(upbeat music)
- Hello.
(speaking in foreign language)
I'm Rachel and I'm living in Taipei, Taiwan.
And today, as you can see, I'm doing a takeover for ITA.
And you're going to learn a little bit about what it's like
to teach and work and live in Taipei.
And especially during this time around the world,
where most people are on lockdown,
but here in Taiwan, life is sort of normal.
So, I can explain a bit more
in the next few slides and videos.
I'll see ya for the day.
Just waiting for the traffic stop
and I'll let you know a little bit about myself.
So, I've been in Taiwan for two and a half years
and each year I sign a new contract with a school.
And I did two years at a previous school.
And now this year, I started at a private school.
So each year I've actually moved
to different places in Taiwan,
just because I've been wanting to get closer to the city.
And I'm right in the middle of Taipei
and behind me you can see there is a really big park.
Right in the middle of the city
and I live close to it and my school's close to it.
So that's really nice to see around here.
So here's what my classroom looks like.
It's not too big but I only have 10 students,
so it's not horrible.
It's very much geared towards small learners.
(upbeat music)
(feet tapping)
So I just wanted to touch base
and tell you a little bit 'bout how Taiwan is right now
with this whole pandemic happening.
So, we actually have never been closed
because I work at a private school,
they had the chance to choose whether or not
they wanted to close when all the public schools closed
for two weeks after Chinese New Year.
And so, thankfully I've had a job through this whole time
and I haven't had to switch over to teaching online,
which I think would be very difficult
with the whole class of three and four year olds.
But, for my school now, they have required us
to wear a mask at all times.
I just took it off now, so I could do this video
and my students are downstairs
having their little break time with my co-teacher.
And she is Taiwanese, but she speaks English
and she helps me take care of the students
and help teach a little bit, but mostly just,
kind of deal with little behavior things.
- [Class] (speaking in foreign language)
- So, it is now my lunch break
and the kids will be sleeping during this time.
They take a two hour nap and they will eat before that,
so I'm there to watch them, as they eat
and then we put them down for the nap
and our Taiwanese co-teacher will watch them as they sleep.
So right now I usually will leave school.
Sometimes I'll go eat at home
or other times I'll eat the school's food
or sometimes I even will go out to eat
somewhere around here.
Eating out in Taiwan is quite cheap
depending on where you're going and.
- [Class] (laughing)
- Here in Taiwan, the semesters will start in September
and after Chinese New Year.
So, if you look at a few months before then,
that's when a lot of places will be hiring.
Good question, my last two years,
I was actually at a public school
and it was a bit of different program.
Wasn't really into it after two years.
But then I decided I want something to change
and I really like working with younger students
and they're cute but little monsters at times
and I have found that private schools will pay you more
but you also need to come in
with a little bit more experience
and they are expecting really great things
because usually they have a bit more affluent families
paying for their child to go.
So I will work from nine to 12
and then two to five.
So, that comes out to 30 hours
and I also do tutoring in the.
Yum, I love hotpot.
It's such a great thing to eat
when you are wanting some more food
or just something like warm.
'cause right now it's not really that warm out
but, I am gonna go get some groceries.
I usually go to like the morning market
but this past weekend was a holiday
and I was out of town.
So, now I'm gonna go into the grocery store
and maybe I'll show you some interesting finds.
Just got home and thought I would show you
a little bit of my apartment.
So, I actually live in a shared, two level apartment.
Right now, I am on the fifth floor
and there are four bedrooms on this floor and one upstairs.
And actually, my landlord lives upstairs.
And so, this is my room.
It's a bit of a mess but that's sometimes how it goes.
(light switch clicking)
Just a standard bathroom
and we actually have a bath tub, which is quite rare.
And, big table.
Nice, full size kitchen, with even an actual oven.
And over here,
(door squeaking)
we have washer and dryer,
which is quite rare in Taiwan as well.
All right guys, so I'm gonna be signing off here.
I hope I showed you and told you
as much information as you wanted and as always,
if you still have questions or comments
or just need help with anything about Taiwan,
I will gladly help you.
I can message you anytime you want
over on my personal Instagram
and just, ya, please let me know
if you have anything you need.
I highly recommend coming to Taiwan and teaching
as soon all this pandemic stuff goes down
and it's safe to travel again.
And, the people here are so nice.
The jobs are really fun.
They're really nice to work at
and this whole country is just beautiful.
There's the ocean, there's mountains, there's city,
like, there's everything here that anyone could ever need.
So, please consider coming to Taiwan.
I love to meet people from ITA.
Some of my best friends here have come through ITA as well.
Goodbye!
(upbeat music)