| And why, why,
isn't there heating in people's homes? It gets cold here, why don't people
have heating? And they call themselves a democracy? People lie to you,
people don't pay you for work you've done, don't call you back when they
say they'll call you back. How can a society exist like this"?
Part Two
I sat in the
park and listened to my friend's blues. I wondered whether maybe if I had
got it wrong, maybe I was crazy to be living in a country where, yes, the
truth didn't seem to mean the same thing, where there was no legal recourse
to work problems, where the hygiene wasn't as good as home.
I don't know.
Right now, there is something about Chinese/Taiwanese society that keeps
drawing me in, rather than repelling me.
I don't think:
Oh my god these people are so awful and dishonest and tough, I should leave;
I think: I want to learn how to be that tough too. I want to work at this
city and myself until I have figured out (as best as anyone can) how to
live here and thrive.
If someone
can behave this badly, I want to know how to spot it, how to communicate
that it will not work with me, and, if necessary, how to come back with
my own brutal real-politik. Learn how to lie low and then rise high.
When I was
in India, I really felt bewildered by the awful small things I was seeing
around me everyday. The only ways of "succeeding" in northern India seemed
as bad as failing (by that I mean becoming either a distant, arrogant rich
person who used their money to escape the crowd or a lala land "isn't this
so exotic and so Indian!" blissful gap year student).
But around
Chinese people, I feel like I can understand a little of how things are
done, why things get done - maybe well enough to have a perfectly good
time here. I haven't got there yet, but I feel like I'm making progress.
Maybe it is
terrible, terrible, that if you trust your employer here too much, they
will squeeze you until you croak; but you wouldn't leave your wallet on
a seat in a nightclub back home, would you? Here, you just don't know what
the "leaving your wallet on the seat" set of rules are. If it gets to the
stage where you know that to avoid "x" you just don't wear a blue hat on
a Tuesday, does it matter how bad "x" is?
Maybe, at its
heart, Taiwanese/Chinese society is terrible and sick. Who cares? The only
issue is whether you enjoy the life you can have in said society. If there
is no real legal/illegal in Taiwan, the only issue is whether this works
to your benefit - not some abstract question of "shouldn't we be obeying
the law"?
What I told
my friend that night was: "I think that school director realised she could
squeeze you. She tried the little stuff first, and once she'd pushed you
to your knees, she figured she might as well give you the final kick to
the ground. As soon as they met you in the airport and changed their tune
about the contract, you should have been alert. It is a DECISION to trust
someone; it's likewise a decision to keep yourself protected, as best you
can. Don't waste time working out if this or that person is trustworthy;
spend your time working out how much they can hurt you, and work out how
much it would hurt them if you left. If they can't hurt you, or probably
won't because they need you to stay, then what does it matter if they are
awful deep inside?
"Don't spend
ages trying to be reasonable with potential employers, it often seems to
come across as weakness. Don't be petty and hypercritical, but always be
strong and show that you have other options. And if someone isn't producing
anything for you, go.
"Your only
concern right now is to get financially secure. That's your ONLY concern.
Who cares whether one guy or another can get you there, or whether you
like them as a person? Once you have money again you can pick and choose".
I also pointed
out my own misfortunes in Taiwan so far; I am certainly no expert. But
things are getting better for me now, I think. It's a fascinating, infuriating,
lovely place to be living.
I think in
the West we are not naive, but we are tremendously sentimental. We like
to believe that the world runs according to our ideals, and when we see
that it doesn't, we either pretend that it does or fume about why it should.
I don't think sentimentality is really worth bringing with you if you are
travelling to a place where life is harder and more uncertain and democracy
is less than a generation old and corruption is so prevalent. Many times
in Taiwan, and in other places in Asia, it seems there is this willingness
to look at the rough face of reality; to ask not, "Should I pay you?" but
"What do I lose if I don't pay you"?
Maybe that's
a frightening and ugly way to live, but either way, it will not change
for you. Be wary of handing your trust and your financial security to anyone,
especially if you want to work in a fairly shady industry like unqualified
English teaching.
PS:
Of course, of course, not everyone is like this in Taiwan/China/Asia, and
you would be crazy, for example, to approach a potential private student
with the live and let die attitude I've talked about. Most of the worst
stories I've heard come from small schools away from the big cities - they
are run by the founder and probably already losing money. If you want to
avoid most of these worries, just sign up with one of the big teaching
companies as soon as you arrive in Taipei. Hess or Kojen for example, they
probably will make you work hard for not a great wage - but they will pay
you on time.
If you would
like to email Daniel or read more of his stories, visit his website at
www.suitcasing.com
The following
are Daniel's previous articles for the magazine:
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