:29
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Oh. My. Zeus. posted:Hello everyone. I'm considering a teaching job in Hsinchu and they're telling me that I will need to get my bachelor's degree notarized by the Taiwanese embassy before arriving in the country. I can't find any solid information about this on the official Taiwan visa website, so I'm wondering if it's just a regulation for that specific company. Or, if it is common, does anyone have any experience? Does anyone know if a copy of the degree will work, or does it have to be the original? Are they trying to get you a resident visa immediately (as opposed to fly in and do the paperwork here)? If so, that makes sense. Theoretically someone somewhere down the line must see your original diploma and if they're gonna fork over a resident visa from abroad you'll need that notarized. Students coming to Taiwan for long-term degree study (i.e. not Chinese language) get resident visas right away, and they must do the same. It's not common, but that's because most schools won't have you do the visa crap while you're still abroad. You'd just land in Taiwan and say goodbye to your diploma for a couple weeks and hope it doesn't fall through a crack somewhere at a bureaucrat's desk. A photocopy isn't supposed to work, but ask anyone in the thread and the answer to any question regarding Taiwanese bureaucracy is "it depends." This paragraph all hearsay: I've heard that graduates of "lesser" schools have to get them notarized. I don't mean Penn State vs. Penn, but rather something like Leroy Jones's School of Carpentry and Good Math Learnin's that the Taiwanese government may never have heard of. I think I've heard chatter of South Africans having to get them notarized more often? Might be some racist thing, or perhaps there's more genuine documented fraud there too.
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Jan 10, 2013 13:12
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Pop in a card from or your country of choice. I've bought Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne this way.
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Jan 16, 2013 11:15
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Who's up for a monthly poker night during the week? First Wednesday at 7:30? I can't host (shoebox apartment) but hell I'd be satisfied holding it in a 7-11.
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Jan 18, 2013 03:03
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Doesn't have to be a Wednesay, Tuesday/Thursday work just as well, we could even do Monday. I just wanted to avoid the weekends since 1) people have poo poo going on and getting even a semi-consistent game would be impossible and 2) it's nice to have something in the middle of the week that isn't work.
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Jan 18, 2013 13:39
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Mook posted:Nobody can pick up a book for the first time and read pinyin and sound intelligible at all. If you just look at 是 or SHI for the first time you're going to say something that sounds like "SHE" instead of "SHHURR". True. Or if you're some of my classmates of courses past, you can pick up a book for an entire semester and 是/設/系 will still sound the same yet amazingly all still wrong.  Also, for anyone taking Haraksha's advice with the 丁, be careful. There could be more than one on the menu, and you might be getting diced anything.
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Jan 22, 2013 08:19
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Apply now and just mention the timeframe, at the very worst they'll tell you to check back in a couple months and they'll hopefully remember you then. Also, I know duckfarts posted about a writing job, check his thread post history if you're interested in that. Apartment... a friend of a friend had a decent $10k place listed in ShiDa night market, I can ask closer to when you're moving. How does this Tuesday Feb 5th 8:00pm work for poker? I think my building's basement has a good table for it I'll check later today.
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Feb 2, 2013 10:44
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Regarding poker, I'm gonna cancel it since not only was it last minute, but I think I'm supposed to register the time with my building management or we risk getting booted. What about March 5th instead of Feb 5th? People can plan ahead better. Also I'm thinking a cash game, buy in for anywhere between 100-500 dollars? I don't want it to be all serious business but it's gotta be worth at least a few beers. edit: I really like bold recently for some reason...
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Feb 4, 2013 06:22
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TetsuoTW posted:Hongkies  Thanks Bloodnose, I'm glad someone else agrees with me on how odd the very existence of the 101 is. It was clearly built as part of a dick-waving contest, it's not like Manhattan where the location was actually a contributing factor in making it tall since the only place to expand there is up. (Or bribe the city into creating landfill property.) No, instead it's a 101-story building in the middle of a bunch of 30/40 story buildings and it's just weird. Despite my hometown bias, I feel the skyline of Chicago for example is far superior since even though the Sears and Hancock are no longer the international giants they used to be, there's at least an actual skyline.
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Feb 22, 2013 11:07
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