...since we have arrived in Taiwan, looking forward to a great future. Time certainly flies when you are busy sorting yourself out and trying to get a steady foot on starting over in a new place, with new people and with little or no help. Sure there were promises, but the people who made them were not good at keeping them. Ah well, life goes on.
Looking back over the year, we have come a long way. The new environment was alien to us, and especially for me, language was a barrier, but I managed to improve myself, especially in the listening department. Just have to master the speaking now. We managed to get ourselves settled and find work in 4 months. Which is not bad considering we had a precious daughter with us. I actually took Amelie with me to the job interviews. Maybe thats why I got the job.
Anyway, we got ourselves a decent desktop PC, a TV, cable and found a place where I could buy PS2 games for less than 5 GBP, bottles, steriliser, kitchen utensils and many many more things to make our lives a little bit more comfortable. The most important of all, we did everything ourselves with no help. This would normally lead me to a massive discussion on what actually happened, but I will save that for another time.
Chien-yu has come a long way too. More confident in her own abilities as she worked in her job and most important of all, meeting new people and making new friends. She has become a better mother too and I applaud her in having the strength and courage to continue her learning and at the same time, looking after our daughter Amelie.
Amelie has certainly come a long way too. From not be able to crawl very well to now running, jumping and falling over. Her vocabulary still needs a little work, but you can't ask for much from a 18 month old toddler when there are three languages being spoken in the house. We just have to be patient and try to guess what she is saying.
What about me? Well I'm learning a new language and getting to grips with living in a 7-11 society where people are expected to do over-time in their work for free. Much different from what I was used to in the UK. For a start the pay is a lot lower. I used to be earning 25,000 GBP a year, but now its a measley 11,000 GBP. What about job perks? Well to be frank, there isn't any. People here are used to the mentally of "God, I'm glad I actually have a job", so they are grateful and easily satisfied with 7 days paid annual leave, little or no bonus and Christmas parties which the employees have to pay for themselves.
Although the labour laws in Taiwan have not caught up with the Western world and workload being heavy, the good thing which they have going are the people. The people I work with are great people. They are clever, intelligent, friendly and caring. Its difficult to find someone to hate at my work-place. Its one of the reasons which makes working in Taiwan more bearable. I like to thank my colleagues, who I deem as close friends for helping me keep my sanity in such a high-pressure, high work-load working environment.
What else? Well the food is great and come in many varieties and most importantly of all, cheap. You have an generous serving of chicken leg with rice and vegetables for as little as 1.20 GBP. Magic! But I must admit, I do miss the donner kebab and the chips and curry, not to mention Holland's meat and potato pie and Walker's crisps. When we head back for Jimmy and Caroline's wedding in September, I will need to stock up!
Its also the anniversary of the London bombings today. Our hearts and condolences goes to the victim's families and friends.
World Cup...don't really want to talk about it after England got knocked out, but in case you don't know, Gucci will be playing against LV in the final (that's Italy against France). Get your handbags ready.
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