When we first discussed the idea of moving to Taiwan (temporarily), I knew there’d be a number of potential dealbreakers. But the one that broke the deal wasn’t even on my radar. In hindsight it’s an obvious red flag. We’ve learned that, in order to teach English in Taiwan, one needs a bachelor’s degree…or an associate’s degree plus a teaching certificate. Neither of us have either. You see, the husband and I…we’re college dropouts. I won’t bore you with the excuses (misplaced priorities, laziness, alien abduction, the dot-com boom, etc.) but I know I’m capable of doing the job, and could probably do it pretty well. And that’s not coming from the chip on my shoulder (which fell off ages ago, I swear). You know, I love Sarah Brown, like a good punch in the throat. Especially this little tidbit from her about page:
Turn offs include diet cola, large groups of women, pictures of your cat, and people who cannot get past the fact that they were once gifted children.
For a long time I was guilty of that last offense…which frequently led to frustration and disappointment all around. These days my expectations are much lower, so I find I’m letdown less often. I wouldn’t call myself a fatalist, but I’ve learned to take the good with the bad. So Taiwan won’t work out for us. Maybe it’s time to try something else. And, after a recent visit to the doc, I finally got my prescription-strength folic acid.
