So I was in London again, trying to recuperate from my recent adventure in Guatemala (and subsequently, Holland) and looking for ESL teaching work, somewhere in the world. I put several messages on ESL boards stating I was looking for work. I listed some favorite destinations (Latin America, Europe, Indonesia) and listed the places I did not want to go (Korea, Japan, Taiwan). I got dozens of replies... mostly form letters from Korean agencies who obviously hadn't read my posting. Among them was one that to this day I'm not sure why I read. It was from a Canadian recruiter for a company in Taiwan. He said that he realized that I'd stated that I didn't want to work in Taiwan but that this deal might interest me. I guess I was impressed that he'd actually taken the time to read my original post.

He described an ideal teaching situation. Mon.-Fri. No evenings. No weekends. Big foreign network/ community. All western amenities. Wonderful fair employers. Excellent pay. Opportunity for private evening classes.

I swallowed hard, knowing full well that I'd never been very enchanted with the modern Chinese culture of business and industry, and FACE... and accepted a position.

Thus began my Taiwanese experience, which I am about to describe in the following pages.