Tag Archive for ‘Taiwan’
Ask Matt: Finding a Teaching Job in Taiwan Through a Recruiter
Share Hi Matt, I like your site! I just landed a job at a language school in Taiwan, teaching both kindergarten and elementary age kids. I found the job through IACC. I have a few questions: First, I noticed that you said do not deal with recruiters as many of them have shady business practices. [...]
Ask Matt: Studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan
Share Dear Matt, I am trying to find a Mandarin course in Taipei, Taiwan which starts in October (anytime) for myself and my husband. We have never been to Taiwan and do not speak any Mandarin. We have found a course which starts in December, but we just can’t wait that long to go! Emily Dear Emily, Although [...]
Check Out This Month’s Action Asia Magazine
Share Check out this month’s Action Asia magazine for my profile of one of Taiwan’s most prominent and longstanding foreign paragliding pilots, Malcom Vargas.
Yenshuei Fireworks Festival 2010 Photo Gallery
Share The Yenshuei Fireworks Festival (Yenshuei Fong Pao) is a festival held in the Yenshuei township in Southern Taiwan every year. During the festival millions of fireworks are shot out of large hives into crowds of revelers dressed in heavy clothing and full-face motorcycle helmets. Each hive may contain as many as sixty thousand fireworks. [...]
Riding the Crocodile V2.0
Share Note: This is a heavily reworked version of an article that originally appeared in Highway 11 Magazine. Don’t miss the photo gallery from the farm at the bottom of this page! I tipped back my cowboy hat, which I had brought to wave in the air while riding the crocodile, and sized up the [...]
Learning to Fly: Paragliding in Fang Liao Taiwan
Share Recently I’ve been working on a series of articles about paragliding in Taiwan. I’ve been learning how to paraglide, and about the evolution of paragliding in Taiwan, from Malcom Vargas who is, as far as I know, the only certified foreign paragliding instructor in the country. These are some photos from one of my [...]
Help Me Pick My Best Travel Photos
Share For the last few days I’ve been working on my application for the Glimpse Correspondent Program. I’ve gone through all of my old photos, picked out my favorites, and touched them up. I now have a total of thirty-three pictures. The problem is, I need to narrow my submission down to twenty. If you [...]
There’s Treasure Everywhere
Share When I first moved to Taiwan I was fascinated with everything. I walked around stupefied, a silly grin permanently plastered to my face, amazed at the incredible world that I had discovered. That lasted for about three years. I don’t smile like that anymore. I haven’t for quite some time. About a year-and-a-half ago [...]
Standing in the Fireworks: A Trip to the Yenshuei Beehive Fireworks Festival, Taiwan
Share On Febrary 27, 2010 a Chinese New Year fireworks celebration in the Guangdong province went awry and killed 19 villagers. On February 28th, 2010 I was in Yenshuei Township in southern Taiwan facing a several hives containing tens of thousands of fireworks set to fire into the hundreds of people that were crowded around [...]
Ghosts and Angels on the Beautiful Island
Share When I woke up around nine that Sunday morning my cell phone showed that I had 33 missed calls. It rang again in my hand. It was the head teacher from the school I worked at. “We’re at the hospital.” She told me. “Jana was hit by a bus.” On the way to the [...]
A Proposition
Share I was contacted today by Lidia Nyiri, a PR Consultant for TravelGrove.com. She asked me if I would write a blog post reviewing her company which, “helps users find cheap offers on airfares, hotel and car rentals, cruise deals and vacation packages”. She said the review didn’t have to be nice. It could be [...]
Bunk Magazine Issue 5 is out now
Share The first issue of Bunk Magazine was published by the Armory nearly 10 years ago, long before I arrived in Taiwan. Around the time I moved to Taiwan the last issue of Bunk, issue 4, was published. Bunk had a big influence on my decision to start Xpat Magazine. It showed me that an [...]
Letter from the Editor: Bunk Magazine Issue 5
Share The Armory is synonymous with art. The Armory itself is a work of art, having been built by a sculptor from the remains of the demolished armory that once stood in its place. Since then the Armory has hosted numerous art and photography exhibitions, usually for charity, and often paid local bands to play [...]
Now Showing at TaiwanPhotographers.com
Share Yesterday I realized a small victory in my campaign to publicize my blog when I was added a feature photographer on the Taiwan Photographers website: http://www.taiwanphotographers.com. You can view my profile page here. Taiwan photographers is run by freelance writer and photographer Carrie Kellenberger and features the work of some of Taiwan’s best photographic [...]
The Best Budget Trip for Chinese New Year
Share This year Chinese New Year vacation is expected to be from February 13th to 21st. It’s already a bit late to buy tickets, and many flights are already sold out, but there are still some good deals to be had. Since Thailand and the Philippines are both relatively cheap countries with postcard beaches and [...]
Free English Writing and Editing Help for NCKU Students
Share The NCKU Eagle project is currently offering NCKU students free one-on-one writing and editing help from native English-speaking editors every day from 10:10 am – 4:10 pm from now until January 15th. All you need to do is go to the NCKU Eagle office and sign up. Simple as that! Directions to the office [...]
Wang Yeh Burning Boat Festival Taiwan
Share The Wang Yeh boat burning festival occurs once every three years. Disease spreading ghosts, or Wang Yeh, are lead onto the boats by priests and mediums. The boat, sitting atop a mountain of ghost money (money burned by locals for the benefit of their dead ancestors) is then burned, sending the spirits back to [...]
Riding the Crocodile
The Crocodile King Farm in Taiwan’s Madou Township is the most bizarre zoo I’ve ever seen. Exhibits include a random cross section of exotic animals from Taiwan and around the world, an extensive collection of reptiles, and a large number of mutant animals including two mutant goats, several mutant ducks and chickens, and a two-headed turtle. The main attraction, though, is an enormous crocodile, which may well be the fattest crocodile in the world, on which visitors are invited to sit. You can view a gallery of my pictures from the zoo here.
Bunk Magazine Issue V – Call for Submissions
Share Six years after the last issue was released (December 2003), the owner of the Armory, Dumei has asked me to help her make another issue of Bunk to commemorate the Armory’s 12th anniversary this December. For those of you who never got to see Bunk, it was a small, artsy magazine put out by [...]
Crocodile King Exotic Mutant Animal Farm
A photo essay I shot on a trip to the Madou Crocodile King farm, a small private zoo in Tainan County, Taiwan, that features various exotic and mutated animals and one gigantic crocodile. The crocodile, stuck in a tiny pen for several years, has become extremely fat. Seriously. The largest crocodile ever recorded was 8.6 m long and weighed 1,350 kg. This croc, according to the sign, was 5.2 m long and 1250 kg, which puts it in the running for the fattest croc in the world. It’s so fat and slow that you can walk up behind it and sit on it. We did. Check it out.
The Kenting Aquarium
Share A short photo essay that I shot on a trip to the the world renowned National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium in Pingtung County, Southern Taiwan. Unfortunately, the light in the aquarium is very low, and flash photography is prohibited, so was a tough shoot, but I got some good pretty good pictures [...]
Advice that I Gave a Graphic Designer that Worked for My Indie Magazine in Taiwan
Share Note: This is just a little humor piece that I wrote for submission to McSweeneys.net, but was not picked up. Please note that it is not true. All of the graphic designers at Xpat were of the highest moral standing. Ok, well, maybe not that high. But they were certainly above feeding ladyboys roofies [...]
After Typhoon Morakot Taiwan Won’t Be the Same
A story about featured on the front page of my hometown newspaper about my experience during Typhoon Morakot, the unique meteorological conditions that made it so destructive, and the ensuing rebuilding and relief efforts.
Study Mandarin for (almost) Free in Taiwan
The Huayu Enrichment Scholarship is a scholarship that enables foreign students to study Mandarin for up to one year at a Taiwanese University for little more than the cost of plane ticket. This article explains what the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship is, who is eligible for it, and how to apply for it..
Get Your B.A., M.A. or Ph.D. for (almost) Free in Taiwan
Many Taiwanese Universities are actively campaigning to improve the international image of Taiwanese education by offering foreign students special subsidies. This article discusses some of the most attractive scholarships and subsidies offered, and how to apply for them..
Asphalt Angels Give Hope to Local Children
Taiwanese people are so friendly that even biker gangs run charities. I joined Robert Lo, the leader of the Taiwan Angels, on their annual Christamas Toy Run and learned a lot about motorcycles, community, and poverty in Taiwan.
Three Reasons to Teach English and Live in Taiwan
In today’s climate of financial uncertainty, where layoffs are rife and jobs are increasingly hard to find in many Western countries, more and more people are looking to Asia for employment. Taiwan is a very attractive option to many people. Here are three reasons why.
I'm a travel writer and photographer currently based in Tainan, Taiwan where I founded and edited Xpat Magazine, one of Taiwan's largest and longest-running expatriate periodicals. My writing and photography has been published in various print and online publications including Taiwan Today, the Taiwan Fun Magazine Group, and TransitionsAbroad.com. I speak English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese (to varying degrees) and am available for assignment. I can be reached through the form on the contact page of this website, or at xpatmatt (at) gmail.com.
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