Figuring out if this city would be ideal living for someone like me

Hello Charlotte and welcome to Expat.com!

A new thread has been created on Taiwan forum for better visibility.

Do not hesitate to browse through the forum, it may help.

Harmonie.

Hi Charlotte, I've also just had an interview with a school in Hsinchu and they've given me two days to decide if i'll take the job. However, i'm uncertain about moving to Hsinchu and the research i've done hasn't been very helpful - my questions are similar to yours - i'm 29, single and would prefer to end up somewhere with some kind of social scene. Have you found out any more info about living in Hsinchu?

have either of you two accepted the offer or have you found out any other information about the school. I have already signed the contract, but now I am really hesitate because of all the bad reviews I have been reading. any help would be much appreciated!

thanks

Hi

I am female (age 30) currently looking for teaching posts in Hsinchu with my partner (he is 29). We have been researching the area and local schools including Korrnell. Did at anyone accept a position at Korrnell/decisde to live in Hsinchu?

I'm going to copy/paste my own experience and be available for followup. tl;dr: STAY AWAY. THERE ARE BETTER OPTIONS. IF YOU ARE A CERTIFIED TEACHER, HSINCHU COUNTY SCHOOLS ARE A MUCH BETTER CHOICE!

Hope I was clear

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Chalk one comment up for staying away. I worked for 1 1/2 years. I got sick of the pedantic management style (yes, even for foreign teachers) which required things like weekly marking checks (they tried a bi-weekly check, and claimed you'd get a bonus for good marks - guess how that worked out!), surprise/out of contract field trips that came back late (helloooooooo, Taipei Flora expo!), monthly weekend work, and some of the unhappiest Taiwanese co-workers you can imagine, knowing they get paid half as much and work twice as hard. They once told me I didn't "utilize the chalkboard enough" - haha, consider that their educational technology. I was also once yelled at for not using a red pen. Another time, I was told I was using the school books too much. Then told the opposite later.

Now, almost all of the above things aren't that bad if your boss is good. Thing is, these people know nothing about education, don't care about what works in education, and are too pig-headed to do anything constructive. THEN they tell you how to do your job after pandering and trying to claim you're a "professional teacher, so follow our rules/respect us!"

Oh, keep in mind 80% of their Chinese teachers left last year.

I quit after they avoided paying me $7,000 NT on a paycheck. It was after a pre-determined holiday I told them I'd take unpaid at the beginning of last contract (I still kick myself for re-signing in the first place when I could've started year 2 in Taiwan in the public schools) - they took off 30,000 NT when it should've been 23k.

(Second) tl;dr: the management is so into the for-profit education model that they have no idea what they're doing and I feel quite embarrassed for the school as a whole, knowing how much parents pay.

I had an interview via Skype for the position of PE teacher.

I am sceptical about the role a little as it would be me on my own and a few Chinese PE teachers . I am also thinking if Hinschu may be a little isolated for me.

Dear Charlotte,


I  have also been offered a position by Korrnell Academy & I have 3 days to decide!!
I have a few questions to ask you, I hope you can help me…

(a) Did you decide to sign the contract with Korrnell Academy? If so, how was it working there?
(b) Did you decide to live in Hsinchu? Were you happy?
© I would also like somewhere with a bit of a social scene - how does Hsinchu compare?


I look forward to your feedback.

Hsinchu is nice place has beautiful scenic area and is most south after city to stay after Taipei coz of the lower property prize and is one of the Taiwan's industrial city