Shannon
- 2008-08-11
Forgive me for my lack of eloquence I have tried so hard to pursue in my earlier blogs. The overwhelming anxiety of a hemispherical move can take its toll sometimes. Many things have changed, and I am sure each and every one of you is as anxious as I am to finally get the story.
I arrived into Taipei, Taiwan on January 28th, two days after my 24th birthday. Actually, my plans took me to an unknown industrial city 30km outside of Taipei called Tao Yuan. Little did I know at the time, but this city was the bane of my existence for the 3 ensuing days. Shannon and I had made arrangements with a school called ESL4Asia.com. I should have known something wasnt quite right with the play on words with the 4 and the .com in the company name. However, I felt that this place was perfect for Shannon and I. It was far enough away from the action of Taipei, yet it still was close enough to bus into Taipei every weekend. I could never have been so wrong. We arrived during the Chinese New Year, so the entire town was virtually abandoned. The woman that met us at the airport drove the company car (a 1985 Honda with no working lights) to our school (a miserly excuse for a school and almost indistinguishable from a road side restaurant or hostel). Then she led us to our accommodations (actually, converted classrooms into quasi-rooms on the 2nd floor of the school, where we shared a bathroom and kitchen with 200 Kindergarten-aged children). Then, she politely left us for dead with no key, no instructions, no support, and a simple Ill see you when school starts. Needless to say, Shannon and I were thoroughly unimpressed, especially with the cockroaches that tucked us in every night.
So like any other normal human beings, we left. We voiced our opinions to the principle (who happens to live in Americastill cant figure that out?) and explained that we didnt feel comfortable even trying to begin a year long contract with the school.
Hello All,
I happened to stumble across this website and noticed a handful of posts regarding ESL4Asia and Sally Wu. I felt motivated to share my experiences and thoughts.
I had the pleasure of working with Sally Wu during the summer of 2002 at two of her summer camps (in Taoyuan, Taiwan and Shenzhen, China). I truly enjoyed the experience and would recommend Sally Wu and ESL4Asia. The salary was excellent for a summer position, and she even paid for airfare from the United States (which is unheard of for summer programs.) My accomodations were modest, but always clean and comfortable. We worked long hours, but were always treated well.
During the summer of 2004, I made arrangements to return to Asia to work with Sally Wu. The camp I had planned on working at was canceled. However, Sally went out of her way to secure a position for me at another site in China with a different employer. Periodically, Sally would check in to make sure that my experience was a positive one.
The bottom line is that work in Asia is very different compared with the conditions in the United States. Nothing will be perfect, and flexibility is the key. Keeping this in mind, I have come to respect Sally Wu and would love the opportunity to work with her in the future.
I was not asked to post this message, but instead, I felt compelled to respond. Please note that I have posted my email address and would be more than glad to respond to any of your inquiries.